You do... WHAT?! The Puzzle of AT

People don’t buy when they are confused.

And Alexander's discovery is the mother of all confusing things!

I’m celebrating today the start of our 2nd ATSuccess annual coaching program with 9 teachers signed up, and another still on the fence. (BTW: the group is closed, this is not a sales letter).

Last month, in BodyChance’s Yoga Pro in Japan, I asked for a show of hands:

“Who has trouble explaining what they are doing here to their friends?”

All the hands went up.

I mean, people can study this work for years and still not know what they are studying. How weird is that? And why is it like that anyway? What’s going on here? What makes this work such a puzzle to people?

I think it arises from the sheer, breath-taking scope of the work’s application. There really isn’t a limitation: it can work within anything. And that presents a different kind of marketing problem.

This enormity of possibility results in an enormity of services that you can offer.

What to sing higher? Check.
Want your chronic long-term back problem sorted permanently? Check
Want more flexibility in your Asana? Check
Want to present more effectively? Check
Suffering from depression? Check
Want better vision? Check

It’s ridiculous, truly. It’s just not credible. What one thing can do all that?!

Therefore, every teacher of Alexander's discovery has to first figure out: what are the problems I am solving for people? This is the ABC of not confusing people.

Remember – when people are confused, they won’t buy.

Most people selling a product or service simple don’t have this problem. They know what they are selling for heaven’s sake! If you are a dentist or a masseur, a plumber or lawyer – people know the kind of problems they can bring to you.

It’s tangible, each of those services have universal recognition.

Does our service have that? NO!!!!!!!!!!

And that’s the problem.

That’s why I started ATSuccess. To help teachers figure out what kind of service they can credibly offer? A service that solves a set of problems, within a reasonable set of parameters.

When your students finally go in and start their lessons – they will discover the incredible truth of it. Their jaws will drop, their minds will explode and they will go through the same “what-is-going-on-here” response that we have all been through. And, before then…

How do you find that service? Wrong question to start with.

Before you decide on a service, you need to know your own needs.*

What lights you up? What gets you out of bed in the morning? At ATSuccess, in our 60 Day program that qualifies you to be invited into our annual program, we ask you to figure out three things:

1. What are you passionate about?
2. Who is out there that matches that?
3. What problems can you solve for them?

Those are three big questions to ask, and some ATSuccess members have been puzzling over them for many years. It’s wonderful when I see a teacher finally come to an answer. Imogen Ragone, a teacher in Delaware, took a couple of years until one day the penny dropped:

“I want to help female entrepreneurs.”

Annie Turner struggled with the whole niche concept for years… Finally:

“I love working with young professional classical singers.”

For both of them – when they finally arrived at a clear answer to those three questions – they wondered why it took so long? It’s like that. When you find your answers you realise – “Oh, this is obvious.” That happens in lesson too, right?

You realise: the answer was in front of me all the time. I just didn’t see it. Annie joined our annual program which that starts today. I thrilled to have her on board and, as Peter Jacobson, ATSuccess Director likes to say:

“We’ve got your back.”

What is your service going to be?

To answer that, you need to know who you are offering your service too? To know that, you need to know what lights you up, what will sustain you? I don’t promise it will be all bright and happy. No way. There will be disappointments, progress is bound to be slow, there are lots of sharp corners and steep hills to climb.

This is pioneering work.

You keep hacking away at the scrub in front of you because it’s hard to see what’s ahead. You are following the old man’s prediction that his work travels to the undiscovered country. And yet, the promise is this:

You will finally arrive at a sustainable practice based on Alexander's discovery.

You will be able to earn your full-time living from sharing this extraordinary work with others. A wonderful, fulfilling life. And you will retire in financial security, with a new generation of teachers to carry on your pioneering work. All that is possible…

My blog this week was inspired by an observation that a teacher from Ireland made in our secret Facebook group. In making the decision to accept our invitation to join ATSuccess’ annual coaching program, she wrote:

We are doing something a little different here. We are identifying our own individual strengths and encouraging each other to approach the world newly freshly for ourselves. We are not trying to FIT IN to a perception of AT that others have or that is put upon us. We are breaking free of that, but not losing AT, simply by making it our own. Twenty different versions of "our own", but in support of each other with reflection and teaching each other generously…

This group of support will lead to success. I know it in my bones that we are reworking AT and bringing new life and appropriate focus on the work for people of today and the future. I know we cannot do it alone, sorry, I, cannot do it alone, as much as I would like to think I can.

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We don’t accept people directly on to the one year program. It’s not worth wasting your money and our time if you aren’t up to building a new methodology for communicating Alexander's discovery. It’s about building your own brand, not following the practises of the past. Within ATSuccess – in tandem with an honest, supportive community of teachers across all linages – you will be creating your your own future by originating a service that the world has never seen before.

Are you up for it?

Your first step is to start reading about the 12 steps of ATSuccess now by signing up below!

*NOTE: There’s a great chapter in Alexander’s CCCI about just this: Part III, Ch. 1: “Know Oneself”