So, you've been wondering how to start a life coaching business? I know exactly
how to do that. A quick history first of the ground that
I've covered in this particular area. I am a psychologist. I started in a
traditional psychology practice. I did psychotherapy. I worked primarily with
children, adolescents, families, couples. And I did that for probably 12 or 13
years. And then I made a huge shift over to positive psychology. What happened
when I went to positive psychology is I found that a lot of people are looking
for what I could offer them through my knowledge and experience. But they didn't
want a diagnosis. They weren't really sick. So I launched a life coaching
practice. You might think it's not a big shift to go from traditional
psychotherapy to life coaching. There's actually a lot of things that you have
to consider. And it's taken me a while to build it but I now have a very
successful life coaching business. And I want to save you some time and effort
and money by sharing with you what I've learned. There are 7 crucial
clarity's that you've got to wrap your head around when you start your life
coaching practice. The first one of those is why. Why are you doing this? I tell you
what. If you're doing it for prestige or because it seems like an easy thing to
do, you're probably in the wrong line of work.
It's not easy. There's and it is not for the weak of heart. Being a solopreneur or
an entrepreneur takes a lot of fortitude, a lot of courage, a lot of integrity. And
so, get yourself ready for some hard things. And you'll only do those hard
things if you have a strong enough why. Why do you want to do this? Now, I'll give
you a shortcut there too. There are reasons that you're drawn to this. Think about
your life experience and everything that you have learned
and that has affected you in your life. You want to share that with people, don't
you? Yeah, why? Because it changes their life. I think you can have an amazing
life as a life coach. But keep it clear that it's about them not you. The people
that you can serve. That leads us right into the next clarity. Number 2 is get
clear about the who. A lot of people I've talked to want to get into life coaching
because they want to help people. Oh, how nice. And then I asked them well who do
you want to help? "Well, I want to help everybody of course." If you want to help
everybody, you're not going to help anybody. You got to get clear about who your
tribe is. Start to think about who it is that uniquely could benefit from you and
your gifts and your talents. There is a tribe out there. I love the way Seth
Godin described this. In his book "Tribes", he talks about these people who are
there to follow you. And they don't get to have a leader unless you show up and
lead them. That's your tribe. Who isn't? Get clear about that. Now, let's go to the
third clarity. The what. What is it that you're going to offer your tribe? Do you
have some process or program that you could take them through that brings
about the benefit that drives your or why? We got to get clear about the what.
What are we going to do for our tribe? Now, let's go to the next one. The fact
that you're watching this video suggests that you may be starting to get some
clarity about when. "When am I going to do this? I've been thinking about this for
years. I've always thought that I would love to do this. I've told people that
I'm going to do this." Maybe I've even started a little bit
when is the right time for you? And I have noticed for myself. I like to launch
things just before I'm ready. And how will you know that you're ready
anyway? Now, there's some things you need to put in
place to be ready. That's why we're talking about these clarities. But get
clear about the when. When is the right time for you. And that leads us into
number 5. Clarity number 5 has to do with where. This is easier to answer
than it used to be because we've got technology. We've got the internet. I can
talk to you right here on this video and you are wherever you are and I am
wherever I am and it doesn't matter. I also have a physical office. And some of
my clients come to my office and we visit right there in the office. This
might seem like a very simple no-brainer kind of a thing. A lot of life coaches
haven't thought this through about where they're going to interact with their
clientele. Think about it. Now let's go to number 6. How? This one has to do more
with your business structure. Your marketing strategy, your sales dialogues.
How are you going to get in front of your tribe and how are you going to take
them through a process that has them actually showing up and paying you for
your services? This takes a little bit of thought and sometimes some coaching. I
have hired coaches to help me with this. Because really I'm not a sales and
marketing kind of a guru. But I know people who are and they helped me to get
clear about the how. That's pretty cool. Now, while we're on how, there's also a
delivery kind of a challenge. "How am I going to present my models? How am I
going to talk to my clients? How am I going to put my message out there in my
marketing?" There's a lot of house that we get to be clear about. And probably you
aren't an expert in all of the things that are required. That's why you haven't
done this yet. So, be humble enough to enlist people on your team who can walk
you through the how. People who have been there before
people who know it. Hopefully these clarities are helping
you to wrap your head around what it takes to set up a life coaching practice.
I have to make an acknowledgement before I share the 7th. And the acknowledgement
is anyone, anyone can hang up their shingle as a life coach.
It doesn't require any particular credential. Any particular degree, any
particular license. At least at the recording of this video in the state
where I live, it's pretty much open to anyone. That's both good news and bad
news. And the good news is you can do this. And
the bad news is anybody can do this. Which means that the market sometimes
gets flooded with goofballs who are doing really crazy stuff. I know that's a
judgmental statement because that's just an opinion, right? But honestly, the
industry of life coaching gets a little bit of a bad wrap because of people who
are doing things that are a little off. You following this? That brings me to the
7th clarity. We've got to get clear about ethics and limits and what your
particular area of expertise is. Because you may not go outside of that. You're
going to hurt people. Therapy for example is a licensed
activity. Psychologists, social workers, counselors who are licensed to practice
therapy have to go through ethical training and standards and guidelines
that help them to make sure that they don't hurt people in the process.
Understand if you get into a coaching practice, there is a little area of
expertise. Now, you don't have to be the expert on all things. In fact, you can't
be. You do need to be an expert in whatever particular area you're taking
on. That is true. But you don't have to be the expert. And get clear about what the
limits are. If you are a health coach, limit your coaching to what you know. Get
proven processes and procedures in place. If you need to get a little additional
certification from someone who provides that then do that. And then stay within
your area of expertise. That one is so important. I could spend probably an hour
on that. But I won't do that right now. Make sure you're clear about your own
ethics. I know that's a quick run-through of those 7 clarities. I have provided
the same content in a more extended form through a webinar. You are invited to
participate in that webinar. If this is resonating with you, go to liveonpurpose
.coach. Not dot com. liveonpurpose.coach/webinar. And you
can get connected to that.