May 18, 2018
Double Whip Battle Ropes
Have you ever seen a fitness video of someone at the gym whipping fat ropes around like some sort of pirate psychopath?
Well, apparently this craze is generally referred to as “battle ropes” and there are a number of different exercises you can do with them.
My trainer Adam started me on “battle ropes” on Tuesday for the first time. He had me do the “double whip” move which is where you grab an end of the rope in each hand and raise and lower you arms violently in tandem.
The rope, for its part, responds with a sort of dual sine wave effect that I have to admit, is quite dramatic and pretty satisfying.
Anyway, here’s my point...
The first time I did this, Adam had me double whip for thirty seconds at a time. He would start his timer, stare at his watch, and tell me when to stop. After three sets, I was done.
Today (the following Friday) we did the double whip for the second time. But this time Adam said:
“I’m not going to time you this time... just do it 30 times and you’re done.”
I can not express how huge the difference was.
When he was timing me, there was an incentive to pace myself. To keep something in reserve. To hedge my bets.
The INSTANT I knew I only had to do 30 reps, I could commit. I could go all in. I could go hard from the first rep.
Why?
Because when I was being timed, there was no incentive to exert myself to reach the goal. I could have just stood there for 30 seconds and Adam would’ve yelled “Done!” at the end.
When I had a clear goal that I could control, there was an incentive to get it over with ASAP. I could have have stood there all day and Adam never would have yelled “Done!” because I didn’t do the thing.
Do you see how this applies to our work?
Here’s a visual for you:
The first time, when Adam was timing me he focused on his watch the whole time.
The second time, when Adam had me do thirty reps, he focused on me the whole time.
An advisor or consultant or coach who wants to help his client get results should focus on the client the whole time, not the clock.
Yours,
—J
P.S. Do you run a dev shop, agency, or firm and don’t know how to grow your profits to the next level? My private coaching program might be for you: https://jonathanstark.com/coaching