"New Year's Day.
A fresh start. A new chapter in life waiting to be written. New questions to be
asked, embraced, and loved. Answers to be discovered and then lived in this
transformative year of delight and self-discovery. Today carve out a quiet
interlude for yourself in which to dream, pen in hand. Only dreams give birth
to change."
- Sarah Ban
Breathnach
American
Author
Here we are
at the entrance to a new year. For many
success-minded people, this time is waited for almost as much as
Christmas. The New Year is full of
promise, hope and determination. Our
goals are set and we are ready to dive into the year will all that is in
us. Just as we were last year, and the
year before that, and the year before that.
So what will make this year different?
Will the energy and determination die out a few months in as it did
years before?
I know for many who are in
coaching and desire to build their own practice, there is much hope and excitement
that 2015 just may be the year for you.
I do not want to bring you down from this wonderful dream, but I must
tell you as your friend and fellow coach, that will not happen unless one key
change happens, that change is you.
If you have not discovered by
now, developing a coaching practice, especially one that can support you, is
not easy. In fact, it will seem
impossible. Which is okay, since all
goals should be impossible. The trick is
to not only see the impossible as possible but to make it so. That will take hard work, determination and
the ability to answer three questions.
These three questions will make the difference between success and
failure.
Here is what I want you to
do. Use this blog as an exercise to
bring you to the New Year ready to achieve and not just ready to try. Get a pen and some paper (or sit at your
computer if you wish). As I ask and
explain these three questions, I want you to take some time to think deeply
about them and write your answers down.
These answers will be the foundation which you will build your future
on.
First Question: What Do I Want to
Do?
If your answer to this is
"be a coach, be a life coach or be a Christian coach" you are off the
mark. Yes, coaching is what you want to
do, but what does it mean? A coach, a
good coach any way, does not coach anybody about anything. You must know who you want to coach, and what
you want to coach them in.
The first thing you need to
understand about yourself is what you are good at. Where is your strengths? How can you use your strengths to help others
achieve their dreams? Do not think that
because you have a certification in Life Coaching that you are ready to be a
coach. I have talked with many coaches
who, when taking the time to decide what they want to do, discover they really
do not want to be a coach at all.
Write out in detail what
coaching looks like to you. What is it
you plan to do? Who are the people you
will be able to add value to and who are the people you will need to help find
another coach other than you? The more clearly
you can define what you want the more likely you will be to achieve it.
Second Question: Why Do You Want
to Do it?
This is one of the most
important questions you can answer. The
answer to this question will either open the door to your success or send you
in another direction. Again, answers
like, "I want to help people, I want to serve God or it is what I was
created to do" are not answers. In
fact, many of these are excuses for doing things not the reason for doing them;
and as Benjamin Franklin said, "He who is good at making excuses is good
at very little else."
In my coaching, I coach coaches
more than anyone else. The most common
thing I am asked is, "How do I build my business?" My answer is always, "why do you want to
build your business?" You see, if
you have a strong enough why, the how will naturally follow. If you have a burning passion to fulfill your
calling and know why you have that passion, nothing will stop you. Likewise, if you have all the
"how-to's" for building a coaching practice and detailed instructions
that take you step by step, but do not have a strong reason why you are doing
it, no amount of help in the world will bring you success.
Spend some time in answering
this question. Take time first to pray
and ask the Holy Spirit to show you your own heart. Decide what this means to you. What is it that you will achieve by becoming
a coach for others? What if you didn't
do this, what would you do? Do not rush
this, it is far too important to pass by.
Third Question: What Will I be
Willing to Pay for This?
That is correct, I said, pay for
it. "But I thought others will pay
me not I be the one paying." Here
is a fact that we all must face: Nothing is for free. If you want to achieve a successful coaching
practice it will cost you and it ain't cheap.
Here are a few things that you
need to honestly ask yourself before you start building a business - any
business.
- Ø Will I invest the time? Where people get the idea that if they work for themselves they will have lots of time to do what they want and work when and as they wish, I do not know. Ask anyone who has build their own business and you will find they work longer hours and get less money for it than they ever did working for someone else. No vacations, no holidays and no days off. The great thing about being self employed is that if you do not work, you do not get paid.
- Ø Will I invest the energy? I can make this promise to you and feel fully confident that it will be true: If you are going to be successful you will need to work harder than you have ever worked before. Nothing can succeed without hard work. I once talked with a young coach who was very unhappy in his coaching practice. He had few clients and earned nowhere near enough to leave his regular full time job. I asked him what about this surprised him and he answered, "I never imagined it would be this much work." That has been the downfall of many coaches and other business people. They never expected it to be as much work as it is and in the end, they are not willing to pay that price.
- Ø Will I sacrifice the now for the later? Are you willing to put some of your life on hold so you can put the time and energy into you business now in hopes to have a life later? This decision cannot be made on your own if you have a family to deal with. Your spouse and children must also be willing for you to make this sacrifice since it is their sacrifice too. Paying the price to build a business involves far more than just you and what it means to you. If your family is not in support with you and willing to work with you to make this dream come true, then something has to go. By-the-way, that something is never the family.
The New Year is not just a time
for setting goals and starting afresh, it is also a time to evaluate those
goals and to be sure you are going after the right ones at the right time. Going into a coaching practice is a wonderful
thing and can be extremely rewarding on many levels. It can also be a real nightmare if you are
not prepared or do not know where you are going. There are those who can help you to sort this
out and to discover if coaching is right for you. Never bypass the help of others just to say
you did it on your own. Success in any
area of life is always a group effort.
As Dr. John C. Maxwell said, "Remember that with the exception of
one, the world is made up of other people."
John Patrick Hickey is an author, speaker,
and Life Coach. To read more from John Patrick Hickey or to get his books,
training and book him to speak to your church, business or group, visit our
website at http://www.growthcenter.net or www.johnpatrickhickey.com.
© 2014 John
Patrick Hickey
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