I’ve invested more than a hundred thousand dollars in my coaching over the past 8 years.

In that time, I’ve had great coaches, good coaches and every once in a while, a terrible coach. I’ve learned from all of them.

I’ve worked with female coaches and male coaches. I’ve had coaches under 25 years old and older than 60 years old. I used to travel to Connecticut once a quarter to work with one of my coaches. I’ve hired coaches and even fired coaches.

I’ve had intuitive coaches, mindset coaches, business coaches, sales coaches, leadership coaches, health coaches, a negotiation coach and a parenting coach. I’ve also had a variety of hypnotherapists and consultants.

I’ve learned what it really means to not travel alone. I’m mostly wired to roll up my sleeves and “go solo.” I’m comfortable to lead, I like the sense of being out front and making the path. But everytime, truly EVERY time, I’ve made exponential progress, it’s been while working with a coach.

And until recently, I’ve rarely had the financial resources or cash on hand to pay for my coaches—but I’ve often gotten resourceful…savings, credit cards, borrowing money, selling unused items in my home, and so on.

1) A coach who doesn’t actively pay for their own coaches will struggle to attract - and ask - clients to pay for their coaching.

To be a coach without a coach…quite the paradox isn’t it?

I’ve had many one-on-one coaches. That’s essential if you want to become a masterful coach yourself. And I often have more than one coach at a time.

I’ve been in many group coaching programs. That’s essential if you want to create and run your own impactful group coaching programs. You’ll discover what you like and don’t like which will allow you to create something really amazing and authentic for your community.

I’ve had coaches who’ve had such high fees that I had to split the payment across two and three credit cards. But if you want to be a high-value, high-fee coach, you need to invest heavily in learning from high-impact coaches.

2) No coach will do the work for you, no matter how much you invest.

I once invested $30,000 to work with a coach. At the time, I’d never invested that much money in anything outside of my college education. I remember waking up the next morning with a pit in my stomach with the thought, “What if it doesn’t work!?”

I also remember what stopped me from immediately asking for a refund… it was the thought that came next, “I have to make this happen, no matter what.”

3) Coaching is the single best investment you can make in yourself.

World-class coaching is often expensive due to the high-quality standards, customized support, exclusivity, and research and development that go into developing and providing it.

If you have never invested more than you feel comfortable to spend in your own coaching, how will you ever know what it feels like for your clients to invest in working with you?

4) The ROI of great coaching can be both short and long-term.

Sometimes all it takes is one insight from a coach and you’ve gotten your money’s worth. Sometimes it will happen in session two or twenty-two. Sometimes it will occur two years after you’ve finished the coaching. And sometimes the impact it will ripple out well into the future, for years and decades to come.

The very best ROI on coaching? The “learn, teach and apply” effect.

When you take something you learned, discovered or uncovered to then go out, apply it and have a ripple effect of impact in the world—be it in your family, with your clients or for your community.

5) Coaching has a compounding effect that builds over time to help you create more success.

Coaching builds on itself over the years.

One way is that the more coaching you experience, the greater your wisdom acquisition and personal growth.

Another way is you improve a variety of skills and build new capabilities which give you range as a coach, which leads to greater impact.

And another way is your confidence builds as you accomplish things that once seemed impossible.

I currently have a business coach, a leadership coach, and a health coach concierge. And I’m always seeking out the very best guides to support me on my personal journey to success.

How about you?

Love. Stephanie