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Have you ever read “Once A Runner” by John L. Parker? Probably not. I’ll tell you the story: boy runs a lot. Does okay. Finds a mentor. Mentor says, “Run a lot more.” Boy runs his legs off. Breaks the four-minute-mile mark. It’s a beautifully-written book by an author who never ran a four-minute mile. Unfortunately, many runners read the book as a training manual. They believe the way to run faster is simply to run more. It’s not true. The secret to running a four-minute-mile, as described by Roger Bannister (the first man to actually RUN a four-minute mile) is interval training. Bannister ran sets of 400s to train, keeping his intensity up, spending his energy wisely. I work with hundreds of gym owners. Every one is a hard worker: they expect to get up early and work until dark. They embrace the work. Most believe (as I once did) that simply outworking everyone else will bring success. It’s not true. The hustle isn’t the goal. The goal is the goal. More time off is the goal. Paying off your house is the goal. Playing with your kids is the goal. What’s wrong with a strong work ethic? Nothing…unless it stops you from achieving what’s really important.  In other words, sacrificing intensity for volume. Let me give you an example that I hear all too often: “I coach eight classes every day. I’m at the gym from 5am until 8pm. But I don’t have time to do what you’re telling me to do! And I don’t have the money to pay anyone to help me.” After we calculate the value of the gym owner’s time, it’s clear they’re working too much for too little. In some cases, they’re running classes for 2-3 clients…for less than they’d earn at McDonald’s. Sometimes they’re paying a coach $20 for a class worth $15. In that example–far too common–the gym owner is really gym-owned. They’d ...

From 2009 until 2012, I kept a blog called “DontBuyAds.com.” Over almost 400 blog posts, I detailed the sharp learning curve of gym ownership, starting from my lowest point and rising to my “Perfect Day.” When I joined 321GoProject as lead business mentor, I updated many of those posts and wrote hundreds more (I’ve reached nearly 800 now, including a ton of free business lessons, marketing packages, and downloads.) The hardest lessons–and best stories–were encapsulated in “Two-Brain Business: Grow Your Gym.” What started as a simple blog to help others avoid my business mistakes eventually became the best-selling fitness business book of all time. When I started the first blog post (“Don’t Be Vanilla,”) I was broke. I’d just signed up for a free mentoring session through a local business portal. The second session would cost me $550, but I justified the cost by promising myself, “I’ll share everything I learn with other gym owners, because they’re probably going through the same stuff I am.” The first published edition of “Two-Brain Business” was handed out FREE at a seminar I gave with Ben Bergeron and Forrest Walden (who owns IronTribe) in FL. There were 30 attendees, and I went home with 15 copies of the book. But since then, I’ve sold thousands of copies, signed dozens, and even snapped a picture of it on the bookshelf at CrossFit HQ. You can have it FREE in my favorite format: audio. Eight hours, read by me, with updated information. Frankly, some things that worked in 2012 no longer do (and I outline what DOES work now in Two-Brain Business 2.0 and Help First: Profit Without Selling.) The obsolete advice was cut out of the audiobook version, but the print edition contains hundreds of tips and several forms that I can’t deliver orally (obviously.) It’s still the most popular book I’ve ever written (though I’d say Help First is really my favorite, it’s not yet ...