Answer this one question first: How much money have YOU invested in your personal development over the years?

That number for professional coaches is surprisingly large—you’re driven by acquiring things like knowledge, growth, impact and therefore, success.

And yet we all have our own blind spots, such as the one I’ll highlight in a moment.

First order of business…

Tally up the investments you’ve made over the past 3, 5, 10 years even; be it coaching certification(s), a master’s degree, PhD, coaching programs, courses, books, conferences, retreats, workshops, etc., etc.,

The number is likely to shock you.

In the past 3 years, I’ve invested more than $60,000 in my personal and professional development. A lot to some, a little to others. And I can’t wait until the day I invest double, triple, 10X this amount.

Next, are there any investments you haven’t made that you’re asking or expecting a client to make?

This doesn’t mean it all has to add up the same or perfectly all the time, but it does give you a glimpse into where some gaps could be for you if you’re experiencing any sort of blocks around client enrollment.

Such as a client I was working with who was making assumptions as to whether a potential client could afford working with her privately.

Secretly, we’ve all been there.

And ultimately, it had nothing to do with the potential client’s financial situation.

My client is someone who has made many investments of time and money in her own development, yet hadn’t ever invested at a high level with a private coach of her own.

And so she was lacking confidence around asking higher 1:1 coaching fees from her own clients, understandably so.

Here’s what I know:

The more I invest in my own coaching, the easier it is for me to ask for bigger numbers with my own fees.

As a wise mentor once illuminated: you have to understand what that feels like or it’s hard to do that yourself.

So if you’re struggling to attract a certain kind of client into your programs at a certain higher number, consider what it would be like to invest that kind of money yourself.

As I look ahead to raising my private coaching fees, I’m excited at the thought of raising my own investment level in the coaches I work with.

It scares and excites me at the same time.

And that’s the whole point. :)