Life coaching is the art of guiding people through life to achieve success or rise up from the ashes of personal crisis. You can’t help others unless you’re in great shape yourself, can you?
Top life coach entrepreneurs, like Tony Robbins, Dan Fleyshman, Joel Brown, and others built their empires from the ground up.
You're a new life coach starting your coaching practice. A certified life coach, you have office space, you desire to change lives, make more money from your coaching sessions and get to the top.
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All seasoned life coaches have mastered three important skills: increasing their reach, making a huge impact, and moving forward as entrepreneurs.
It takes true passion, more knowledge, self love (to ensure your cup doesn't run out), a good support system for better mental health, and more to succeed in this industry.
Here are 10 specific things and coaching tips that'll give you an edge and help you along the journey…
You need people who know the nooks and crannies of life coaching. It’s a process and every step is critical to your business’ growth.
You don’t have to spend too much time and energy “learning”. You can do it your own way but still... learn from others, skip trial and error, and win with the help of a seasoned life coaching mentor.
You particularly need help with branding and marketing, bookkeeping and accounting, time management, calendar/ schedules, and business communication.
There are great mentorship programs out there you don’t have to cough out hundreds of dollars for. They'll help you get off to a great start. If you can talk to your mentor, even better! They'll hold your hand, keep you on track, answer your questions for life coaching and toast to your early successes in your new job!
The “Procrastinators, we meet tomorrow!” joke never gets old. Perfectionists also fall here, always planning—because they don’t want anything to go wrong.
But what’s the worst that can happen? It's like when you're looking for a relationship. You post your online dating profile and go on good and bad dates.
Forget past failures and shed self doubt. The impostor’s syndrome is crippling. Take that big leap, get clients and make money! If doubt creeps up on you, remember you belong in the industry like all the other coaches and you got something valuable to give...
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The hardest hurdle to clear is a formed mind. Don’t go into the life coaching expecting things to go a certain way. To progress or move forward as a coach, take advice.
You're the expert but no matter how much you know, listen to your clients. Know their pain points, feelings, issues, their desires, etc. It'll help you fine tune your services, delivery, engage and target effectively.
Also, explore the market, expect changes, and keep your eyes peeled for untapped potential in the market. You'll discover what works, where your power lies, and how best to craft your offerings.
If you have different life coaching programs, you'll know which one has the greatest potential. You might even find yourself specializing in that one area, winning more trust from the community and going on to become the go-to life coach.
A good exercise for this is writing down all the questions that pop up in your mind when you think of your ideal client. Come up with all the possible 5W+H questions i.e., Who? What? Why? When? Where? And How?
Every experienced life coach knows the value of deeply understanding the target (ideal client). Profile them. Be clear about who you’re targeting, what you have for them, and why they should choose you.
It’s also a great idea to know the kind of people you’re NOT targeting. You’ll save time, avoid bad reviews and other challenges.
Life coaching is centered on giving. A coach is a "safe space". People come to you for advice, you’ll find yourself absorbing some of their pain (even if you're not a clinical psychologist), helping them focus, find clarity, kick fear, muster some confidence and make important decisions.
You can’t pour from an empty cup...
The pressure and demands that come with startups and the life coaching career can be brutal. It doesn't make sense helping others make their lives better while yours is crumbling.
Self-care is important.
If you want to longer serve as a coach, go easy. All the big names started from somewhere. Don't sacrifice your wellbeing at the altar of your life coaching business. The truth is, empires take time to build. It’s normal.
There are a few instant success stories but most entrepreneurs have to wait to break even.
Eat well, drink enough water, exercise, spend time with your family and friends, go out, dance—even if you have two left feet, and get some rest. It's not a matter of life and death!
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Life coaching entails taking care of others. It's a calling. That’s why it draws experts from all professional backgrounds. However, all successful life coaching entrepreneurs have some things in common: habits, skills and traits.
These determine how far you go as a coach regardless of your area of specialization—fitness and weight loss, marriage, careers, startups, etc.
Top life coaches pay close attention to what happened in the past, what’s being said, what’s not said, and what can only be picked from body language and energy. Focus on the client and remember what you’re looking for (solution to the problem).
If you’re to stay on top of the game, you need to gather enough information and that’s only possible if you pay attention.
If you fail to plan, you’ve planned to fail. One of the crucial habits of leading life coaching entrepreneurs is good time management.
Plan ahead, prepare yourself, allocate enough time, and wind up appointments on time to allow you enough time to prepare for the next.
Your life coaching career can quickly turn into a “costly hobby” if you fail to develop essential business skills, especially if you have to do most of these things by yourself.
From marketing to sales, accounting and bookkeeping, planning your diary, filing taxes in time, etc., your hands will be full. You'll only manage if you master essential business skills.
You could be the next Esther Perel or Rich Litvin but people don’t know about you because you're not marketing effectively. It’s like winking at a pretty girl in the dark :)
How will you get any clients if they don’t know about your services? Know your client, what they want, where they are, and how to start a relationship with them. After that, craft ads and copies that grab attention, communicate and SELL your services.
Take up short copywriting courses—free copywriting MOOCs, paid programs, YouTube videos by life coaching entrepreneurs like Dan Lok, Tony Robbins and Dean Graziosi. They'll teach you how to package and market your life coaching services on your website, mainstream media and social media.
If you don't have a big budget for paid advertising, placing ads in newspapers, magazines and advertising on other people's websites, try cheaper alternatives—Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, SEO blog posts, answering questions on LinkedIn, Quora, etc.
"If you don't know something or someone, know someone who does" is the foundation upon which networking stands. All life coaching entrepreneurs will tell you, "Put yourself out there, make valuable connections."
As a life coaching entrepreneur, you need to be able to start and nurture quality, mutually beneficial relationships in and out of your social circles. Know people.
First, you need to be presentable, approachable, easily relatable, easygoing, engaging, and unforgettable.
Second, network amongst business associates and attend functions that bring professionals together. There are endless opportunities for this, including luncheons, breakfasts, seminars, expos, workshops, conferences, and even organized group adventure trips that attract people from the class you're targeting.
If you're an online life coach, network in the virtual world. Maximize the power of words. Kickstart your life coaching business online, on LinkedIn, Quora and social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok).
Life coaching entails giving sober advice and solving problems. For this, you need critical thinking skills, analytical skills, and good judgment.
Your clients rely on you to help them come to a space where they can find solutions to their challenges, to attain their goals.
Ability to pick the subtlest of issues that contribute to clients' challenges and finding ways to fix it, is why they pay you. That's your job.
Familiarity with your clients’ issues, present reality, and proficiency in your field will help you become a better problem solver.
You'll find yourself dealing with a particular situation. The more you tackle it, the faster you’ll figure out the steps your clients need to follow to solve their challenges.
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