I started coaching people over seven years ago, but I had wanted to start coaching people long before that. I read about coaching and thought about coaching and asked a few close friends if they thought I would be a good coach. I was running an in-person writing group at the time, and I knew I was already effectively coaching people one-on-one, within the group. I could see the evidence all around me. I had a passion for this dream and feedback from others that I would be good at doing it professionally.
But still, it was a few more years before I actually did it.
What held me back for so long?
Fear.
We all know the obvious manifestations of fear—a feeling of nervousness, dread, or anxiety. Maybe even panic attacks or other physical symptoms that plague us. But it’s harder to pick up on the more subtle variations of fear—a vague resistance, or what seem like “logical” arguments that a dream is sure to fail.
It’s the more subtle variations of fear that stop many aspiring coaches from ever getting their start, sometimes we recognize this, and sometimes we don’t. But we almost always struggle with it. We want so badly to help other people, we really think we could be good at helping other people, but deep down we feel so insecure, so very un-confident in ourselves and our abilities, that we start searching for the secret to success. We’re convinced that if we look hard enough, we’ll find the magic key that will free us from the prison of our anxiety and propel us forward toward our dream.
I went through all of this myself as a new coach, and in this third and final video (part of my mini-series that answers questions about my new Intuitive Coaching video course) I talk about what you need to know in order to actually move forward and shift from “aspiring” coach to “making-it-happen” coach:
I’m releasing my new video course on Intuitive Coaching in just a couple of days. If you’re on my email list you’ll get all the updates on the course as they’re announced, and if you’re not yet on my email list you can sign up here. If you have any questions about the course—no matter how big or small—you can send them my way using the contact form here.
I’m really excited about this new course, as so many of you have reached out and let me know that you are oh-so-ready to finally make your dream of being a coach a here-and-now reality.
And as society is in such chaos at the moment, I truly believe that the planet needs intuitive people working as coaches to help others like never before.
Lauren Sapala is the author of The INFJ Writer and The INFJ Revolution. She is also currently offering a free copy of her book on creative marketing for INFJ and INFP writers to anyone who signs up for her newsletter. SIGN UP HERE to get your free copy of Firefly Magic: Heart Powered Marketing for Highly Sensitive Writers.
