Back when I started coaching in 2013, I had no experience. And when I say “no experience,” I mean ZERO. I didn’t go through any training or certification programs and I didn’t practice doing calls with friends. I just put up a coaching page on my website and started getting on the phone with strangers.
It was a bit nerve-wracking to say the least, but it was also the best course of action for me. Why? Well, before I actually started coaching, I had wanted to coach for a long time. I loved writing and I wanted to work with writers. However, I felt like I was in no position to coach other people because I had not yet published anything of my own. In my mind, I was still an “aspiring writer,” and if I was still aspiring, then how could I possibly offer anyone else guidance that would actually be of any value?
Since I didn’t publish my first book, The INFJ Writer, until 2016, I obviously got over that fear of not being able to coach people if I was still aspiring myself. So, I know that it can be done. And I also know that sometimes, this is the best way to do it. I still get this question from creative people all the time, though. Like me, they want to start coaching, but they’re being held back by this fear that if they’re still “aspiring” then they’re not really good enough.
Nothing could be further from the truth. That’s because coaching people in a way that leads them to true growth and evolution has nothing to do with degrees or credentials. And although experience will help you hone your coaching craft, you don’t need to have experience to start coaching and actually start helping people, either.
What’s the secret? Well, it’s not so much a secret as a different approach to looking at coaching styles and figuring out which style comes naturally to you. I talk more about this in-depth in the second video of my 3-part video series answering questions about my new video course coming out next week. The course is How to Launch an Online Creative Business, and this second video is called, “How to Coach Others When You’re Still an ‘Aspiring’ Creative.” You can see it in its entirety here:
If this video resonates with you, then be sure to sign up for my newsletter so you get the next, and last, video in the series and all the details about the new course:
In the next video I’ll be talking about if intuitive people do better with a solid business strategy before they begin, or if they should just “wing it.” (Listen up, INFPs, I’m talking to you!)
Lauren Sapala is the author of The INFJ Writer, a writing guide for sensitive intuitive writers, and The INFJ Revolution. She is also a writing coach for writers of the INFJ and INFP personality type.
