Embracing Hard Things in Your Coaching Business
Do you want to work a job where a boss tells you exactly what to do?
NO
Do you want to have someone else limit the money you make?
NO
Do you want to run in circles like a hamster on a wheel?
NO
Then you need to embrace 2 hard things in your coaching business:
- Big walls that require massive effort to climb.
- Long treks across a desert of drudgery.
Imagine climbing a giant staircase…
The vertical surfaces of the stairs…
- represent obstacles in your coaching business (Hard Thing #1).
- require you to employ moments of MASSIVE EFFORT.
The horizontal surfaces of the stairs…
- represent the long, boring, frustrating journeys (Hard Thing #2).
- require you to employ PATIENCE and PERSISTENCE.
MASSIVE EFFORT (AKA THE VERTICAL SURFACE of the stair)
You may think that your coaching business is rolling along smoothly…
…when suddenly your website crashes…
…or you decide to do a launch for your coaching program…
…or you create a video series for your coaching clients…
…or anything that suddenly demands a ton more effort than you’re used to.
This is the vertical surface of the stair.
You can’t go around it.
The only way forward…
…is up.
The only cure for overcoming the wall is massive effort.
Imagine trying to climb a wall (whether it’s a physical wall, or a psychological wall).
You need strategy…
…or encouragement…
…or accountability.
Sometimes the wall looks like an obstacle course wall…
…where your team helps you get over the wall.
Sometimes it’s a lonely journey…
…like a solo rock climber.
You might get scraped up or bruised…
…but you’ll build muscles that you never knew you had.
And as you crest the top of the stair and pull yourself onto the ledge…
…you breathe a sigh of relief.
And, for a while, you can rest on the horizontal part of the step…
…but eventually you’ll be disappointed by lack of the same massive progress.
PATIENCE AND PERSISTENCE (AKA THE HORIZONTAL SURFACE of the stair)
The second hard thing in your coaching business is a long, slow plateau without major progress.
Any progress that takes a long time is harder to achieve.
How long is a ‘long time’…?
…any amount of time that’s longer than you want it to take.
Even doing easy things can become hard over time.
For instance, writing emails is pretty easy…
..but writing only one email doesn’t help your business grow.
You’ve got to write a lot of them to make a difference.
Even if you get lucky and get a client from a single email…
…you’ll need to write a lot more to fill your coaching practice.
You’ll probably have to do it for years.
It’s a different type of hard thing that requires patience to succeed.
Like a trek across the desert…
…the journey demands persistence.
Most coaches turn back because they’re thirsty, bored, or frustrated…
…or distracted by mirages…
…or resting forever at an oasis that’s nowhere near their goal.
How do extraordinary coaches handle both types of hard things?
They take action…
…and continue to take action over time…
- …even when you face challenges and adversities.
- …even when it’s uncomfortable.
- …even when it’s boring.
- …even when it takes much longer than you were prepared for.
- …even when it’s scary.
You need to start seeing hard things in your business as opportunities.
Hard things are not signs of failure.
If you want to become a successful coach…
…you need to become a leader.
Any coach can ask questions…
…or give advice.
But ultimately people won’t want to coach with you if all you do is talk.
If you tell clients they need to do their own hard things…
…but you don’t do them yourself…
…your clients will sense it and lose respect for you…
…and they will probably quit no matter how great your coaching skills are.
So get your canteen and hiking boots.
Get your rope and climbing gear.
Here we go.
Each time you summit a mountain peak…
Every time you cross a long desert distance…
…you develop confidence and strength you never knew.
You inspire your clients to achieve greatness…
…you become irresistibly attractive as a coach…
…and your clients will follow you anywhere.
Colette “Crossing Deserts & Climbing Mountains” Coiner
Dr. Colette Coiner, PCC, PT, DPT, FAAOMPT
Associate Dean, Master Coach University
