Our mission is simple... Empower personal trainers to become highly competent at what they do, and align the industry with the right core values - service, reputation and results!
Despite what others would have you believe, your success isn't predicated on £10k months and flashy cars. Your success in this industry is built upon coaching competence - using the knowledge and skills you have to change lives for the better.
We've both built our business from the ground up, with service, reputation and results at the forefront of everything, and we hope to impart some of that to you.
This week we explain why a 2000-year-old Zen mantra has become our go-to behaviour experiment.
We cover:
🎯 “Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water” - what it actually means to us.
🎯 Why self-deprecation is a route to dissatisfaction in any pursuit you follow.
🎯 Why we respond to a win and a loss the same way, in spite of our emotional reaction.
🎯 How having a thick skin can influence your nervous system state.
If you’ve ever felt guilty for still having to grind after a win, or you’re stuck in a reactive spiral you can’t quite name, this one should help.
Coaching business shoutout: Aaron O’Malley (@aaron_systemsforcoaches) - our systems and automation guy, who’s helped us move into the 21st century!
📍 We’re back at Irving’s Peak Performance Seminar, Sunday 25th October - a few tickets still left via Ross or Nikki Irving’s Instagram.
📸 Instagram: @thecoachinginitiative (https://www.instagram.com/thecoachinginitiative/)
📩 info@thecoachinginitiative.net (mailto:info@thecoachinginitiative.net)
2 Oct 2026
Ep.32 - You've Got Trust Issues
Most coaches think trust starts at 100% and gets eroded. We think that's backwards - and it's probably why some of your coaching can feel off right from the start.
In today's episode we cover:
🎯 The three levels of trust - transactional, reciprocal, and unconditional.
🎯 Why standards are what actually build transactional trust.
🎯 Why vulnerability, not friendliness, is what builds reciprocal trust - and why coaches confusing "likeable" with "trustworthy" get stuck at a superficial level.
🎯 Why being paid badly didn't excuse delivering a worse session - the mindset that got us through years of being underpaid at M10.
🎯 Why challenge can deepen trust instead of damaging it.
If a client relationship has ever felt like it stalled out of nowhere, trust might be the layer you skipped.
Coaching business shoutout: Liam Coffey (Muscle Doctor UK) - soft tissue therapist who runs the cadaver courses at King's College London that we've both attended. Go back to episode 13 if you want to hear what that experience was actually like.
🏴 Scottish listeners - tickets may still be available for Irving's Peak Performance Seminar, 25th October 2026.
📸 Instagram: @thecoachinginitiative (https://www.instagram.com/thecoachinginitiative/)
📩 info@thecoachinginitiative.net (mailto:info@thecoachinginitiative.net)
25 Sept 2026
Ep.31 - How Our Programming Has Changed Over The Years
Quick heads up before we start - TCI Level 1 doors close Sunday for this intake, and we won't run this cohort again until 2027. If you've been on the fence, now's your chance, DM us on Instagram with your interest.
Onto this week's episode: programme design, and specifically how our programming has evolved over 10 years of coaching.
We cover:
🎯 Why a roadmap alone isn't enough
🎯 The de-load mistakes we made
🎯 Our thoughts on fatigue, and how coaches misunderstand it
🎯 The limiters on your's and your clients' progress in the gym
If programme design has ever felt like a set of rules you're not allowed to break, this episode will shatter that box you're stuck in.
Coaching business shoutout: Liv Anderson - a TCI OG returning for Level 2, an exceptional student, who now feels confident enough to take real time off, knowing her clients aren't going anywhere.
📚 Level 1 doors close Sunday - message us if you're interested, we'll answer any questions.
📸 Instagram: @thecoachinginitiative (https://www.instagram.com/thecoachinginitiative/)
📩 info@thecoachinginitiative.net (mailto:info@thecoachinginitiative.net)
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