Hey guys, Nate here. I'm proud to announce that I'm now the Program Director of Scrawny To Brawny. From now on all of my blogs and articles will be posted on the brand-new Scrawny To Brawny Blog. So if you enjoyed what you read here, please go check it out. (It's awesome, if I say so myself.) I'm keeping the NGE website alive for resource reasons, but will no longer be actively updating it. The best way to get in touch with me is through leaving a comment on the Scrawny To Brawny blog or by posting on the S2B Facebook page. See you guys over at the new blog!
With A Little Help From My Friends
Put the pieces together
I pay a nice lady by the name of Kim to clean my house every two weeks.
I pay my next-door neighbor’s kid twenty bucks to mow my lawn.
I pay Jason Lengstorf to build, update, and maintain my website.
I pay Velvet Anderson to do my taxes and handle my business paperwork.
I pay Joe Coco from Edward Jones to manage my money for me.
(As you can see, I’m all about hiring people that are specialized and can save me from doing things that I a) would rather not do, b) have no idea what the hell I’m doing, or c) when I want an outside opinion.)
And as of last Friday, I have world-class strength coach and all-around bad-ass Mike Robertson writing my training programs.
But aren’t you a personal trainer?
Yep. And I’m a pretty damn good one, at that. I love training guys who want to be Built for Show. I love helping young athletes get athletic scholarships, and helping former business executives get back to their “college body.â€
But I know when I need help or when I’m out of the scope of my ability.
A little over a week ago, I took a full-time writing position for T-Nation. The job involves a lot of sitting at the computer, traveling, and thinking. It also enables me full mobility and frees up time so I can basically do what I want whenever I want (as long as I get my T-Nation-related duties done, of course.) And I’m no longer training clients on a full-time basis, which, honestly, I like.
But this led to a shocking realization: I have not been taking care of myself.
My posture is OK but could be better. My right shoulder hurts. My left hip is tighter than a camel’s ass in a sandstorm. I’m getting weaker.
So, I hired Mike. And I’ve got to tell you that this past week has been amazing.
Comparing me to Mike on the personal training scale is like comparing a Little Leaguer to a major league baseball player. The guy is good.
So, the reason for this blog is twofold:
1. I want to encourage you to take a look at some of your daily tasks and see if there’d be any benefit to hiring someone to do it for you. Sure, you’re paying them money, but they’re also saving you two huge things: frustration and time.
2. I’m going to post regular updates of my progress on Mike’s program to help hold me accountable.
So, what kinds of things do you need help with? Who do you refer out to already? Or would you rather do it all yourself? Let me know in the comments!
Comments for This Entry
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A house cleaner, eh? That's pretty ritzy, Nate.
I do have a kid mow my lawn though. Saves me the trouble! -
I'm out of my depth all the time. With respect to everything.
I suppose that means that I need help. -
I had a virtual assistant from India for a while. I hired him for ten hours per month. After a while I started to run out of stuff for him to do so his main job became screwing with my younger brother by calling him at night to remind him that Jesus loves him.
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Yes, I am a farmer, well actually I just own a farm. I have never worked on my actual farm. I have worked on farms before so I do know fairly well how to farm.
I don't do a singles day of work through the entire growing/harvesting season. I "hire" someone to farm my land for me, and they pay me about 7 times a year for rent, and a percentage from their crop. Mostly alfalfa, and cotton in drought.
I hired a maid to clean my house (when I had valuables in the house in the open I paid my brother to follow her).
Hired a tax attorney for my taxes, I did have a virtual assistant that put together my stats for my business.
Hired a foreman to look after my construction business.
I hired a real estate attorney to look out for farm land up for sale, as well as undeveloped land.
Hired a personal assistant, but found out there was no real reason sense she was my girlfriend, I could just boss her around. Kidding, but that would be cool to have a personal assistant. -
Getting someone to do you a favor is one of the best ways to turn an enemy into a friend. Ben Franklin is credited with documenting this phenomenon. He said, ""He that has once done you a Kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged."
If you have a coworker, family member, neighbor, etc. that your on the outs with, ask them for a favor. Go compliment that neighbor you're fighting with on his landscaping, and ask him if he can give you a tip on how to improve yours. It doesn't matter if you give a crap about landscaping or not. They key is that he's helped you out by his own choice, so he justifies this to himself by rationalizing that he must like you. Now, you've turned an enemy into a friend. -
one word for your twisted bod...Pilates :)...and you can hire someone for that too!
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Pretty interesting post, Nate. I don't hire anyone right now as my life is pretty simple: practice guitar, lift heavy shit, eat, go to school.
That said, I've had the privilege of working for two well established lesson teaching studios. The best part about this is I just have to show up and play guitar with the students. That's it. I don't have to worry about marketing myself. I don't have to worry about collecting money. I don't have to worry about scheduling.
I have to say, just showing up to "work" for close to $40/hour is great gig for a grad student. I can't imagine having to do all that crap myself, it's well worth the fee I pay the studio.
-CD -
I'm a trainer who pays more advanced trainers on a regular basis. I choose them carefully and it always ups my game to some degree. Mike Robertson is a genius, top professionals depend on him. Any Pilates instructor I have met or heard about would do well to study Mike's work.
COMMENT RULES: Critical posts are fine, but if you're rude I'll delete your stuff. Please do not put your URL in the comment text and please use your personal name or initials and not your business name, as the latter comes off like spam. But most of all, have fun and thanks for adding to the conversation! (Thanks to Tim Ferriss for the inspiration.)
Aaron 10:20pm Aug 10, 2008