Psych Skills for Fitness Pros with Dr. Lisa Lewis The Coach's Playground

Why is self-awareness so important for fitness professionals? What does knowing your identity help you with?
Investing in yourself equips you with tools to help clients get them to you, engage them to make a change, push them through, and provide them efficacy. It helps in your mechanism of action with them.
Dr. Lisa Lewis is a licensed psychologist with a strength-based, solution focus, and an active, collaborative style. Some of the clients she worked with the present with mental health concerns, while others come to work toward a specific achievement or pursue personal, career, fitness, and athletic goals. She has been working as a therapist since 2003, and over the years she has worked with a wide variety of concerns and populations.
In this episode, Dr. Lisa Lewis shares how we need to hear things we don’t want to hear if only to get us motivated to pursue what we truly want and prove everyone wrong. Often in life, we got all excuses, we lean on matters we don’t have control of, we forget we can always focus on the things we have control over. That’s what is important. It will carry you through life. 
As the human body and mind are a depth of constant challenges and change, as coaches, you need to positively influence to overcome negative behaviors and develop consistent healthy habits for your clients. More than the proper squats, you have to provide the psychological skills necessary to bring them adequate motivation. Practicing mindfulness also helps in this regard.
How do you work on the marketing side of pulling clients in? You’ve got to hook them in on what their motivation is, and through the course of engaging them, you communicate your value.
You have to remember that starting a habit is not a problem, persistence is. This is where we need to be there as coaches, addressing clients’ mindset. And as you have different means of communicating with your clients, you have to use psychological skills to deal with their thoughts, feelings, and behavior. Building rapport and trust are essential to buy your clients into you.
That’s why it also matters that you have the self-awareness to help you show up yourself as the leader your clients need you for.
 
“What you are trying to do if you're a personal trainer is to influence behavior in a positive way. You help build healthy habits that are consistent and decrease negative unwanted behaviors. You are providing a psychological service; you are not lifting the weight for your clients. You are engaging with them using communication, programming, recommendations. It is psychological work.”  - Dr. Lisa Lewis
Topics Covered:
03:54 - A conversation she considers a gift in her life and what started it all
08:43 - Do athletes often hit roadblocks in life?
09:51 - Receiving strong feedback that totally builds her character
12:01 - If you’re working on yourself, you’re working on yourself
14:01 - Focus on what you have control over
15:16 - What lessons do strength training teach about yourself as a  coach/trainer
18:09 - Using strength training for your psychological needs
23:00 - Get the hook in, leverage where they care, and then you provide competencies and education. 
25:53 - Starting a habit is not the problem; persistence is 
28:58 - What is a psychological phenomenon?
33:08 - What causes frustration for ourselves?
36:00 - Why should a personal trainer be asking questions around self-awareness?
38:58 - How to get started on self-awareness
44:07 - Digital health is the future
46:36 - How do layoffs and furloughs affect the future of getting a job in the gym? 
48:27 - How this digital era will have things offered virtually and improve one’s lifestyle improvement
51:43 - Asking questions that are out of the box
 
Connect With Dr Lisa Lewis:
drlewisconsulting.com Instagram Connect With Gavin McHale:
Gavinmchale.clickfunnels.com LinkedIn Instagram