Coaches Corner~Pastime

When you discover that there is a method to some kind of madness, it is a bit like getting money.  It can also be likened to getting a breath of fresh air.  If you are new to coaching or even if you have coached for a while, you pick up a book like How To Build A Million Dollar Practice and you learn that there is a way to make coaching profitable.  Learning new things can certainly help with our chosen vocation but learning in itself does not produce increase in our bottom line.  When we learn something, one of the natural outcomes is that we want to put it into practice.  Do you remember the erector sets from the early 60’s?  It was a toy that helped you build something like a bridge or an elaborate box after some difficulty with the screws and metal parts.  Figuring out how a certain technology works can also be fun.  Embarking on the coaching track has as its outcome a phenomenal income for those who are able to balance their skill of coaching with running a business.  But the fact is that many coaches end up coaching as a hobby rather than a profession.

When we want to be a coach and we have capital to invest, we may opt for one of the certification programs that are available.  They are heavy on academics and things for one to remember but the true nature of coaching involves some type of methodology which is absent in many of those programs.  The methodology of being a coach is predictable and is the foundation of being an extraordinary coach.  You absolutely cannot be an extraordinary coach unless you make great income being a coach.  Perhaps it does not happen right away but embracing the particular methodology is critical if you ever are going to succeed.  I was working with a potential client recently who told me of the headaches associated with coaching some close friends or family members and I sympathized with her because going to the trouble to think through an individual’s dilemma, thinking about it and maybe even doing some research, and giving them a solution to their problem seems futile when the person acts as if you said and did nothing.  Coaching methodology can eliminate some of that because there is a way to engage clients that all but guarantee they will heed your advice.  And advice is not the ticket anyway but it is more than likely that leading them to their solution would be a better situation.

Coaching as a hobby feels great when it works as most hobbies do.  But after a time even a hobby can be tiring once you decide you want to do it for money.  Many hobbies turn into careers for some but it is never like falling off of a log.  There comes a time when you take the leap and decide it is not a hobby anymore and when that time comes, you had better have a methodology in mind.   If you have a job, that is a 9 to 5, and you want to transition into coaching, then plan on it being a hobby for a time and use it to get a history with people you know but do it with a specific result in mind.  Make sure that you have resources to sustain you because hobbies do not pay you, you pay for them.  Be honest enough with yourself to admit when it is a hobby for you because only you know the truth.  The people benefiting from your coaching don’t care if it is only a hobby and the people who are not benefiting are probably not even noticing that they are being coached.  At this point it is helpful to remind you of several things about coaching that make it a worthwhile career and a worthwhile hobby.  Coaches bring three things to the table and there is not student-teacher relationship in coaching.  They are 1)  An outside objective opinion, 2)  An accountability partner and 3)  New results that have not been present before.  When you take on coaching as a career, keep in mind that a person paying you to do those three things will find you extremely valuable as you deliver those things to them in spades.  And by the time, coaching is no longer a hobby but a beneficial career, you will have seemingly through osmosis, become an extraordinary coach.

If this has helped you, please pass it on to someone else and until the next time, have a good time.