The reaction is the same every time, guaranteed. Every time I tell someone that I paid £9,000 for twelve months of business coaching.
First comes the thud – that’s the sound a jaw hitting the floor. Then comes the scoff. ‘Well I’m glad you can afford it!’
The truth is I can’t afford it.
But I can’t afford not to do it, either.
‘Work hard, get good grades, get a good education – you’ll be set for life!’ It was a line that was drilled in to me from a young age. I’d worked at least two jobs simultaneously from the tender age of fifteen. I was a ‘straight A’ student. I graduated Sheffield University with a degree in Architecture. I got a scholarship to study a postgraduate degree in Architectural History at one of the best university’s in the country. I got distinction after distinction after distinction. I got experience working with Historic England, I worked with the BBC – all to further my chances of a building a career which would give me the lifestyle I’d dreamed of.
I did everything I was supposed to.
So why then, in my mid-twenties, did I find myself educated up to the eyeballs, but earning £800 a month and barely being able to afford the rent, or the petrol I needed to do the two hour commute to work every day?
That’s when I saw it, the life that stretched out before me. Hundreds of endless, all the same. Yes, there will be promotions, there will be better jobs, with better offices, better bosses, better colleagues and better clients – but when you boil it down, it’s all just a better version of the same thing. A treadmill of unfulfillment, only looking forward to the next holiday, or the next weekend – the next escape from the real, dull, world.
This was not the life I had worked so Goddamn hard for, and it was not the life I was happy to continue living.
That day, the day I realised how unhappy I was, was the happiest day of my life.
Today, I have a clearer vision for my future than I have ever had, and am on the path to running a seven-figure business. I work for myself and am in complete control of my income. I work SMART, not hard, and the majority of my income is automated or passive. I work, not because I have to, but because what I do sets my soul on fire! I have financial freedom, emotional balance, and complete control over the lifestyle that I have designed for myself.
What’s the difference between me then, and me now, I hear you ask?
A business and success coach. She cost me £9,000, and I couldn’t afford to hire her.
The first thing she asked me when we met, was ‘what’s the difference you and me?’
‘You’re a millionaire.’ I said.
She laughed.
‘You’re living your dream life?’
She laughed again.
‘The difference between us,’ she said, ‘is that when I was stuck in the unbearable situation that you are in, I said yes to taking a risk. It was the most terrifying decision I have ever made to this very day. But, what’s more terrifying, is the idea that I could still be where you are right now.’
That was it. I signed my name on the dotted line and my life changed forever.
Here are three ways my business coach made me succeed:
1. Money is the currency of commitment
Good business coaches are expensive. FACT.
In any programme that you enrol in – whether it be an academic degree or a community centre sign language course – the basic arrangement is the same. You pay your money and the information that you will need to complete the course is made available to you.
The cost of the course however, makes a huge difference.
At the same time as I hired myself a business coach, I also enrolled on two other online courses. My business coach was a £9,000 commitment, whereas the other two courses cost less than a tenth of that combined – £400 is a lot of money, I know that, but there is a very big difference between the risk of having invested £400 in something, and investing £9,000.
The truth is, It took me twice as long to complete the £400 courses as it did to complete my business mentorship. Here’s why:
Scenario 1 – I would come home from my day job after a ten hour shift and load up my laptop. Then, just as fast as I’d opened it all up, I’d be shutting it all back down again.
‘I’m far too tired to be doing this right now. I’ll give it another shot tomorrow’. I’d think to myself, and load up Netflix instead.
Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to learn everything that was in that course, but the truth was – the urgency just want there. I hadn’t taken a big enough risk. I hadn’t made a big enough investment for it to really make that much of a difference to my life. After a gruelling ten hour shift in a job that was killing me slowly, I just couldn’t find the energy. Yes, £400 was a hell of a lot of money to waste, but it’s not a life-changing amount of money to waste. Especially when ‘there’s always tomorrow’.
Scenario 2 – I would come home from my day job after a ten hour shift and load up my laptop. I would load up the next module of my coach’s mentorship programme, and the thoughts would come creeping in again.
‘I’m far too exhausted, all I want to do is come home and relax.’
The difference was, the laptop stayed open this time. There was absolutely no way that I could afford to waste £750 a month, for the next twelve months. I had invested this money, and I needed this investment to change my life. I NEEDED to work hard and I NEEDED to see results – financial results. I simply could not afford not to show 100% commitment to this programme. I NEEDED it to work!
Money is an incredibly powerful tool. It gets you out of bed every morning when that alarm clock goes off, no matter how desperate you are to stay in bed. Earning money is so very often what drives you to do things you don’t want to do, and spending money can work in exactly to same way.
Making a serious financial investment into your own self-development will change your life. Not because you will suddenly have an abundance of energy and enthusiasm, but because you can’t afford to fail. It’s simple. Money is the currency of commitment, and sometimes – it’s the only motivation that works.
2. A Coach is Your Short-cut to Success!
You want to break free of the dull realities of a 9-5 job. You are frustrated. You want time-freedom, financial freedom and location-independence. I’ve been there. I know how painful it is to feel with all of your mind, body and soul that your life should be so much more than it is right now.
Creating an income by monetizing your own unique brilliance has never been easier than it is today. We each have the internet in the palm of our hands, and this, combined with a reliable business strategy is a recipe for success and a life of almost imaginable abundance. Even better than this, you are in control! You truly can create a business and lifestyle that sets every fibre of your being on fire with excitement.
Desire to change my life, check! Phone with internet connection, check! Time to start a business…I think?
In the age of the internet, we can learn how to do anything by watching a YouTube video. I’ve learned to change a car tyre, I learned how to cut my own hair back when I couldn’t afford a hairdresser, I’ve perfected endless recipes in the kitchen – I could easily have taught myself to set up an online business.
It would have worked too! I know that with or without my business coach, my feelings of frustration and determination would have led me to success, eventually.
YOU DO NOT NEED A BUSINESS COACH.
Yes, that’s right, you don’t need a business coach, but if you don’t have one, chances are you’ll be fighting twice as hard for twice as long to reach the same level of success. I just didn’t have the time to waste.
Business mentors and coaches, mentor and coach for a reason. They’ve been there, done that, and feel confident enough in their own success to share what they have learned – they are the expert in their field. They have usually experienced incredible successes in their own journey, and chances are they will also have experienced catastrophic failures. They have made the mistakes so you don’t have to. They have worked by trial and error, know what works well, and along the way have also built a huge network of like-minded business owners whose collective knowledge makes its way to you through your coach.
You’re not just paying for the course content, you are paying for your mentor’s wealth of experience.
Yes, you will make it there without them, but If you don’t want to wait to live the life of your dreams – make the investment.
3. Your Coach Is Your Cheerleader (and Will Hold You Accountable!)
Your coach wants you to succeed.
A coach’s success is measured almost entirely by the success of their client base. Therefore, seeing you succeed is in the best interests of everyone involved in the client-coach relationship.
At the beginning of your journey together, you and your coach will talk extensively about what you want to achieve in the time you have together. You will outline your short term goals, your long term goals, and the kind of lifestyle you want to design for yourself in order to feel successful.
Personally, that meant running a profitable business that not only gave me the drive to wake up each morning with energy, passion and a soul‐fulfilling love for what I do, but also afforded me financial freedom, time freedom and the ability to work from anywhere in the world. (I did it!) Still on my to-do list, I want to be a millionaire!
There. I said it.
And so should you! Be honest. Dream big – then make it happen, together.
I know that when I was working with my business mentor, I worked harder than I have in my entire life. I pushed myself to reach each milestone in her programme and really dedicate myself – and not only because I had made a huge financial commitment. I knew that if there was a week that for some reason I hadn’t achieved my goals – she would want to know why. If I was having emotional troubles, she would be there. If I was having technical issues she would be there. The continued success of her business relied on me succeeding in mine, we were in it together. She pushed me harder than I had ever been pushed in my entire life, and now I am reaping the rewards, big time.
As well as keeping me in line with achieving my goals, my coach was my biggest cheerleader. Every win I had was a win for her, and we celebrated together. It was an incredible relationship worth far more than the financial investment I had made.
I simply wouldn’t have done it without her.