5 Proven Ways to Become a Successful Coach or Trainer
You may know that NESTA and Spencer Institute have been helping people just like you since June 1, 1992. Yes, that long. Over these decades of working with 10s of thousands of trainers and coaches, we’ve learned a lot about what works…and what doesn’t work.
Would you like to speed up your success? Would you like to increase your knowledge? Would you like to serve and help more people? Would you like to enjoy each day even more? All these things are possible (and more) when you follow the proven strategies for success listed below. Before you read the list, promise yourself this….. BE HONEST! Be honest about where you are, what you know, what you need, who can help, how you want to live your life, what is currently bad, and what is most pressing to change and improve NOW!
Here are your top 5 proven ways to become more successful:
1. Avoid broken people.
We mean people who are broken in their behavior, broken in how they treat others, broken in their optimism, broken in their daily habits, and broken in their love and support for you. When is the last time a “broken” person added true value to your life? When is the last time a “broken” person changed the world in a positive way? This is self-evident. Now, seek out quality people who are kind, loving, giving, supportive, and enjoy adding value to the lives of others. People who are broken suck the life out of you. Avoid them. Humans tend to become an echo chamber of those around them. Which echoes do you want to hear? This is simple.
2. Play the long game.
This goes for all things in life. The more you can put off gratification, in general, the better you will be in life. There was a famous psychological study done many years ago. Researchers worked with young kids (maybe 5-7 years old). They told the kids, they (the researcher) needed to leave the room. The kids were left with candies. The kids were told if they cannot wait, they can have 2 pieces now. But, if they could wait until the researcher returned, they could have 4 pieces.
The kids didn’t know how long they would have to wait. Some kids couldn’t wait. Others did wait. The researchers followed the kids (now adults) for the next 20 years. The kids who could put off gratification and could wait for a bigger reward (more candy) did better in life in terms of education, careers, important life choices, and annual income. Learn to delay gratification, so you get what you really want.
3. Stay curious.
Curiosity is vital to your success and happiness. What happens when you lose curiosity? Boredom? Fatigue? Complacency? When you are curious, you want to learn. Curiosity makes you want to explore. Curiosity leads to better experiences. If you’ve been experiencing a lack of curiosity, you may be surrounded by people who also lack curiosity. Is your echo chamber lacking curiosity? Travel is critical to help satisfy curiosity. Learn to travel as a trainer or coach. People who travel more tend to be curious. In turn, they learn more, and they become far more interesting (and interested) people. Would you like to have a conversation with someone who’s curious and has traveled the world, or someone who plays video games in their mom’s basement? Learn to become, and stay, curious.
4. Know that you don’t know.
As soon as you think you have enough knowledge, you are doomed. Think about someone who is a “know it all”.
You know – and they know – they really don’t know it all. They likely know very little. Why are there sub-specialties for dozens of areas of expertise in medicine? There’s just too much to know. Why are there different skills needed to coach football as compared to tennis? There’s just too much to know.
Why don’t you know it all?
1) It’s a fact that social media and search algorithms keep you from seeing both sides of any story. 2) Even top experts are far from having all the answers. 3) The fact that there are 2 or more perspectives on a topic shows it is not completely definitive. 4) Being curious means you don’t yet have all the answers. 5) Emerging technology, science, data, and resources often make previous “facts” in need of reevaluation. Always be an open-minded student, and seeking a second opinion is often a good idea.
5. Be persistent and consistent.
People often use these two words interchangeably, but they are unique. “Persistence” is continuing to do something (workouts, investing, being kind) over a long period of time to work towards a goal or to establish a habit. “Consistency” is related to the frequency to take action in the process of consistency. As an example. You can be persistent in your goal of achieving a healthier body. Yet, exercising 5x/week instead of 2x/week would show more consistency.
You can think of persistence as the macro level and consistency as the micro-level. Persistence can be considered on an annual basis, and consistency can be thought of as a daily habit. Both are important.
Starting a Successful Coaching Career
Just practicing these five proven strategies will create a positive impact on your life and career. The good news is that it can be started immediately, and it makes you happy. Take action now and let us know how you do. We’d like to hear your success story! Well, there you have it…. 20 ways to make a living as a coach (or trainer). Yes, there are 100 more, and we’ll touch on those in the coming weeks.
TAKE ACTION!
Our programs are open to anyone with a desire to learn and help others. There are no prerequisites.
That’s it for now.
Take action!
PS: Click here to see many helpful business/career resources
