In your quest to succeed as a coach, it's easy to fail as a human being. This is a common trap for full-time coaches to fall into. They make the leap because they want the freedom of running their own business...and instead their business ends up running them. Some coaches don’t realize this until it’s too late. They wake up one day tired, unfulfilled, and trapped in a constant state of anxiety. And they don't have the energy left to do anything about it. I don't want this to happen to you.

Nothing kills your confidence, your enthusiasm, or your business faster than bad-fit clients. Why? Because your coaching is built on relationships. You aren't out to build a course with hundreds of people in it. This means that when you take on a client, you are giving that person a part of your life...And the quality of your life is determined largely by who you spend it with...So you need to be picky.

If I could turn back the clock on my coaching business, there’s one thing I would do differently… I wouldn’t try to reinvent the wheel so much. For some reason I’m always tempted to innovate right off the bat when I’m new to something. And then I look around at people who are less talented than me and wonder why they they are making faster progress. Well, the reason is because they did what they were told!

The unfortunate truth is that most people who start coaching businesses end up having to shut them down. This is true in any industry, of course. Most entrepreneurs fail. But it's particularly frustrating for me to see it happen to coaches because these are people who want to unleash potential and they are often really good at it. So, why aren't there more successful coaches out there? It all comes down to consistency. Most coaches can't consistently generate enough clients to keep their business afloat.

Imagine that you’re on the phone with a potential coaching client. The conversation is going great. They seem really interested in what you’re offering and you know that you want to work with them. But as soon as you tell them how much it costs, they say “I need to think about it…”

Have you ever gotten rejected by a potential client who you know would have been really well served by your coaching? I certainly have. And it can be an incredibly frustrating experience. Especially if you feel like that person has a high likelihood of staying stuck if they don't get the right type of support. But here's the truth...

Today I want to talk about why you shouldn’t start building complex systems — purchasing expensive technology, trying to build crazy funnels for your coaching business — if you’re making under 5k per month.

Have you taken the time to review 2016 yet? If not, I would highly recommend it. An annual review is a process by which you look back at the previous year as a whole and then apply the lessons you learned to your strategy for the new year. I've conducted an annual review every year since the start of my business and it's made a big difference for me.

Question for you...Is it possible that your ideal clients, the people you're most able to serve in the world, would not want to work with you? Unfortunately, the answer is yes. But it's not because they're not the perfect clients for you and it's not even because you couldn't really help them.