When people reach out to me, I’m often the first coach that they’re considering hiring or have even gotten on a call with. So naturally, one of the most common questions that I get is: How do I know when it’s time to get coaching?
Getting coaching is similar to changing your job — there’s never a perfect time. YOU choose when you want to make it happen, though ideally you do it before your life falls apart.
The part that’s different than job transitions though, is that you don’t need to have all the skillsets before considering coaching. This is a common misconception, that you need to have it all figured out before you get coaching. Coaching is actually quite similar to on-the-job training, it’s where you learn the most.
This is why you don’t need to know exactly what you want, much less how to get there. Coaching exists to serve this purpose. For example, within my coaching, on the clarity call, we figure out what your biggest and boldest dreams are, and go after it unabashedly. During our first session, we create a 90 day plan to set the foundations in making it happen. And during the actual sessions, I show you how your mind works, what’s holding you back, and how to make the impossible possible.
In traditional Asian culture, getting outside help may be seen as weak, but actually, investing in coaching isn’t being weak, it’s being strong.
The best leaders, Olympic athletes and entrepreneurs have coaches. This is what helps them so successful. People get coaches when they ALL IN for achieving their dreams.
If the three situations below resonates with you, then it’s a strong sign that coaching could make a huge difference in your life, and be the biggest catalyst in turning your dreams into reality:
1. You feel stuck: what you’re doing no longer works.
You keep on creating the same results in your life that you don’t want.
Because what got you here, won’t get you there. To get to the next stage, you need to let go of your old habits, and become a different version of yourself. And it’s not enough to just focus on changing your actions — actions are only a temporary tactic.
To create different results, we first need to go upstream, to the thought. Because thoughts creates feelings, which creates actions, which creates results. So the reason why you keep on creating the same results is because you keep on thinking the same thing. This is why mindset is so important. And if this is new to you, worry not. That feeling is normal, because no one ever taught you this. Good news though, is that you’re here!
To change requires another way of being and coaching helps you see your blindspots. Often times you just need one insight to have your whole world changed. This is why coaching makes the impossible possible, and why my clients have been able to do things they’ve never done before or imagine capable of doing: whether it’s changing careers in two months, getting their first paid client in just a month or traveling the world as a digital nomad after quitting their tech job.
2. You want to save time and money.
People often see coaching as an expense, but it’s actually the best investment you can make because the returns are exponential. For example, when I hired my first coach, I didn’t have a client for months, and was the definition of “I don’t have money for coaching. ” But I knew that in order to make money, I needed to take a chance on myself and try getting some outside help.
In just a couple of months, I started working with my first high end clients. Fast forward to just a year later, I’ve realized so many of my once-impossible dreams: living abroad for 6 months as a digital nomad, becoming a great coach and making a difference, and actualized the financial freedom dream. Just last month, I made double the amount I used to earn in tech ?.
The only thing I regret is not getting coaching earlier, I would’ve saved not just time and money, but also a lot of unnecessary suffering.
Coaching is the cheapest and fastest way to get results.
This is also where it gets interesting: growing up in an Asian background, we’re taught that education is the most important investment. Spending tens of thousands of dollars in college tuition is a given. And dropping a fortune on getting an MBA as a backup or going to graduate school when we’re not sure what step to take next, also feels like a reasonable decision.
Yet when it comes to spending money on ourselves and figuring out what we actually want to do or getting coaching for the exact type of creative business we want to build, we feel reluctant about it. Questions and doubt starts to surface up when we’re talking about our deepest dreams, like: “Am I able to do this? Am I deserving of this?”
The answer is YES.
And some more helpful questions you can ask yourself instead is:
- How much are my dreams and a life I love worth?
- How much time, effort, money would I invest to get the results I want?
- What’s the cost of NOT getting help?
3. You want to be held accountable to create actual results.
Coaching helps you get out of your own way, whether it’s the part of you that loves to overthink, procrastinate or stall in perfectionism.
Contrary to popular belief, being held accountable doesn’t mean forcing yourself to take action. It means going a level higher and figuring out the beliefs and mindsets that you currently have, that are preventing you from taking consistent action. This way, once you’ve moved through that obstacle block, you’re able to apply it to all areas of your life, for a lifetime.
In coaching, you’ll also learn that you’re fully responsible for your life. Not time, money or other people. This is a game-changer and is incredibly empowering when you realize that you are truly the creator of your life.
This process though, isn’t an overnight transformation. This is why I make sure to personalize each coaching session and curriculum to each client. Coaching also creates the space for you to be challenged like you’ve never been before, and to be lovingly held in a judgmental-free space.
You may feel resistance when your excuses are being called out. You may also cry when you realize how powerful you are in making your dreams come true. This is all part of the process of standing for yourself and committing to getting results.
If you find yourself feeling ready to move from stuckness to clarity, and want get results in the most effective way possible, then it’s a great time to hire a coach. It’s also one of the best return on investments you can make.
Because each day you’re spending feeling stuck, is a day you could be moving forward in your career and business.
The perfect time is now.