17 September 2019 by Nick Hatter
Why I hired a life coach in the first place
“If nothing changes, nothing changes”
- 12-Step Recovery Slogan
Well, naturally, as a life coach myself, I believe in life coaching. And like most human beings, I have my own challenges, limitations, problems as well as goals, aspirations and dreams.
I’ve hired three life coaches to date – all are excellent, highly trained and all three happen to be German for some reason. They’re are also great people who I respect.
My emotional intelligence improved
My coach introduced me to the Enneagram which shone a massive spotlight on my character. This was pretty powerful for me. I discovered so much about myself including:
- Blindspots (I could be very pessimistic and look for the negatives and wallow in self-pity)
- Strengths (I am very creative, entrepreneurial, compassionate, sensitive, caring, honest, open)
- Triggers (I found out that envy and rejection are big triggers for me!)
I now am much more aware of my emotions, and the stories I create behind them. If I am emotionally upset, I can more easily deconstruct the story and challenge it and thus better manage my emotions as a result.
My sleep improved
Despite being a successful life coach, I can suffer from “money anxiety”; having a scarcity mindset and worrying about running out of cash.
This could cause me to lose sleep and become very workaholic and adrenalised.
My coach got me to look at my finances and offered some very simple and logical insights about how much profit I was actually making. It sounds so simple doesn’t it? Silly amygdala!
As a result of reducing my money anxiety, I slept better than I had in a long time. For the first time in ages, I felt I could start to relax.
I woke up the next day feeling like I had a proper recharge.
My self-esteem improved
I blame myself much less for other people’s actions and reactions. Before, I did not realise I had fell into the cognitive distortion of Over-Personalisation – thinking everyone’s behaviour and all circumstances are my fault.
I used to blame myself when consultations with clients did not go so well – until my coach asked me:
“What other reasons could there be for a prospect not signing up that does not involve you?”
Ever since, I have learned not to blame myself or be so hard on myself if someone does not sign up for coaching with me.
My social life improved
My coach challenged me to leave my “man cave” of work, spa and video games. In other words, I work during the day, then after work, I go to the spa and then perhaps play a strategy game or watch some Netflix.
But this routine does not allow much room for meeting new friends or potential girlfriends.
Thanks to working with my life coach, I got the motivation to leave my man cave. I decided to join a church, which turned out to be a pretty good decision because it deepened my spirituality and led to me meeting way more people.
My earnings jumped to six figures a year pro-rata
Thanks to working with my coach, I was able to push myself further than ever before with my business. You see, I had created a story that I couldn’t charge more than £150/hour because I don’t have a Masters in Psychology.
This was despite the fact that I have done numerous coach and psychology training, and have 40+ five-star reviews on Google.
My coach suggested that I shouldn’t be focused on charging for my time, but rather, charging for the results I create.
So I now charge around £500/hr. I believe the results I create are worth it. Some of my client success stories include:
- Years of bad habits broken
- Musicians getting opportunities to work with world-famous producers
- Shattered self-esteems being made stronger than ever before
- Discovering lost dreams and making them come true
- Absolute clarity after being at a cross-roads in life
Conclusion
Everyone has blindspots – even us life coaches! The coaching has really enabled me to grow in a number of areas in my life
Hiring life coaches has definitely had a profound impact on my life and I am looking forward to having more sessions with my newest coach.
In conclusion, I would definitely recommend hiring a life coach. Yes, I’m very biased in saying that, but I can honestly conclude that without my coaches, I would not be where I am today as a top life coach in London.