Operation SuperCoach - Hotel California, Eagles, And Foot In Mouth

Did you know that Eagles were one of the best selling bands of all time? They are also listed on the list of greatest artists of all time. Oh, and THE highest-selling American band in U.S. history. Sigh. I didn't know that. What I knew (or thought I did) was that Eagles were really only known for their hit song "Hotel California". They released many other songs that were all perfectly mediocre, and no one really heard of the band, even though everyone heard the ONE hit song. And so, I posted the following "tip" in a professional Facebook group consisting of 15,000 health fitness professionals, where I am one of the admins: *** "DON’T BE A ONE TRICK PONY. Remember Eagles? Of course, you don’t. How about “Hotel California”? 99% of you heard of the song, but not of the band, because they never really came out with anything else “good”. Don’t be a one trick pony, don’t be a one hit wonder. If you find a thing, THE thing, that works - be it paleo, veganism, or motivational interviewing, beware of using it and overusing it to the exclusion of others. Don’t turn A tool into THE tool. You don’t think calorie counting is a good approach for most? Awesome. You are in good company. Yet, do not miss the level 3 client who already had the basic strategies down and can really benefit from next level approach. A good coach uses many tools available. Don’t paleo everyone to death. That song is pretty good though. *** Have you stopped laughing yet? If there is a better way to make a fool out of yourself in front of 15,000 people, I have not found it yet. Please find a picture of me cringing / blushing / face palming enclosed.

So, how did my foot end up in my mouth? In the exact moment that I posted that coaching tip, I was working from the road - sitting in the passenger seat of my father's car, holding my laptop opened on my knees, connected to internet via my phone. I was multitasking too - typing, and chewing on beef jerky, and make sure that my father took all the right turns, as we navigated through Saskatoon (or was it Kamloops? Thunder Bay?). We were in the middle of a 4,400km drive from Vancouver to Toronto (4,386.5km, to be exact - I checked!). I grew up on Scorpions and Pink Floyd, and heard the above comment about Eagles from my father many times.

Ever heard of source memory error? It's a type of memory error where you hear a piece of information, but forget WHERE you heard it, which can lead to some embarrassing snafus down the road. For example, you may hear at some point that Eagles were a one-hit wonder band, and forget where you heard it, over time, assuming that this is actually factual information. In retrospect, I think my father just did not LIKE anything else by Eagles. I hesitated momentarily before posting - something pulled at me - should I check? Were Eagles ACTUALLY a one hit-wonder? But, I was distracted. Sault Ste. Marie exit was coming up (Regina?). So, I took a shortcut. Well, the post got a lot of engagement all right. :) Most comments were, of course, defending Eagles. And poking fun at me for possibly the worst example in history of all examples. A kind soul in the thread pointed out that most folks completely missed the point of the coaching tip, because of a bad example. That is true. Most folks did miss the point. You know whose fault that is? Mine.

It's almost impossible to see past the bad example. I already lost you.

It's almost impossible to get past the bad first impression, the insensitive comment, the lack of professionalism. I'd like to say that I immediately looked up the information about Eagles, and corrected the post. But that would not be true. Instead, I spend few days NOT reading the comments, and hoping that the thread would quietly die. :) I also intentionally avoided Googling Eagles, dreading finding out just HOW wrong I have been. (Very). Can anyone relate? There is more than one coaching tip that resulted from this post, me thinks. FEW TAKEAWAYS (probably nothing new, but great reminders for yours truly, at least): - Eagles have other good songs apart from "Hotel California". - Fathers are not infallible. - Check your sources. - First impressions matter. - If the client misses the point, it's probably your fault. - Taking shortcuts will cost you. Have you ever put yer foot firmly in yer mouth? How did you recover? Did you recover? :) Or did you follow my example, and avoid internet for a while? Hugs, SOLO