The Leap of Faith
A “leap of faith” is how Sue described the Amazing 12 to me this week. To some degree it really is. You are entrusting the coach to transform you. You don’t know precisely what lies ahead. You have no control over the programming. You are given a diet to follow. And you are told what movements to perform. And then you expect the results you are after to take place.
But if you didn’t believe in the coach or the program or Paul McIlroy or the now-hundreds of men and women who have had outstanding results on the Amazing 12, you would never have even considered doing it to begin with.
So, once the leap is made, there is no turning back. And in order to get the best results, you do have to submit to the coach’s guidance and if you are used to always being in control, that can possibly be a scary place.
Doing anything else or deviating from the plan is potentially self-sabotaging, which makes no sense.
As with anything in life where you want to see change and don’t have the expertise to make it happen by yourself, you call upon help. You need to have faith in the person doing the work for you or telling you how to do it.
“Lucky I trust you, Claudius,” said Sue. “Not many people get me to close my eyes and jump.”
How Sue’s ‘leap of faith’ statement came about followed a conversation before training one morning. Sue had weighed herself the day before and the scales revealed she had gained four pounds, which she was concerned about, but in reality could be the difference between a single bowel movement. Ross, meanwhile, had told me he was capable of lifting more than the weights I was asking him to lift, so he felt like he had a lot in reserve and, effectively, asked why I wasn’t pushing him harder.
I gave them my familiar look, the one that says, “just trust me, guys. This program works. Let it happen. Follow my direction.”
I’m not asking them to follow me blindly. I do offer explanations for why, for example, I ask them to eat certain foods or why I instruct them to lift a weight in a certain fashion. And Sue’s the type of person who goes off whenever I tell her what to do and she does her research. That’s Sue. She likes to know what she’s getting into – she wants/needs to know ‘why?’. If it prompts further questions, she comes to training the next day and asks me. That’s fair enough.
So many things will happen along the Amazing 12 path and perhaps stir up emotions, maybe raise some doubts and fears or take you out of your comfort zone. But that’s all fine, too. It’s a part of the journey and learning and self-discovery and self-improvement etc.
The participant doesn’t know what’s coming and the unknown can unnerve us. But I’ve seen this program at work. I know what it can do. Take a look at the Amazing 12 Chichester graduates page on this site.
Another part of the Amazing 12 experience is learning there is a different way to train and this way may well challenge many beliefs you have (from previous experiences and coaches) about what is true and most effective.
A quote came up on my phone later that day from Perry Nickelston, a brilliant chiropractic physician and movement specialist. It said, ‘Much of what you have to do [to improve] is unlearn what you have been taught.’ I shared it with Ross and Sue.
“I totally agree,” said Ross. “I am really trying and 46 years is a long time to undo. But I am on the A12 for a reason and I’m feeling like I’m doing good work instead of just smashing it like I used to in CrossFit.”
That’s not meant as a dig at CrossFit, but the Amazing 12 is different. Very different.
I’ve had Ross make some dietary changes this week. He’s been feeling more chipper. “Had a really good session today,” he said on Tuesday. “Feel like I’m pumped up more than a tractor tyre. I am actually starting to see and feel real changes. That’s encouraging.”
Ross told me at the end of week 3 that he was going to try to focus (his mind) differently this week. “I’m getting my head in the zone. I know I have to follow the plan as it’s part of the overall strategy. It’s hard [to change thinking and habits], don’t get me wrong, but I want to do great at this.”
For Sue it was an up-and-down week, not helped by a few nights of disrupted sleeping.
Kari had a frustrating week also, because she was called away by her work for a few days on an overseas trip and missed two days training. It’s not ideal, but in some cases unavoidable. So you have to deal with it in the best way possible. I set her some homework.
“I’m gutted,” she said. “It [the A12] has become such a daily part of my routine that I’ll most probably be climbing the walls by Monday [when we start week 5].”
Truth is that trust on the Amazing 12 is a two-way street: I, the coach, must trust that every student has the integrity to adhere to the diet plan I prescribe, that he or she follows the guidelines of the training principles and that he or she completes any additional training I decide is necessary and in the fashion required (like Kari this week).
A leap of faith? Yes. But when I accept someone on to the program, I am also taking that leap of faith.
The beautiful part is that we, the coach and student, want the same thing – results, success, progress – and the program demands that we invest in time, energy, focus, money, practice, discipline, TRUST, FAITH, patience, effort, mindfulness, restraint to make it happen.
It’s much more than a body transformation program. Trust me.