#116 - Do you Really Need a Coach? A Lesson About Guidance

What is up and welcome back to the Talk Nutrition Podcast. Today is going to be a bit of a different episode where I want to share a story, basically an experience that I went through tracking through Himalayas, which was really cool. Very cool experience, very rewarding, challenging, definitely pushed me beyond my limits. This wasn't recent, this was back in 2019, however. And if you've been following me on Instagram, you might have seen my post every now and then. I like to kind of bring it up, but I always talk about, you know, guidance, mentorship. the importance of that. And in many ways, the trip to the Himalayas really gave me some experiences that still kind of like pop up in my memories. There's a lot of stuff there that challenged me physically and mentally that I still kind of bring that back when I go through hard times, whether it's physical or mental, whatever it is. And I really noticed, right, like going through that trip, even just like altogether, the mind is very strong. even more than the body is. But that's going to be for another part of this mini series. So a quick introduction why we are doing this. As you know, we do weekly articles and I was writing, right? And it turned out to be too much. Like it was gonna be too long. And not just that, I think the five lessons we're gonna get into, so this mini series is called The Lessons from the Himalayas, it's gonna be five episodes. And the articles, right, are pretty short as well. So... If you like reading, I highly recommend checking it out as well. So it's going to be in the show notes, quick description of the episode. And then right there, boom, that's the article. Check it out. I promise you it's going to be worth it. But only right. If you apply what you learn and apply consistently, right? What we're going to discuss, not just today, but also next week and basically the next five weeks, right? So I want you to really do something with this, which is why I want to keep it shorter, right? Now, there were a lot of really cool lessons for me, a lot of cool memories. And you know, I just like talking about this stuff too, right? I'm very passionate about traveling. I haven't done much over the last couple of years, but I mean, a decade before that, I visited, I think it was 59 or 60, or maybe 61 countries I would have to double check. I have to use one of those websites where it counts where you've been, but just about 60 countries all across the world, right? end up living in Norway, which is where I am currently, and staying also, I'm from Holland, in case you didn't know. Lived in Australia for a year, right, and anywhere in between, right? Lot of touring, lot of traveling, lot of really cool experiences. But let's go, let's stick to Nepal for now, the Himalayas, because I'm already going, right? But all joking aside, guidance is really important. Guidance is something. that I believe is so essential that I actually, because I kind of hate the word hack. I actually think that this is one of the very few actual hacks in life. Because you can get a shortcut to someone's experience, their mess ups, their lessons learned, their knowledge, basically. So it's so key. Now that being said, before we get in the episode real quick, we are currently taking on new people to work with our coach Alexandra. So she's been killing it. She's awesome. My roster is still full until March. So then I have a few spots opening up, just a few though. But if you're looking for guidance, if you're looking for coaching, right, Alexandra is currently taking people on. So what I'll do under the subscription, sorry, description, you're going to see the link to the article and then right below that, you can request a free call on the house. So if that sounds good, right, again, you know, I have to decide right there. And then you just let me know. I just like mostly, I just want to see. before letting someone into our program as well, right? If we're a good fit to coach together, right? So that's what we do with those kind of calls. Plus I want you to actually share your story so that we know, hey, okay, can we help you? Yes, usually that's gonna be yes. But you know, I just wanna know where you're at and what you need from us, because everything is tailored. Now that being said, let's get into the first part of the mini series, Lessons from the Himalayas. Today is gonna be about guidance, right? You might be wondering like, do I need a coach? Do I need a mentor? Right, I have a coach. I get this question all the time. The people are like, yeah, but can't you do this by yourself? I'm like, yeah, of course I can. Yeah, sure. But it's good to have that guidance, that accountability, and you can always learn something new. And that's why I've been investing in mentors, coaches, for, I mean, literally like the first month, I became a nutrition coach right away. I got a mentorship with Sam Miller. Later on, worked with Coney McBroom in the meantime, where I had different coaches. Like I'm always learning also in that sense, right? Courses and stuff, education, yeah, books. but also those people because you can get a shortcut, like I said, to their knowledge and that is so key. Now you're still gonna make mistakes and that's part of learning and that's okay, but maybe fewer and maybe you're gonna get results faster. So that being said, on your journey, you will meet friction, roadblocks, setbacks, most of which are mental. You're gonna doubt yourself, feel uncomfortable and confused about what to do. It's a big part, right? Not knowing what to do. You want things to go faster and be easier. And sometimes you're so focused on that main goal that you miss like what's right in front of you, you know? So whether you're already on your fitness journey or you're just about to get started, because I mean, all of our listeners are all at different stages. And I want you to know, right? This episode is for you anyway. And it's also not a pitch for coaching by the way. I want you to know that, right? And we're gonna talk about the importance of guidance and mentorship, et cetera. But I'm not here to like be like, hey, buy my shit, you know? If you wanna work with us, amazing. If not, that's also cool. I'm sharing why I truly believe in this stuff. All of our coaches have and will have coaches. We truly believe in this. It's why we invest in this stuff ourselves. And for me personally, it's been tens of thousands of dollars by now over the last couple of years that I've invested in coaching, in mentorship, in guidance, accountability. That's why I'm very passionate about this stuff. And that's why I currently also have a coach, right? And I work with people for my, you know, my business and stuff, because we always have something to learn. And you're never done growing. You always want to level up in so many different ways. But here's the thing with that trip, right? Because you might be wondering why we're talking about coaching mentorship and then the Himalayas. What's the connection here? Because first of all, I never pushed myself as hard. as I did on that trip, right? Physically and mentally for so long also, it was a long trip. Give you some more details in a second. And the memories and lessons, I'm sorry, lessons, you know, learned along the way, they still show up. And they kind of help me go through, you know, uncomfortable times, discomfort, right? Self doubt, sometimes friction. And the lessons that we'll talk about today as well as the next couple of weeks. they are going to be key for your long-term success. Could be fat loss, could be performance, improving your health, whatever that big life goal is that you're chasing, might even be career related or whatever it is, right? This stuff is gonna help you. But promise me one thing, and that is something that I've been talking about a lot, but it's the only key to success, and that's you gotta keep going, right? You have to keep going, because here's the thing, guys, you will hit a mess up, right? And I think people love sharing the motivational posts on Instagram and you know, David Goggins and you know, the quotes and all this stuff and then the fire emojis. And right, people love sharing this stuff because it's easy, it's simple, right? It's like, hey, look, I'm motivated. I'm doing the hard shit. Yeah, cool. But like when it comes to actually getting uncomfortable doing the work, right? and you lose motivation, like what do you do? A lot of people just kind of like just stop because they're like, ah, I'm not motivated. I'm not gonna do it, but not you, right? You're gonna do the work. You will keep going. And you're gonna be open to learn, right? With us, you're gonna push yourself, get uncomfortable. You're gonna appreciate the journey. That's a big one. Now, let's get a little bit into the story because first of all, right? This is back in 2019. I was like, I was planning the trip. I really wanted to go. And I was like, Should I do the Mount Everest Basecamp track, which I ended up doing first. And then I was like, or do I want to do the Annapurna circuit, which is also like a, both are like two week tracks, basically rare. It's maybe just about eight days up to get to Everest Basecamp and then four down, I think, or five. Um, and then Annapurna kind of depends like at least two weeks, right? There's a few shortcuts you can take these days, which is a bit of a bummer, but either way ended up doing both. So I. I basically walked for like four weeks straight in Himalayas. And the first one I was like, I've never been here. I've never done any high altitude stuff. I've been on a lot of hikes in Norway. That's where I live. But you know, still I was like, should I go with a guide? And that really answers the question of today's episode, you know? It's like, should you go with the guide? Do you need a coach? Do you need a mentor? Do you need a guide? Right. And. I ended up going with one because I asked a friend who I knew had been a couple of times already. And I was like, yeah, absolutely. Or he was like, absolutely. Go with them. Their experience, right. And it was so worth it. I'm so happy. And this, by the way, is a little tip as well. Side note. Ask people around you, right, in your direct environment who've been there and done that, who have had those experiences, whether it's coaching or something else, right. Or like in this case, the trip. So it was so worth it. My guide, Barret, he pushed me when it was necessary. He told me to slow down when it was necessary. He told me like, hey, let's take a break. Drink some water. Because sometimes you get in your own head, for good or for worse. And he was by my side the whole time and he knew the journey. He knew kind of like how to break things up and where to sleep. And he actually had good connections also when it comes to places to stay. But he could anticipate the weather, which I had no idea, right? And every single day it was like we got up at five in the morning and then we would hike and then it was a clockwork, like 12, like one in the afternoon. Just the bad weather would hit and it would be really bad. Right. But we would already just kind of like be at the next spot because you're not always just walking. You got to get to a certain level, kind of stay there. Right. And you go a little bit by bit. And of course, you know, Having someone to talk to, right? Share experiences with, create memories with, you know, and chat, and we actually played cards, and he even arranged a helicopter for us when the plane flight back down to Kathmandu on the way back, right, got canceled because of the bad weather. So it was so worth having the guide, right? And all reality, here's the reality of it. In hindsight, could I have done it by myself? Yes, absolutely. Would it have been the same experience? No, absolutely not. Because sometimes you're, you got to go with that guide, right? You can be like, I don't need it. I'm, you know, I can figure it out. And yeah, sure. You can. However, sometimes it backfires on you, you know, I'm going to use a little extreme of an example here. Actually too. but even also with your health and fitness, right? You may choose to not go with a coach or whatever it is, and you go to Dr. Google, and you try another keto fat diet, Atkins, Weight Watchers, whatever it is, and then you do 75 hard and you beat yourself up because you can't make it through seven days. And then, right? You keep trying these crazy diets and you know how it ends, right? You've been there already. So is it really worth skipping the investment? Because it's not a cost. Coaching is not a cost. Mentorship is not a cost. Guidance, in general, it's not a cost. It's an investment. And when it comes to health coaching, it's with the biggest ROI ever. Because when you are taking care of your health and you see that improvement and it's actually you're feeling better, et cetera, that is paying off, that is going to translate into every other aspects of life. So it's an investment. That's how you want to see this stuff. Is it worth skipping that investment just because, well, you're like, well, I can figure it out by myself. No, you can't. Sometimes you cannot. And that's okay. Right. I can't in many ways with nutrition. Like I know what I'm doing. Of course, training. I know what I'm doing. Like I said, with the, with the trip, I could have gone to Google, but having someone with you is so worth it in so many ways. So. This reminds me of a specific moment where we sat down. So basically how it works, right? So you walk for like half a day, you get to the next little village, you kind of stay there, you pay for food, you get lodging for free. And then every day you meet other travelers and groups and stuff, because there's of course stops along the way up. And then we overheard this dude, I think it was a French guy or Italian, arguing with his guide because... It was a group of friends and then the guide, right? And this guy, he wanted to keep going because he was used to hiking and stuff, right? And he told him, I think he said something in the sense of like, you know, I'm not here to sit around. Like I wanna, you know, I wanna walk. I'm here to trek. I wanna get up to mountains. But we were in a specific place where you're supposed to spend a day to acclimatize because at some point, like as you get up in higher altitudes, you know, there's less and less oxygen. like available in the air, basically, your body needs to get used to that. Pretty tough, by the way. So you have to do those days where you climatize, you actually do a hike and you come back down again so that afterwards you can keep going. Right. You have to respect the body in this case, like it's, it's serious shit, you know, but he didn't. So he decided to split from the group so I could tell that the other people were kind of like, ah, you know, just. Don't be a pain, just go with us. But anyway, so he ended up finishing lunch and stuff and he kept walking. The group stayed with the guide. And what do you know? The very next day, I'm laughing, but it's actually not funny. The very next day, we saw that same group, right? Without the dude, right? Because he actually got sent back to Kathmandu because he had altitude sickness and he had to cancel the whole trip because he got, right? Seriously sick. should have listened. And of course, that's maybe harsh to say, but sometimes it's worth listening to the guide because that's what they're there for. And these people, whether it's me or Alexandra or in terms of health coaching, whether it's your PT at the gym, whether it's a business coach, whatever it is, your teacher, it pays off to be the learner in the situation. It's okay not to know everything We never know everything. I don't, right? I've been studying a lot about nutrition. I don't know shit compared to like, if you think like the rabbit holes you can go into. And I mean that, right? And it's not that I don't know shit, but like it sometimes feels like that because every time you get to a new level and you learn something about a topic or whatever it is, and this isn't nutrition specific, it's just life. It's like, oh, like, so now I get to this point where I thought this was like advanced and then you just open up so many new doors and it's like, holy shit, like there's way more. And I will say this, so nutrition is definitely one of those where you can keep learning forever. And I will, right? But also in life, like you're gonna have to keep learning forever to always keep leveling up. Because at every level, you're just gonna meet new challenges, right? New setbacks, et cetera, new lessons to be learned. So that same day, me and my guide actually sat down and we discussed a hike. So there was a hike, which is basically a side track to where it would add two full days of walking to the whole track. But then we could go to one of the highest lakes in the world. And I kind of wanted to do it. I was really like, I wanted to go, but then my guide told me like, Hey, like let's not do it like the weather, the conditions, it's not good. Better we wait, right. Or not wait, like better. We keep going and we wait with like the sidetracks because for now we just got to focus through, you know, on, on getting to, to base camp. So that being said, we decided not to do the side hike, which I'm very happy about. Again, like I said, I'm using a couple of extreme examples here. But the day after when we initially had planned on maybe doing that hike, right? The one that we ended up not doing. It was a big, um, like heavy rockfall. In case you don't know, you maybe know what the avalanches is, right? But then with rocks and I'm talking right. Meters wide, right? These are massive, like car sized boulders rolling down the mountains. And people got injured and people died, right? That day. Which is crazy to think about. And that was a close one, basically. And those kinds of trips, you know, in the mountains, right? There are some risks anyway. But okay, without getting too dark here, the lesson is that if you don't have the experience, if you're not sure, and if you're not fully familiar with the road ahead and what it's gonna bring and how to handle it, get the guidance, get the help, you know what I mean? Because this is gonna pay off. It might just save your life. many ways. Even with the nutrition stuff, it might actually save your life. I'm not even kidding. That goes for mental health. It goes for your actual physical health. If you don't take control of the whole situation, there's going to be some downsides to it down the road. And the cool thing is that you listening to this podcast, you now have an opportunity to do something about your current state and actually level up and get healthy and stay healthy if you go with the right approach. So that later, once you know, Once you hit 60, 70, 80, whatever, 90, you'll actually first of all be able to get to those, you know, ages, like 90 plus, whatever. But you're going to be fit. You're going to be healthy, resilient because you've built the muscle. You've lost the body fat and you invested the money. And if it's not the money, you invest at the time and the effort in your own health. With guidance, it will be better. It will be quicker. I'm not gonna say easier, but it will be quicker, more effective. Because if you have that person next to you with the actual experience, with the information who can help you make objective decisions, right? Because you're gonna be emotional, right? You're gonna respond to different inputs and he can be, or he or she can be like, hey, you know what, like this is what we wanna be doing. Or hey, are you sure about that, right? Your coach is supposed to challenge you as well. It's not a cheerleader. Definitely not. And they might actually, right, like with that dude, give you advice that you don't want to hear. But sometimes you want to listen to that advice, even though it's maybe something you don't want to do. And that's a hard thing for both the coach and the client, but it's also necessary. Because a good coach is not here to always just tell you what you want to hear, right? Cause you might as well just get chat GBT then, you know? It's the same thing with health and fitness stuff, the guidance, you know that, right? And it's possible to lose the weight. It is. And by the way, if you don't go with a coach, maybe you can go with a friend or you can learn stuff yourself, but you know, getting someone else in the mix, at least it will help if you go to CrossFit gym or even just any gym in general, like, hey, look for someone. in your environment who can be like, hey, right? Maybe your role model, maybe in a way they can be your mentor. Because you know what it is? People who have reached higher levels, those are the people who wanna share that with others, right? So here's the thing, there's not a lot of real shortcuts in life, but this is actually one of them. Those who have been there and done that and already have the skills, knowledge, and experience that are needed for success, right? Again, those are the ones that will actually help you out. So the choice is yours. Like you either rely on their experience and their expert guidance and input, or you try to figure things out on your own. by yourself, you make more mistakes and it's got to take longer. So the main question today is, are you willing to be guided? Right? Are you willing to admit that you don't fully know how to handle this whole health and nutrition, you know, fitness stuff? Let's call it. That's a question that's maybe hard to answer, but I want you to actually think about that. Which also brings me to the last chunk of this episode already, because these kind of things are meant to be, you know, I want you to kind of sit on this, if that makes sense, kind of chew on it. Like I said, this episode was not to sell coaching, although, like I said, we have spots for Alexandra currently. So, but most importantly, it's like, I want you to start thinking about this stuff. I want to just start thinking about this stuff because in many ways, right? We always think that we can make it on our own, but usually we can't. And that is okay. And I'm sharing this because I know from experience, now I'm going to just kind of like go step away from the trip, but just strictly talk about coaching business and those kinds of things. If it wasn't for the help that I got from the coaches and mentors and right, friends in this space. I would not be here. Not yet. I'm a hard worker, so I'll figure shit out eventually. Like I said, you can do this on your own. I could have gotten here on my own without any help, but that would have been maybe five, seven years later. I don't know, I'm just using examples here, but I'm serious though, I'm real serious. If I didn't get that mentorship right away, the first month I signed up for coach, or I started my coaching company, I mean, if it wasn't for that. If it wasn't for getting coaches myself and seeing how they do it, right. If it wasn't for then getting another mentor and doing business programs, those kinds of things and doing more nutrition courses. Right. And then getting right specializations and hormones and metabolism and mindset and stuff, which, you know, right now I'm doing like the next, next level of. I think it's in one or two months. as well as another course, right? So we're heavily investing in education as well. We're always learning and it's never gonna be done. And the reality is also with the nutrition stuff and the fitness, you can find everything on Google. It's all out there. You can even access the research, which I will say, which is maybe not a good thing because sometimes people take one study and think like, hey, that's enough, like, no, but it is all out there. The question is, Are you going to try and figure it out on your own or actually get the guidance? Next week, we're going to be back with part two of the lessons in Himalayas or from the Himalayas, sorry, miniseries. Check this one out on the blog as well, if you want to link that in the show notes. And then we will be back on Thursday with another Q&A episode, which is going to be the second part of the Q&A with Pia. So I'll talk to you then.