It was a Monday afternoon like any other. You know what I’m talking about, pretending to be productive in the post-lunch drag. Try as we might to get work done, it’s easy to get distracted by the all-too-familiar chirps and blips of our favorite social media sites.

For me, it’s usually bookFace. The notification came in, I clicked it, and then I saw a comment that completely rubbed me the wrong way:

“Why pay for coaching when you can find everything you need on Google for free?”

The comment was on a thread asking about the cost of a friend’s online coaching services. A perfectly reasonable question to ask inside of the Facebook group. Eric Bach’s constantly overloading it with value.

If I’m being honest, there’s some validity to the comment. Everything in fitness is on Google. But coaching’s more than knowing the exercise and nutrition “secrets.”

That’s why the implicit “just Google it” didn’t sit well with me.

Clicking through to see the replies, I found that I wasn’t alone. It opened up to several responses as to why paying for coaching was a good idea. Most of which were from fellow coaches. And most of which barely even began to scratch the surface.

That’s why I sat down to write this.

The 9 Reasons Why You Should Pay for Coaching Even Though You Can Find Everything on Google for Free

For the record, I’m going to relate most of this to my industry—fitness. But the following reasons reach far beyond the world of bars and bells. Each one of these applies just as readily to teachers, mentors, instructors, and coaches of any kind.

Much like all of my favorite things in fitness, this transcends arms and abs. This applies to life.

Why You Should Pay For Coaching Reason #1:

To Save Time

Malcolm Gladwell talks about 10,000 hours to mastery. (Which, by the way, is almost five years [250 weeks] if you’re logging 40 hours per week. No small feat.)

On the opposite side of the spectrum, Tim Ferriss talks about how you can become world-class at anything in six months or less. Tim’s the guy that wrote the “4-Hour” books—workweek, body, and chef.

Regardless of whose camp you’re in, the two ideas have one thing in common. Both take time.

Luckily, there’s a simple way to accelerate that timeline. Hire a coach.

“Normies, normal people, spend time to save money. But successful people? Successful people spend money to save time.”

—Giovanni Vincenzo Romaniello

Hiring a coach gives you the ability to fast-track your success. Instead of stumbling through and figuring things out by trial and error, a coach guides you to your goal.

The shortest distance between two points is a line. To get from where you are to where you want to go, a coach ensures a straighter line.

Why You Should Pay For Coaching Reason #2:

They’re Practitioners

Any coach worth their salt—or fee—is both talk and walk. They practice what they preach. And they have experience in the trenches. Both professionally and personally.

If you’re looking to buy fitness, your coach should be, you know, fit. And a good coach will be.

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(Before anybody flips out, no, I’m not saying a fitness coach has to walk around shredded all the time. But they should be personally familiar with what they sell. Be it raw strength, six-pack abs, or general health.)

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They’ll understand how real the struggle gets when you’re craving carbs you can’t have. They’ll know what it’s like to hit the gym when the tank’s on empty. And they’ll get the frustration of a stubborn scale.

A good coach can empathize because they’ve lived it. They have experience—first hand. They’re practitioners of the craft.

Why You Should Pay For Coaching Reason #3:

A Personalized Experience

Everything can work. But the trick is finding what works best for you as an individual. That’s where the magic happens.

All that advice you can find on Google can work. Truly. Most of the time, it’s already worked for thousands of people. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll work best for you. Finding the tool, tip, trick, or tactic that’ll work best for you in a sea of Google results is hard—nigh impossible. Unless you hire a coach.

A good coach will be able to personalize your experience. Not only giving you what works, but finding what’ll work best for you.

I mean, you could guess and check until you find that perfect nutrition plan. But your results are bound to yo-yo as you bounce between everything from paleo to IFFYM to high-protein to low-fat to intuitive eating to high-carb and everything else you find online. If frustration and disappointment sound like your cup of tea, go for it.

If you actually want results, try this:

Hire an expert to take you, your body, your goals, and your personal preferences into account as they sift through the endless information to show you exactly what’s going to work best for you.

Remember, that’s where the magic happens.

Why You Should Pay For Coaching Reason #4: 

They’re Experts 

If we’re working under the assumption that a coach is qualified, they know what they’re talking about. They’ve spent years developing an expertise—school, practical experience, continuing education, masterminds, conferences, advanced degrees, and certifications.

Coaches are seasoned experts. Google’s a search engine.

Coaches rely on studying. Google relies on SEO.

Coaches are full of useful information. Google is full of internet truths.

Ever hear that skipping breakfast is a fat loss faux pas? That you have to eat several small meals throughout the day for the best results? That low weight and high reps is best to lose fat and tone up? That eating after 7:00 pm will make you fat?

You’ll find these internet truths all over. But they’re not actually true. Fitness experts know this.

They know that skipping breakfast is a popular form of intermittent fasting, used by thousands to get great results. They know that there’s no metabolic difference between having 5–7 small meals or two big meals a day. They know that low weight and high reps is a strategy that bodybuilders have been using for years—to build muscle. And they know that food at 9:17 pm won’t go straight to your hips.

For a fraction of the time and money they’ve invested into gaining this expertise, we can actually work with coaches. Like, one-on-one.

Compared to Google, it’s a no-brainer.

Why You Should Pay For Coaching Reason #5:

To Save Money (Seriously)

The Facebook comment that inspired this article said something else:

“I’ve wasted enough money already.”

First things first, sorry, bro. That’s no fun. And not like this will help you feel any better, but most people have wasted money on quick fixes and magic bullets—be it in fitness or literally buying the Magic Bullet. I know I have (both with fitnessy things and the Magic Bullet).

Remember the Ab Energizer? It was a belt you’d wear around your waist that used electric pulse to contract your abs. My brother and I got one, certain we’d have a six-pack by summer. A few weeks later, it was collecting dust.

We had moved on to the Ab Wheel Glider after our abs weren’t looking very energized.

More time passed. More products were purchased. And more mid-section disappointment ensued.

Our six-packs weren’t happening. And we kept wasting dollar after dollar chasing the results we wanted, buying into every infomercial we saw.

It adds up. Quick. And, unfortunately, doesn’t work as well as advertised. Pretty much every time. Then you’re off buying the next big thing—again.

Coaches sell results. Not some quick fix surrounded by nifty marketing and salacious headlines.

Yes, it costs a premium compared to three easy payments of $19.99. But you’re paying a premium for one that works instead of wasting money on countless things that don’t.

Why You Should Pay For Coaching Reason #6:

Simplify and Translate

Exercise science is, well, a science. Anatomy, biomechanics, physiology, and biochemistry all play rolls in fitness.

Trying to truly understand the Krebs Cycle from Google search results? Good luck.

Coaches are able to take complex science, boil it down, and translate it into that make sense so that you can take action.

For example, I just wrote an online coaching program that includes post-activation potentiation, or PAP. (I know, right? I just pushed imaginary glasses up a little higher on the bridge of my nose as I wrote that.) The science of PAP is sound but can get tricky to grasp.

“Post-activation potentiation is a theory that purports that the contractile history of a muscle influences the mechanical performance of subsequent muscle contractions.”

—Google

Allow me to translate. By pairing strength work and an explosive movement that works the same muscle group, you can increase muscle activation and improve performance. For example, do a few clapping push ups immediately after a set on the bench press.

A coach simplifies science and translates it into actionable advice.

Why You Should Pay For Coaching Reason #7:

Accountability

Most of us know what we should be doing. We know that fried chicken and waffles isn’t good for us. We know we should get more sleep. We know we should eat our veggies. And we know we should do some sort of physical activity.

But there’s a serious disconnect between what we know and what we actually do.

According to Dr. Gail Matthews, Professor of Psychology at Dominican University of California, there’s a simple fix—accountability. Matthews conducted a study that shows a 33% higher success rate when people send weekly updates to a friend about their goal.

A coach is that friend. #accountabilitybuddy

The best plan in the world is worthless if you don’t follow it. With a coach, you’re not just paying for a workout program. You’re also paying for the coaching. The follow-up. The accountability.

Therein lies success.

Why You Should Pay For Coaching Reason #8:

Coaches Genuinely Want to Help

We’re not like what you see on TV. The whip will not be cracked. Drill-sergeant style shouting isn’t the norm. And lunch will not be canceled due to lack of hustle.

You don’t have to deal with that. Any of that.

There may be a slight selection bias, but all of the coaches I know aren’t like that. At all. They’re actually amazing people that get fired up by helping others. By building them up, not breaking them down.

Most of the time in health and fitness, you get exactly what you pay for. Cheap supplements are full of cheap ingredients. Free programs are worth about as much. And bargain brand products yield bargain brand results. But coaches are different.

Because they want to help, a genuine coach over-delivers on value.

We’re not sleazy sales people here to swindle you out of your money. We’re here to give you everything you need to succeed.

Why You Should Pay For Coaching Reason #9:

Cut Through Confusion

Listen, I love the internet. I work almost exclusively online. But the interwebz sure make things confusing. For everything you type into a search bar, you find countless differing opinions. It’s too much.

Nobody’s going anywhere if they’re stuck looking over eleventy billion contradictory results Google just spat out.

The key to going anywhere is to simply get started. But with countless ways to do so, that’s much easier said than done. We all need to clear up the confusion of contradiction and distil information overload down to what really matters.

That’s literally what coaches do for a living.

A coach cuts through confusion and points you in the right direction. That way, you know exactly how to start getting the results you want.

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Looking for a Coach?

After all that, I’d be remiss if I didn’t tell you I have a few openings in my online coaching program right now. Put everything I just said to the test, apply for coaching, and see for yourself why hiring a coach is worth it.

If I don’t completely deliver within the first month of coaching, I’ll give you your money back and help you find a coach that’s a better fit.

Go on, try me. Let me prove myself right.