I am currently working with several clients that are new coaches and shared a term that came forward about a year ago that I am helping them with that I feel is very important in the coaching industry.

I use the term “Working Coach”. I’m a working coach. I’ve created a business that is sustainable month to month and provides great service to my clients.

When new clients come to me, many aren’t making much money but they want to be 6 figure coaches their first year or they want to be what’s commonly known in my circle as a $50k coach, where clients pay them $50k per year to work with them. The challenge is that when I ask them on our initial calls how much they have made the previous year, it may be in the $20k-$50k range. They have lofty…wonderful…dreams which I refer to fanciful dreams…they could come true…with a lot of hard work…but not necessarily will come true.

Now for those of you who know me, my “fanciful” comment may seem like a contradiction to what I talk about in dreaming big if you believe it you can have it work stemming from Wayne Dyer, Joseph Murphy and Abraham-Hicks.

It is a bit of a contradiction but not really.

The first thing I start working with new clients on is identifying and clearing the beliefs that have stopped them from achieving what they say they want. Those are what I call the Root Cause Beliefs(TM) (RCB). These are beliefs that we, most of us, pickup from parents, guardians, teachers, etc., about who we can be or become in the world. Once we identify those beliefs, more creativity and clarity is available for them to hear and see what they can create.

Next we work on building momentum in their business. We…

Identify what it is they would work with someone on

Who they already know

How to get in conversation with people

What to say when they do connect

What it means to be of true service

Coaching is an amazing and honorable profession. But it is a profession. I’ve heard my coach, Steve Chandler, say many times that this is the only profession where personal development is a requirement. It’s so true. AND mastery of this profession requires work and continuous training to be of service to our clients. Many new coaches want what they perceive as the master coach lifestyle where they work 10 hours a week and make 6+ figures in pay and take vacations when they want. Yes, there are coaches like that but what they don’t see is ALL the hours those coaches put into getting to that level.

Mastery in coaching does take time and does require building momentum. It also requires being of tremendous service to clients and perspective clients. It is a job in the beginning…not like most corporate, medical, or legal jobs of working 50+ hours a week though. But it does take consistent action in building a business. It helps to work with coaches who have been at this a while and experienced success. This concept of a working coach helps them to buckle down and be of service to more and more people.

I love my clients and the work I do. I have a full calendar of clients which is about 20-25 hours a week of actual coaching. And, because my business has always been a referral business, I do have people referred to me on a weekly basis and I make time to serve them in whatever way I can.

Another aspect of a working coach is making enough money to pay bills and taxes, get out of debt, pay for personal development and their own coach, create an emergency fund, save for the future (different from emergency fund) ,and YES saving for and taking wonderful vacations.

It’s so possible in this profession to have it all…a great business, great relationships, fabulous things. And, it takes consistent action in creating a viable, working business that will support you and all of your dreams. Building momentum can absolutely lead to those fanciful dreams coming true.

It starts with the concept of being a working coach that serves many many people and helps their dreams come true.