Life Coach Program Reviews/Thoughts

[kev014]

Hello,

My hope for this post is for anyone with some familiarity with life coaching to share their thoughts on experiences with coaches and common issues/tips with a career in life coaching. I've been contemplating a career in coaching for a few years now but have a few hold ups. First, I am 22 and question whether older people would take me seriously as a coach. Obviously my demeanor, presentation and communication skills will determine how people perceive me, but I am apprehensive nonetheless. I have a degree in Industrial Engineering and am pretty articulate for my age. Any thoughts on whether I should consider waiting a few years or if I'm selling myself short? 

Secondly, I am curious about the financial prospects of this career. Obviously it is dependent on the skill of a particular coach and their ability to successfully market themselves but online I see all sorts of promise about 6 figure incomes and all that wonderful marketing and want to know if this is actually a realistic income to pursue. I've got some other questions but figure this is a good starting ground for myself and anyone else with similar questions. 

Thanks,

Kevin

 

[RendHeaven]

Completely depends on how charming you are haha, honestly.

[Wyatt]

I don’t think it’s about charming. I think it’s about accurately articulating how you’ve developed and the steps you got to get there, as well as explaining the most important ideas you have in a way that gets others to listen. Your age means nothing if you show people you’re able to help them, and then actually do it. 

Do you want to work for someone else? Do you want to work for yourself? This will determine a lot about your financial opportunities. If you work for someone else, you will have the autonomy to focus on working on improving your coaching and directly helping others, but will have to be paid by someone else so probably will not have a 6 figure salary. If you work for yourself, you’ll have a huge amount of growth potential with your income, but will learn how to run a successful life-coaching business and then opperate it (do all the marketing, manage employees, do the paperwork for the business, etc.)

Btw, I’m a 21 year old and am the founder of my own personal training and nutrition coaching company. Not exactly a life coach, but the general concept of coaching across most fields is similar. 

[exhale]

I think that there is tremendous value in life coaches that have a successful career (not just being a life coach), love their professions, genuinely enjoy their life, and want to help others through life coaching to improve their lives.  I would consider paying someone like this for their services/guidance/mentorship.

I have reservations about the majority of individuals who designate "life coach" as their sole career.  I would likely not consider paying someone like this for their services/guidance/mentorship.  

Not sure if this is relevant for you, but this is how I look at it. 

[RendHeaven]

11 hours ago, Wyatt said:

I think it’s about accurately articulating how you’ve developed and the steps you got to get there, as well as explaining the most important ideas you have in a way that gets others to listen

The key here is "in a way that gets others to listen."

When I wrote about being charming, admittedly that was a quick and shallow response. But I'm still convinced that's one of the most important factors if you want your coaching to be taken seriously.

Obviously, you have to know your shit. Your information has to be on point. But that's just half the cake. If people don't listen to you, or they don't want to listen to you, your information means NOTHING.

I see tons and tons of self proclaimed life coaches on Youtube with anywhere between 100 to 10,000 subs. Those who don't have a solid following CONSISTENTLY have weak tonality, sound too serious/anal, don't smile or joke, don't appear internally grounded, etc. Simply put, they aren't charming so nobody cares about them. The quality of their information is irrelevant.

On the other hand, take someone like Alpha M. This guy currently has over FOUR MILLION subscribers, but I've been aware of his channel since he had around 100,000. From day 1, this guy had solid tonality, consistently cracked jokes, and had a seriously grounded presence on camera. To top it all off, he would talk in depth about his own life and insecurities, which showed how human he was and that only served to increase his relatability.

From the time he "only" had 100,000 subscribers, I already knew he would take off and blow past a million. Lo and behold, he's past 4 million and it doesn't seem to be stopping.

Now I'm not saying you have to be like him, nor am I saying that your following determines your worth as a teacher. However, there is a real lesson to be learnt here for future aspiring coaches, I really suggest you guys look into this further

[Leo Gura]

Most coaches cannot sustain a living doing coaching because they are just bad at marketing themselves and getting clients. It has little to do with your coaching skills and more to do with your business and networking skills. Coaching is traditionally a very network-oriented business. You need to be a good networker, or a good online marketer.

I am a bad example of a coach because I don't really coach people and I don't network. I sort of created my own category of online philosopher because I never really cared to be a traditional coach.

If you are a great networker and really hustle, you can certainly make low six figures. But this is highly usual for coaches. Most coaches can't make $20k/year because they don't realize that coaching isn't about coaching, it requires business savvy.

Honestly, it's gonna be tough to be a coach at your age. You're just a bit too young and immature still and people will not take you seriously (and they aren't wrong). You need more life experience and more theoretical foundation. But don't let that discourage you. You can still lay the groundwork now for a coaching career in your late 20's and early 30's.

Don't expect any cookie-cutter formula or coaching programming to land you a 6 figure income. A 6 figure income is only possible through creative, original thinking and lots of hustle, above and beyond what most coaches do.

In the meantime, you can try to find a career which will get you more experience, like counseling students in college or working with substance abuse victims or tutoring teens or some kind of community organizer jobs. Jobs like that can be a good segue into coaching later on, as they allow you to develop people skills and start practicing mentoring.

To be a good coach you have to enjoy working with and mentoring people. You also need to know how to sell people on the value of coaching. People are generally very hesitant to pay hard money for soft advice. You gotta find ways to make coaching very tangible and practice for people. Like, "I can help you save your marriage" or "I can help you double your salary".

[kev014]

Appreciate the responses, you guys have given me some great things to consider. @RendHeaven I absolutely understand what you mean, Alpha M's presence and character are what make him successful more so than the specific content he's sharing. That's something I've been working on tremendously; improving my confidence and grounded-ness in public speaking through toastmasters and cold approach. 

 

On 8/16/2018 at 6:26 PM, Leo Gura said:

Most coaches cannot sustain a living doing coaching because they are just bad at marketing themselves and getting clients. It has little to do with your coaching skills and more to do with your business and networking skills. Coaching is traditionally a very network-oriented business. You need to be a good networker, or a good online marketer.

I am a bad example of a coach because I don't really coach people and I don't network. I sort of created my own category of online philosopher because I never really cared to be a traditional coach.

If you are a great networker and really hustle, you can certainly make low six figures. But this is highly usual for coaches. Most coaches can't make $20k/year because they don't realize that coaching isn't about coaching, it requires business savvy.

This is what I've really been questioning recently; should I focus on developing an online presence/building my brand before pursuing some form of official coaching training. My plan has been to simultaneously take iPEC's training program over the next year and develop my credibility/reputation in the mean time through a youtube channel/blog. I fully anticipate the marketing aspect will be the most difficult part of building an independent coaching practice. 

My intention is to work in my early 20's as a health/wellness coach as I believe I will be able to work with other 20-35 year olds on this and be taken seriously. I have no delusions about my inexperience/lack of life perspective right now. After some practice with this form of mentoring (or whatever other specific form I choose to pursue) I think I'll be more equipped to address a greater variety of issues.

Interested to hear your thoughts on this approach. PS I realize that as my first post on the website asking as a 22 year old about making 6 figures, I appear pretty immature. These are the most pressing issues to me right now on the brink of enrolling in a training program. 

Cheers!

Kevin

[Leo Gura]

@kev014 It doesn't really matter what I think. Get clear about your life purpose and then follow it every day. It basically just boils down to that. Trust in the over-arching strategy and principles of LP to carry you if you work it.

[thehero]

@kev014 my best friend makes 6 figures in a business and hes 22 

Edited August 19, 2018 by thehero

[MsNobody]

@Leo Gura Hey Leo, I did the life purpose course and am about to finish the iPEC program but the thing is: I really really hate the marketing part of all of that, I wish I had realized that before taking the course, I'm currently an architect and have been doing the coaching part whenever I have free time, I love interacting with people, at work besides architecture I also do project management, I've realized that the project management part appeals me because I like dealing with people, I'm very interested about how the mind works and especially love being around and interacting with people. I know if my life purpose is really helping people through coaching I will find a way to get over the marketing part but right now, all this hustling on instagram and facebook that I see my coach friends doing is just scaring me, and I may be blind to other paths or ways of dealing with the situation that's why I would like some advice from you  

Here is some information

values:

• LOVE
• WISDOM
• OPENMINDEDNESS
• SELF ACTUALIZATION
• HONESTY/ AUTHENTICITY

strengths

 

• CURIOSITY/ LEARNING
• HUMOR/ PLAYFULNESS/ ENERGY
• ACHIEVER/ INPUT
• ORIGINALITY/ AUTHENTICITY
• APPRECIATION OF BEAUTY