by Steve
TOO MANY COACHES TELL ME that they spend a lot of their time helping their “friends” with their problems. They smile and say that’s why they became coaches, because they’re so good at that.
But why are you happy helping people who are not paying you?
I would look at that.
Because you could be helping people who are paying you. And when you do that, both parties benefit MORE than when you give away all this free help.
Free advice is usually taken with a grain of salt. But a paid session can change someone’s life forever.
There is a profound difference in the listening a paid customer brings to a professional session compared to the listening they bring to “a chat with a really nice person I know.”
You help the world more if you do your altruistic work after your coaching practice and income are over the moon. That’s the time to start giving yourself away pro bono, when you choose to. For now, remember to put the oxygen mask on yourself first, before trying to fit it over the mouths of others.
If you were working for an employer in a nine-to-five job, the employer would not give you time off real work for you to “help others.” You’d have to do that after your professional work was complete.
One of the biggest problems coaches have is not bringing the same professional work ethic to their coaching practices that they would to a “real” job. Once a coach wakes up to that, she is back on track toward prosperity.