Remix Recipe №58 · Medium-Mode
The Contrarian Exercise
Hand your people an exercise they can draw in thirty seconds, built on the insight your industry keeps getting wrong.
Original reel by @catsantos
1.1M views
Watch it ↗
The Contrarian Exercise is an Instagram reel idea that fits almost any coaching business. Read how a career coach for burned-out corporate women and a confidence coach for first-time speakers approached it before you write your own.
The recipe
- Name the exercise: Open by saying what your exercise is called. Give it a name people can repeat.
- Hit them with the contrarian line: Say what actually makes the outcome possible, and name the advice it is not. This is the reason anyone keeps watching.
- Draw the shape: Draw the framework on paper while you talk. Keep it to three named parts so it fits on one page.
- Fill it in live: Write real examples into each part, close enough to camera that people can read them.
- Close on why it works: End on the one sentence that explains why your version beats the advice they already tried.
Your Studio follows these beats when it writes your script.
Remix the hook for your brand
“What actually makes the outcome possible isn't the obvious answer”
The exercise is called your exercise name
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Why it worked
The exercise is the deliverable, but the contrarian insight is what makes anyone want it. She argues directly with the advice her audience has already tried and failed at, then hands over an exercise built on her version instead.
A take on its own is just an opinion, and an exercise on its own is just homework. She also fills the boxes in on camera with real examples, so you can see exactly what your own page would look like.
Examples
A career coach for burned-out corporate women
“What actually makes leaving your job possible isn't a savings number, it's a plan you believe.”
She draws three boxes, the exit you want, the story keeping you in, and the first honest step, then walks through filling each one.
A confidence coach for first-time speakers
“What actually makes getting on stage possible isn't confidence, it's evidence.”
Her three boxes are the room you want to be in, the story that says you're not ready, and the proof you already have.
Multiply it, one reel becomes your week
- Newsletter: Run the exercise on your own stuck point and show all three boxes filled in.
- Thread: One box per post, with the prompts for filling it.
- Carousel: One slide per box, blank and ready to save.
- YouTube: Fill the exercise in real time on a real goal, out loud.
Use Solo Content Studio to write more formats based on this idea recipe.