If you already have a coach or experience around this, please share your tips for finding the right coach or consultant in the comments below!

 

1. Be the boss.

Even though you're hiring someone to tell you what to do, you can't forget that you're the boss.

You’re the big cheese! The client! The person handing over the money!

As such, I want you to take every precaution with hiring a coach that you would when hiring an employee. In fact, it totally helps you get into the “big cheese” mindset if you put together a job description like you would if you were hiring in the conventional sense.

Close your eyes for a minute and picture yourself working with your ideal coach.

What qualifications and experience does this person have?

What expectations do you have of them?

How do you see yourself working with your coach?

Write it all down!

2. Define your goals.

Coaching is a very wide-spread field. In fact, it’s the second fastest growing industry in the world!

So before you decide who you want to hire, let’s go over some of the basics. Grab a pen and paper and tell me the following:

What specific area of business do you need help with? The best coaches all have specialties.

For example, if you’re struggling with money blocks, you’ll want someone like Denise Duffield Thomas or Kimberly Riggins.

And if you’re an entrepreneur who’s ready to step into a CEO Mindset, step up and lead, and upgrade your systems and operations to make business run more smoothly, there’s this Amber McCue chick who I hear is amazing. (Psst! That’s me!).

Why are you motivated to hire a coach? What has changed in your business that makes you feel like you’re ready to take this crucial step?

What specific result do you want to achieve from hiring a coach? Is it a financial gain? Clarity? A marketing plan that you can implement?

3. Build your budget.

If the thought of hiring a coach has got your shoulders up to your ears with anxiety, don’t worry!

I’m a big believer in the fact that there’s a perfect coach out there for you who fits comfortably in your price range.

The last thing that hiring help should do is stress you out even more.

Normally people decide to hire coaches after they’ve already bought pricey online programs and done everything on the DIY route, so if that’s you, you’re probably not a stranger to investing in yourself.

So – do you remember in the last step where you defined the exact goal that you want to achieve from working with your coach?

It’s time to take it a step further.

Ask yourself: How much money am I willing to pay to get this outcome?

Take out a sticky note and write down that number.

4. Go with your gut.

When making big decisions about your future, I think it’s always good to do a gut check.

But wait just a sec!

This advice comes with a warning.

Before you make a big decision based on a gut feeling, you need to understand what a gut feeling is.

Your gut feeling is a result of your brain’s subconscious information retrieval.

And I’m not making this stuff up! The gut feeling is actually a field of research studied by Gerd Gingerenzer, a german social scientist whose findings were popularized by Malcom Gladwell in his Bestselling book, Blink.

So here’s what this means in plain English:

Your gut feeling is basically a computation of past experiences with similar qualities. It’s a feeling based on what has already happened to you in your life.

Here’s the catch: if you’re trying to do something that you’ve never done before, your gut feeling might be less accurate.

And that’s why I recommend using your gut feeling as one of several factors when choosing a coach.

Specifically, the gut feeling is going to help you tremendously when you meet your potential coach for the first time because your gut feeling has lots of experience with meeting new people that it can go on.

You'll know instantly whether or not you can jive with this person. If the gut says “no” – don’t do it!

5. Know exactly what you're getting.

Coaching packages can be a bit…vague.

But it’s not without good reason.

Coaches have a difficult job of balancing the two biggest needs of their clients:

• Customizing their advice to suit their client’s specific needs

• Prescribing a specific system, theory, formula, or program for every client that they can use in the future.

The funny thing is– you don't necessarily want to hire someone who says that they customize their coaching to each client…if they don't also have a system, theory, formula, or program that’s proven.

The problem with just getting, say, 2 months of one-on-one coaching without a program to follow is that you don't know what to do once those 2 months are over.

Also, it can feel like the coach is flying by the seat of her pants when you talk with her.

I'd hate for you to invest all of that money just to wind up feeling frustrated and overwhelmed in the end. That'd be super sad!

When you’re looking at coaches, make sure that they have an established system and that you balance system with personalized results because you need personal as much as you need system! Your business isn't like the next guys and your needs are different.

You'll feel more confident knowing that this coach has experience working with and getting results for your particular type of business!

Alright! Let’s recap those five tips one more time.

Before you hire a coach, make sure that you:

• Write up a description of what you're looking for.

• Write down your goals for working with a coach.

• Decide how much money you're willing to invest.

• Listen to your gut.

• Know exactly what you're getting for your money.

ACTION JACKSON!