• Email marketing
• Facebook marketing
• Producing new products
• Helping members of my PT100K Club
• Growing my training business (busy January!)
• Helping my son go from football training once per week to three times per week
• Been skiing to Andorra with friends
• Been away for long weekends in London a few times
• Working out

etc……….   Stupid really ,as I really enjoy writing my blogs and so should be writing more of them. Anyhow, I felt compelled to write this one due to something that has become very new to me, and is a problem that I always used to read successful people having to deal with.   HATERS / HATE MAIL / INTERNET TROLLS / Whatever you want to call them.  You see up until recently, I’ve been wrapped in cotton-wool, protected from the evil world and had never really been exposed to such negative, angry and quite frankly insulting behaviour.  But it turns out they’re everywhere. 

I’d occasionally hear about a news story regarding a famous sports person on twitter having to deal with haters, but naively didn’t realise that any of this could be directed at me one day.

Well….I was wrong. 

Apparently, as you climb the ladder of success and ‘put yourself out there’ – become more well known, you then actually become a target. An easy target.  I made the decision last year to help PTs out a little bit.

It seemed that there was a void in the market place for quality free info on how to grow your PT Biz.

There was either loads of crappy free stuff or quite a bit of high priced quality stuff.

So I thought I would try to help out a little bit.  I made the decision to get busy on email. Not every day, but certainly 2-3 times per week to deal with the demand that seemed to be there.

I continue to get really cool messages from PTs thanking me for the stuff that I send them. Big shifts in their businesses. That’s enough of a reason to keep doing it then. 

All going well. Then I started getting emails from some telling me to “FUCK OFF.” OK, I get that. Not everyone wants to be emailed 2-3 times per week with cool info so I don’t mind that. 

Then it started getting a bit more personal – “FUCK OFF with  your stupid emails about your stupid family and your stupid facebook tips you prick. ” – is that really necessary? would that same person say this to my face if I met them in the street?

Then that’s developed into more public engagement through facebook posts. Insulting words, calling me a liar and a fraud.  Seriously questioning my integrity for no apparent reason.  These occasional encounters have now become much more frequent. 

Now I’ve had to do some serious soul searching recently.  You see, at a human level most of us want to be liked.  We want to feel like our work is making a difference to people’s lives and that as a result of them coming into contact with us they’re lives are changing for the better. 

In the same way that we love it when we get praise and recognition, it’s human nature to not really like it when we have to deal with insults and vile comments. It’s ain’t nice. 

It’s been an interesting journey that I’ve had in my head over the last few weeks and here’s my conclusion.

These haters are out there and they will never go away. They will only latch on to people that appear to be doing well. Certainly new kids on the block as they know that these kids will not be used to the vile that comes from their mouths.

Most new kids will back down, or even worse engage with them.

Here’s the next observation – never, ever engage with them on any level – this is what they want. You can never win. They want to know they’ve rattled you. 

It’s a victory to them if you respond. 

You just have to press’delete’ and move on. Delete their email, delete their post on FB, delete their tweet. 

Next point – they are only acting the way that they do as a result of how crappy they must be feeling within themselves. They wish they had  the balls to invest in themselves and make a success of their lives.

They are looking for someone to blame.  ….and if you appear to be doing all of the things that they wish they were doing then they want to shoot you  down to their level. That will make them feel better. 

Guess what guys – it ain’t happening. 

• I’m on the way up. 
• Life is awesome right now.
• My family (yep them again) see more of me than they ever have in my whole 20 year working life (I bet the haters will really hate that one!)
• I’m fitter now than I have ever been. 
• My health is brilliant, having suffered with chronic stomach pains (still not diagnosed ) for 20 years
• I have the most amazing like minded members in my PT100K Club that are all moving their own businesses forward as well (I love working / helping like minded trainers that are investing in themselves and getting results!)
• I have systems in place that allow me to make money while I sleep and my training biz is going to be growing all over the UK soon. 
• My work / life balance is just right. 
• Myself and my wife are just looking into hiring a villa in France / Spain for the whole of August this year. 

I make no apologies for this.  If you are reading this and hate me right now, then feel free to let me know how much in the comments. If it makes  you feel better then let it out man. Do it! I promise to give you a maximum of 24 hours air time before pressing delete and moving on creating my dream life. 

I’ve had to deal with huge stress and pressure over the last few years as I’ve made massive changes to my life. I’ve left my comfort zone previous financial services career to pursue my passion. I’ve done this at a time when I’ve had 2  young children and huge financial commitment. Friends and family thought I was completely insane.

It’s been really tough at times. I’ve nearly lost my house and I’ve gone days without sleeping a wink as I’ve tried to figure out the right decisions to make. 

Any spare money I have made I have then invested in coaches / mentors / courses (and still do this by the way) to improve myself and those around I influence to be where I am now. 

So don’t blame me if you’re not willing to do any of this yourself!

If, however you’re reading this and are just a little bit inspired, then again feel free to let me know in the comments. You guys are staying and I promise that I’ll respond to you in kind. 

Here’s another little takeaway for you. If you’re not currently attracting these people – even just with a few weekly unsubscribes/ complaints from your email list then you’re not sending enough emails out.

Crank it up! Get more stuff out there. 

Make some more videos.

Get some more blogs done. 

Share them with your target market. ……then they’ll find you and you’ll know that you’re heading in the right direction. 

Ricky

ps. membership to PT100K Club is most likely closed right now but it does open again every 6-8 weeks. Feel free to apply here.