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Entrepreneurs in the TwoBrain Family spend December planning for the next year. First, we review “Perfect Day”. Then we choose their goals for the year that will lead to Perfect Day: income goals, time goals, lifestyle goals, and–maybe most important–service goals. We work on the owner first, and then the business, because the business should be a path to the owner’s perfect day. In other words, the business serves the owner…not the other way around. When planning the business’ year, I often use the “rocks in a glass” analogy. [You know the one: you put the big items–or “rocks”–in a glass. Then you fill the holes between the rocks with pebbles. Then you fill the holes between the pebbles with sand. Then you fill the tiny air pockets with water.] In the business, the “rocks” are service landmarks. They usually occur every quarter or so, but some businesses divide their year into 3, 5 or 6 sections. For the sake of example, we’ll stick with four. My service landmarks at Catalyst are the Intramural Open (beginning of March), the Catalyst Games (beginning of September), and The Gift (Christmas). Obviously, I need a fourth landmark, preferably in early summer. We have an incredible cycling community here; great swimming; and many people want to get out running after a long winter, so I’m going to tentatively create an early-June event we’ll call the Catalyst Duathlon. This is a placeholder; I might change the event later. But an endurance event is also a nice balance to the Gift in December, which is a combination of a weightlifting meet with a big charitable “give”. My calendar, divided into quarters, becomes: Intramural Open – March 1 Duathlon – June 1 Games – September 1 Gift – December 25 (all are approximate dates). Next, I’ll add the “pebbles” – the specialty programs to help my clients best prepare for each of the “rocks”. What can I ...

Do you think Matt Fraser is learning how to air squat today? Matt Fraser is a professional exerciser. He’s awesome to watch (I hope you got to see him in Madison last weekend; I did.) He won the CrossFit Games and was crowned “Fittest on Earth” for the second year in a row. If you’re in his shoes this morning, do you go back to basics? Tom Brady has a throwing coach. After every season, he starts from scratch with his coach: learning the forward pass, just like he did as a six-year-old. Greg Glassman said: “Stick to the basics and when you feel you’ve mastered them it’s time to start all over again, begin anew – again with the basics – this time paying closer attention.” Steven Pressfield wrote “The Legend of Baggar Vance” and “The War of Art”. He also wrote “Turning Pro”, a book about developing habits and committing to a higher level in life. Steven is ALSO a professional exerciser, even though it’s not his career or even his passion. He’s a pro because he turns up to meet his trainer at the gym every day, even when he doesn’t feel like it. He learned to be a pro exerciser by being a pro writer. He doesn’t always feel like writing, but he does anyway. And on an interview this morning, he said: “The defining feature of a professional is the willingness to go back to basics over and over again.” Sounds familiar, right? When you finish OnRamp, you earn the right to call yourself a CrossFitter. That doesn’t mean you’re a professional CrossFit athlete. Not yet. You have a lifetime of learning ahead of you–and you’ll have to practice the air squat all the time–but you get to wear the same badge as me. Welcome, friend! When you take the CrossFit Level 1 course, you earn the right to call yourself a coach. That doesn’t ...