Top 7 Reasons Why Coaches Give Up Too Soon

If you’ve ever tried to become a coach or are one right now and have never made money or have made very little money, you’re very well aware of the struggles aspiring coaches face and you might be wondering what you need to do to stay in the game and have success.

Having worked with hundreds of coaches over the years and from my own experience of transitioning to becoming a life coach, I’ve been privy to front row seats into the conversation that happens in the minds of the individuals who make the jump. It’s safe to say that not many people are prepared to face the challenges that they encounter being an entrepreneur and it’s the reason why most individuals give up before they can truly experience what they’re capable of.

There are many specific reasons why coaches give up too soon. It would take me a very long time to sit here and write them all down, but I found a few big ones that cover major ground that can help you have better insight and make new decisions.

But before I tell you what they are, I want to share with you Suzie’s story. She’s the middle ground between some extreme cases I’ve seen and some who’ve gotten success pretty fast.

Suzie is a beautiful soul, the mom of twin boys and she lives in New Jersey. She had a pretty good life growing up even though a lot of times she felt she didn’t fit in. She went to school, got good grades, followed the rules, and she always made sure that those around her were taken care of.

She wanted to become a nurse and she began attending college right after graduating from high school. In her first year of college in her biology class, she met the love of her life, the man whom she married a couple of years later. She was forced to drop out of college because she became pregnant and soon after had two beautiful healthy twin boys.

Her husband was the sole provider in their household and she enjoyed being a stay at home mom. She loved her life, but within a few short years, she found herself divorced, broke, and raising two children on her own.

Her ex-husband, even though he was a good man, by an unfortunate turn of events mixed with the wrong crowd. Under peer pressure, he began drinking and doing recreational drugs only to find himself in a lot of trouble. She tried everything she knew to help him, but he only became more violent, more defensive, and struggling worse with each passing day, so she had to make a heartbreaking decision to leave him and care for their children on her own.

When I met Suzie, she was working as a clerk at a local store. She liked her job, and she loved all the conversations she was having with customers, but she was struggling to make ends meet. She was doing the best she could with what she knew.

When we started talking, she was feeling down and defeated because a little over a year before we met, she heard about a program that she believed was her and her kids’ ticket out of the tough financial situation they were in. She heard about coaching and she really loved the possibilities it could bring, so she borrowed money from her family and she got certified as a coach.

Suzie loved helping people, it was in her nature, and she had big plans for her future.

However, after she received her certification she felt lost, overwhelmed, couldn’t make her business work and she couldn’t understand why.

So every single day she was beating herself up believing she doesn’t have what it takes to make it as a coach. She was also dwelling on the fact that she dug herself deeper in debt and now not only was she still struggling financially, but she also owed additional money that she couldn’t pay back.

So when we started working together, we had to look at the very things I’m going to talk to you about. It made a huge difference in her life and it can make a big difference in yours too!

Suzie is now a six-figure coach and growing. She takes two vacations per year with her twin boys, owns her own condo, and feels so fulfilled by the work that she does. She coaches single moms on how to gain their life back after divorce and how to become the best version of themselves.

So let’s take a look at what are the top 7 reasons why coaches give up too soon and how they stopped Suzie and are probably stopping you too.

1. Perfectionism

Perfectionism shows up in many different ways, but the most known one is: procrastination.

When you want things to be “perfect” you’re basically saying “it’s not ready, it needs to be better” in other words “I’m not ready, I have to be better”; or “they’ll criticize my products or my services” in other words “I’m afraid I’m going to be judged and they’ll think less of me.”

Does that sound familiar to you at all?

I see coaches create program after program that never sees the light of day because they’re worried it’s not good enough or because people will judge them and they can’t bear that thought.

Suzie had a fear of not being able to help people because of the way she failed to help her husband when he was struggling, so she was hesitant to teach and ask for money for her products and services. But with a little guidance, with some love and forgiveness, she was able to move on from the things she had no control over.

This is a great time for me to remind you that you can only help those who want to help themselves.

So how do you overcome perfectionism?

The antidote is believing in yourself and in your products and your services and taking imperfect action.

Is it easy? No.

There are many factors that play into why people don’t get themselves out there.

Is it necessary? Yes!

You have to take a look at how perfectionism is holding you back, understand it, and then create a plan of action.

When you believe in yourself and what you have to offer, you’ll be unstoppable. You’ll be so focused on what your work does for your clients that the criticism of others will fall on deaf ears, but most importantly, your own criticism will slowly dissipate or its volume will be turned all the way down.

2. Vagueness

Generalized life coaching was a little easier before space got crowded. When the idea of coaching was novel, there wasn’t a lot of competition so you could position yourself in different ways. However, over the years, becoming a life coach has become very popular, and with its popularity came the demand for a specialty.

Also, there are certain priorities that are necessary when it comes to owning your own business and being your own boss. These priorities seemed to be lacking with almost all of my clients and I found them to be true in my own story in the beginning as well.

Do you have your priorities straight in your business?

Suzie had a hard time prioritizing her business because she was so caught up in her thoughts about what wasn’t working and on top of that, every time she coached she did it for free. She had no specific price in mind and couldn’t muster up the courage to ask to be compensated for her services.

Another thing that falls under this category is stating preferences instead of creating real goals.

Here’s one example: “I want to be financially independent.”

Could it be possible that for one person making $4k could translate into financial independence while for another person making anything less than $10k would mean they’re still struggling?

So then telling yourself you want financial independence is like me saying I want to lose weight, it’s too general. If I said I want to lose weight and I were to lose one pound that would mean I lost weight but I would still be considered overweight and that’s really not my goal.

Be precise about what it takes, the exact amount that it’s required for you to achieve financial independence. Once you have that figured out, do a little reverse engineering, break it into smaller attainable goals, and then get to work.

Being specific about what you want, why you want it, who you help, and how you help them needs to roll off your tongue like the poem you used to recite in middle school.

3. Uncertainty

Can you say “unpredictable”?

If entrepreneurship doesn’t challenge you, I don’t know what does, and it’s all because there are a lot of unforeseen scenarios that show up.

Unfortunately, a lot of individuals are intimidated by the level of uncertainty that comes with being an entrepreneur, and yes, life coaches are entrepreneurs.

There are a few ways in which uncertainty shows up in the life of a coach.

One is the way in which they will acquire a customer and IF they will acquire a customer. So in a sense is the uncertainty of the money flow.

Another one is the uncertainty of the results you can provide for your clients and the means by which you will do so until you develop a system, and even then it can differ from one to the next because the variable is your client.

A factor that plays a big role in uncertainty is FEAR: the fear of what you can and can’t do, the fear of whether you’ll succeed or fail, the fear of the unknown and what’s required from you, the fear of stepping outside of your comfort zone and so on.

So right now, take a moment to see if your uncertainty might be the reason why you’re considering giving up too soon. Ask yourself this: “am I going to allow fear to stand in the way of my dream of helping the people my heart is calling me to serve?”

If your biggest desire and calling is to help people transform their life, see how you can start embracing the unknown, making it more fun, and even looking forward to it.

4. Inconsistency

Inconsistency is a huge factor in why a lot of business owners, especially coaches give up too soon.

One pattern that I’ve recognized which is very common with coaches is that they tend to do the things that they feel comfortable with or do things when it’s convenient.

Take a look at your words because that’s where you can begin the biggest shifts. Here’s one word I find being use over and over again disguised an excuse: FLOW.

Look, there is a flow, a deeper knowing when things align, and I often call it “congruence”, but unfortunately if you’re not careful or aware, your ego gets smart and starts using these words that are supposed to play in your favor, against you.

When you wait to be in “flow” and you don’t get things done on a regular basis because you don’t feel like it or because the timing wasn’t good, then you’ll most likely procrastinate indefinitely and it’ll cost you time, money, success, experiences and so much more.

Can you decide now on 3 habits you will adopt that will help you get moving ESPECIALLY when you don’t “feel like it”?

Another thing I want to suggest to you that you need to do is to take a look at your schedule and see if it really reflects your dreams and desires. That black on white writing (whether it’s on a paper calendar, on your computer, or in your phone) doesn’t lie.

You have to decide now what is more important: your excuses or your dreams.

5. Ineffectiveness

This one is a sneaky one and here’s what I mean by that.

We may believe we are busy doing the things we need to do when in truth they’re actions that don’t move the needle.

If you are not measuring your success or you know that you aren’t making progress (I know that you know), it’s time to sit down and reevaluate things.

Maybe you find yourself confused by what you need to get done to move things along and to start seeing results.

This may be a sign you need to either get clear on what those needle movers are, do some research or get a coach or a mentor to help you.

Based on my experience, people save time and money when they decide to hire help. My clients have voiced this fact over and over again and I’ve also been in their shoes as well.

It’s good to try to figure things out on your own, it gets your mind working, but if it’s costing you too much time, money, and effort and someone else has it already figured out, go get help and get to your dreams faster.

6. Comparison

Have you ever…?

I don’t know a person who’s never compared themselves to someone else.

Unfortunately, with the digital age, comparison has become a monster that kills more people’s hopes and dreams than anything else out there. We unconsciously disqualify ourselves and we ruin our chances of having the life we long for.

I see this over and over again when clients check out other successful coaches or entrepreneurs, and then they go on to create a story in their head about why that person can do it and they can’t.

They tell themselves things like “I don’t have the talent”, “I don’t have the looks”, “I’m not good at this”, “I’m too shy”, “I’m not in the right country”, “I started too late”, “there is too much competition” and I can go on and on.

These types of comparisons are dream killers. I talked about them in my book, The 7 Ways To Beat The Entrepreneur’s Impostor Syndrome, and you need to become aware of them.

Some of these beliefs and comparisons may happen subconsciously and you might not even know why you can’t get yourself to speak up about your products or your services, but it’s your job to become aware of what happens with your thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and actions.

I want you to keep this in mind: you’re one of a kind.

Your business is different because of you: your story, your way of seeing life, your experiences, and everything that makes up who you are. But you have to be the first one to recognize that and to stop looking at others for validation.

7. Mindset

Success has been described in many ways, but if there is one thing that everyone agrees on is that MINDSET is the key component of it, no matter what success looks like for you.

Some have said that success is 80 percent mindset and others have said that success is 95 percent mindset, and while I’m not sure what the exact percentage is, I don’t think it matters because we can all agree it’s the biggest part of the pie. Once you get your mindset is right, everything else follows.

If you go into something looking for excuses for why you can’t have success, or if you’re used to placing the blame on someone else for why you’re not going after what you want, you’ll always find yourself struggling and unhappy.

However, if you decide that something is possible, if you decide that no matter what you’re going through you’ll figure it out, if you decide that whatever you’ll face you’re in charge of the meaning you give things and the attitude you bring to the situation, you’re on the right track!

So consider these three questions:

· How can you transform your biggest challenges today?

· How can you look at what needs to get done differently?

· How can you simplify your process and get things done?

Look, you have it in you to do anything you set your mind to do!

I have no doubts about it, only you do.

The day you really decide that you’ll make it happen and you stick to that decision, it will be the day when success will become inevitable.

Make your journey and adventure, shake things up, and embrace the beauty that comes with your transformation.

For those of you who are parents you understand that you could’ve never truly been one hundred percent ready to be responsible for another human’s life, but yet you do it so gracefully. Even when you may believe you’re failing, you’re not, because the ONLY time you really fail is when you give up.

The same is true for business. It’s not easy, there is a lot of unknown, you’re being asked to think on your feet, you have to step outside of your norm, but it’s all so very rewarding at the end of the day!

So get your head in the game and make this the most amazing story you’ll ever tell your clients, your friends, and the best example you’ll set for your children, for they truly learn from your example.

Now go out there and be the best you can be!

P.S: If you want to learn more about the one pattern that allows me to predict how fast and if a coach will have success in business, check out classwithcat.com, it’s a very short and powerful class. It will teach you the exact process coaches and entrepreneurs go through and what you need to do to make sure you don’t fall prey to this never-ending loop. See you on the success side!