Your next most important decision

Key takeaways:

• Choosing to be a coach and choosing to be a successful coach with a thriving business are two separate decisions. Most coaches only make the first one.
• Coaching is an entrepreneurial path. Knowing how to build and run a business may matter more to your income than knowing how to coach.
• Professional coaching is its own discipline. You partner with clients to unlock their clarity, direction, and action. It is not advising, consulting, therapy, or training.
• Most people give up on coaching before they start, because the numbers do not add up in their head.
• Build your business skills while you learn your coaching skills. Waiting for confidence to show up only adds delay.

If you have already chosen to become a coach, you've made one of the most important entrepreneurial decisions you'll make on your journey to becoming a full-time Nature-Connected Coach.

If you haven't chosen coaching yet, I made this YouTube video to help you discern whether coaching or another modality like therapy is the best fit for you.

Today I want to introduce you to your next important decision: choosing to become a successful coach with a thriving coaching business.

Most coaches don't realize there's a meaningful difference between deciding to be a coach, and deciding to be a successful coach. I certainly didn't when I first started out! Without consciously choosing the latter, coaches inadvertently end up on a path lacking the impact and financial success they were hoping for. Actively choosing to become a successful coach with a thriving business leads them to a different path, where they learn how to bring all the pieces together to build their legacy as a coach.

It's a very different way of thinking about your coaching, because it inspires you to both master your craft as a coach AND learn how to make a living offering your services. Once I figured out that I needed to consciously choose to become a successful coach with a thriving business, I realized that becoming a coach is really an entrepreneurial path. Knowing how to create and run a business might even be more important to your financial success than knowing how to actually coach!

In fact, there are a lot of people out there running very successful businesses that offer "coaching," yet they are not credentialed coaches and have no idea how to effectively and ethically coach. Many of them are actually consulting, mentoring, or counseling while using the title "coach" to simplify things.

But that's not how we roll as professional Nature-Connected Coaches, right? We want real impact that doesn't just transform the lives of our clients, but also ripples out to their families, communities, and the earth itself.

Professional Coaching is not a catch-all term for advising, giving advice, consulting, therapy, spiritual healing, training, or workshop facilitation.

Coaching is a distinct discipline focused on partnering with clients to unlock their own clarity, direction, and action. We're not in the business of telling people what to do or fixing what's broken.

You have big visions for this work, and in many ways it feels more like a calling than anything else. And when you drop into that Vision, money is not really the focus at all… that is, until you snap out of it and realize that you have bills to pay and kids to feed!

At this point, you may be working in a different industry and searching for a coach training, or you are already coaching some. Either way, you are most likely asking a very important question: "How do I make this vision I have for nature-based coaching come together financially?"

In my decades of experience training coaches, I've found that most people will abandon their dreams for coaching way before they even start if they can't make the numbers work out quickly in their minds. I don't want that to happen to you because, honestly, the world does need what you have to offer - and you can make a good living offering it! You just need to know how.

When I look at all the amazing and creative ways that coaches can help shape the future of humanity and our relationship with nature, I see a field of work that is limitless and incredibly powerful.

Think about this: when a coach gives up on their dreams because they don't see how to bring all the pieces together, it's not only the coach that misses out on living their vision - it's all those people who could have found direction, connection with nature, and access to their dreams through that coach!

I don't want you to give up before you even get started, so I've put together this series of blog articles designed to help you create a solid road map for how you will transition into full-time coaching as a Nature-Connected Coach.

A side note about imposter syndrome

I see many coaches think that they need the experience and skills before they can think about the money. I get this line of thinking. I did it too. But honestly, it really only works if you are deeply committed to coaching and financially secure. Most of the time, it's our lack of confidence and our old friend, "imposter syndrome," that holds us back from believing that we may actually have real value to offer right now, right out of the gate.

Over the last decade or so, I have shifted my approach and started to encourage new Nature-Connected Coaches to think about the business development side of coaching while they are learning the coaching skills, and to address the confidence challenges as we go, in real time, rather than waiting for that day when confidence arrives. This is one of the features that makes the NCC program a true transformational learning experience.

The way I see it, believing the imposter syndrome story only creates more delay. I think it's something we need to learn to live with as entrepreneurs rather than avoid. Everyone's situation is different and unique to them, yet fear and lack of confidence are always part of starting something new and big. It's our brain's way of keeping us safe from the unknown, and when you have the tools to face that unknown in a grounded and educated way, you know exactly how to jump in and learn from your experience. If you approach your coaching and entrepreneurial development as a path of learning, then you cannot fail.

FAQ

What is the difference between becoming a coach and becoming a successful coach?

Deciding to be a coach is a decision about your craft. Deciding to be a successful coach with a thriving business is a decision about how you make a living from that craft. Coaches who only make the first decision often end up without the impact and income they hoped for.

Is coaching a business or a calling?

Both. The vision feels like a calling, and the day-to-day is entrepreneurial. Knowing how to create and run a business might matter more to your financial success than knowing how to coach.

What counts as professional coaching?

Coaching is a distinct discipline focused on partnering with clients to unlock their own clarity, direction, and action. It is not advising, consulting, therapy, spiritual healing, training, or workshop facilitation.

Can someone run a coaching business without a coaching credential?

Yes, and many do. Some of them are actually consulting, mentoring, or counseling while using the title "coach" to simplify things. That is not how professional Nature-Connected Coaches work.

Do I need to master my coaching skills before I think about money?

That approach only works if you are deeply committed and already financially secure. Over the last decade I have encouraged new coaches to build the business side while they learn the coaching skills, and to work on confidence as we go.

How do I handle imposter syndrome as a new coach?

Waiting for it to pass creates delay. It is something to live with as an entrepreneur rather than avoid. Fear and low confidence come with starting anything new and big, and with the right tools you can face that unknown in a grounded way and learn from the experience.

What does this blog series cover?

A road map for moving into full-time coaching as a Nature-Connected Coach, starting with how the money works.

Read Post #2

Become a certified Nature-Connected Coach

If you'd like to learn more about NCC and talk to someone about your individualized timeline and roadmap you can schedule a Snapshot Meeting here.

Michael Jospe, PCC, is the founder and lead instructor of Earth-Based Institute, an ICF Level 2 accredited Nature-Connected Coaching certification program based in Boulder, Colorado. He has been an ICF-credentialed coach for over two decades and has trained hundreds of professional coaches since 2008.