The Ultimate Guide To Personal Coaching

Everything you need to know about elevating your career and starting a top-notch personal coaching business.

What Is Personal Coaching?

Personal coaching isn't a new phenomenon or a fad that's come up over the past few decades. We've all been "coached" or assisted along the path to our goals by someone in our environment.

The academic projects, the athletics meet, the post-breakup depression, the job you just couldn't seem to bag, that hot-headed boss, those impossible work deadlines, or the sheer joy of chasing excellence.

Remember the people who reached out? Your parents, siblings, friends, teachers, colleagues, friendly neighbors, and even strangers!

But it takes more than a well-meaning friendly chat to consistently help people out of their problems or ensure they keep climbing the ladder better and faster.

Personal coaching is about result-oriented empowerment irrespective of who the client is or what they're facing. It is enabling every person to live their life to the fullest.

It requires:

Identifying obstacles
Finding motivation

Cultivating discipline
Pinpointing resistance to change

Here's a little secret: You train yourself and others.

With the right catalyst, you can train anyone to perform more consistently and better than usual. The process of one-on-one personal coaching is that catalyst.

You help clients create nurturing, productive relationships, break away from abuse. Create fulfilling work, retain it, excel at it. Invest in themselves and people, not social media!

Personal coaches, with all their empathy, training, and endless cheerleader spirit, remind clients:

That they can climb out of any ditch and soar higher than ever before
That there's a perch above the one they're sitting on, and help clients understand how to get there; "the way that suits them the best"
That even if they have a broken wing, they can fly again, and stronger!
That sometimes, they may not be able to see where they are or where they're headed; but you can lead them to the reality of their situation

And they do that by helping clients discover their own path forward. That's the cornerstone of personal coaching - lead to realizations, don't spoon feed. That's where learning the process of coaching comes in!

1
Ask the right questions that accelerate breakthroughs
2
Communicate effectively
3
Devise a goal-oriented strategy
4
Help the client build goal-appropriate life skills
5
Foster accountability for outcomes

Personal coaching is a dynamic and creative professional engagement. It helps people regain control of their life, uncover or discover what they want it to look like, and create that amazing reality.

A personal coach's job can seem to overlap with that of a therapist and counselor, but it's not. Study the differences and similarities, and list them in the table below.

Kind of professionals	Similarities	Differences
Therapist
Counselor
Personal Coach

Watch this video as part of your research:

What Does Personal Coaching Do?

An injured lion set out to hunt. He spotted buffaloes and immediately dreamed of a feast. But he was promptly stopped by his advisor – the cat.

"You're not ready to hunt something so big. Start with that hare instead," she said. The lion listened to her and ate a small meal. It was enough to start regaining his strength. But soon, his mind began to wander to his goal of hunting buffaloes."Perhaps you should test your strength with deer now," said the cat.

The lion heeded her counsel again but, within days, veered back to his original dream. This time, the cat deflected him to zebras. He soon became comfortable chasing the big game. Then one day, he again saw a herd of buffaloes.

This time, he stopped to look at his advisor. The cat nodded in approval. That day they once again ate like kings.

The world is quite like a jungle, full of obstacles that leave us diminished. It gets overwhelming. It's easy to get pushed off track, become incapacitated, even if you're at the top of the food chain.

That's where personal coaches, like you, step in.

Like the cat in the story, you can lead clients to their goals and aspirations. You know their dreams are big, much bigger than what they can attain immediately. You break it down into smaller goals, give them skills, and set them on the path to success.

As personal coaches, you will most commonly see your clients come to you with one or more of these five problems:

1
Career blocks, or "feeling lost."
2
Adopted perspectives, fears, mind chatter, or "I'm not good enough."
3
Destructive habits, or "two steps forward, three steps backward."
4
Problem proximity and focus, or "what next and how."
5
Transitions, or "tread cautiously."

These life disruptions come with tell-tale signs of emotional distress:

1
Frequent irritability
2
High levels of stress/anxiety
3
Inability to break bad habits
4
Social isolation or malfunction

These, or a version of these life disruptions, are what steer people off the track that leads them to fulfillment. Even if successful, these people remain in a state of constant flux.

So, how do you deliver? How do you ensure you keep creating one life-changing session after another? How do you create maximum impact?

Through one-on-one coaching!

Highly personalized, flexible, and goal-focused, the one-on-one coaching approach is ideal for all types of clients, whether they're looking to restart their life after a bad patch or take their career to the next level.

Through a structured approach and with goals broken down into bite-sized portions, coaches who take one-on-one sessions are known to transform lives by:

Pushing clients to explore all facets of the problem.

Tapping into their life experience and identifying obstacles, recurring behaviors, and thought patterns.

Developing strategies and a plan of action based on this knowledge, but suited to the client’s personality and vision.

Choosing and providing tools that can create out-of-world results.

Fostering accountability to increase productivity.

List down the common problems or improvement goals which, according to you, would push people to seek help from a personal coach. Against each problem, note a possible client goal and list down ways in which you can help them.

Client’s Challenge	Client’s Goal	How Can I Help?
Cell
Cell
Cell
Cell
Cell
Cell

Skills & Secrets Of An Ultimate Personal Coach

The demand for personal coaches is on the rise and this is a great time to up your game as a personal coach.

So, how do you elevate yourself fast?

Besides hours and hours of practice, there are other proven ways to acquire and hone key coaching skills in half the time:

Mimicking proven strategies with due credit
Learning from master coaches who show you the ropes

Understanding what the best in the business do will help you hone your approach and your skills.

7 Essential Skills For Personal Coaching

Trust

Any real success hides behind a wall of failures or, as we like to call them – the feedback mechanisms for all wins, big and small! Your clients will need to share their deepest fears and darkest secrets. Earn their trust. Be empathetic. A good ice-breaker is to create a series of small and quick breakthroughs.

Also, remember to set boundaries and keep the relationship professional to prevent transference.

Curiosity & Non-Judgment

Curiosity is the difference between discovering a person and assuming things about them, a.k.a judgment. Try to stay as objective as possible as you find out what truly matters to your client.

2X Listening

All great coaches are amazing listeners. In fact, they practice what's called deep listening. Other dimensions of deep listening are reading body language (non-verbal communication) and active questioning.

In essence, don't interrupt. Gather information by hearing, observing, and asking pointed questions for a focused conversation.

Compassionate Truth

Remember how moms give bitter medicine to kids by dipping the spoon in chocolate syrup? Use this tactic when leading clients to their truth as it requires regular reality checks of hard truths. Be mindful of your choice of words.

Positive Messaging

Positive messaging is the cheese that trains your client to do more of a good behavior versus the others that do not contribute to their life and goals. Any NLP trainer would tell you that a NOT makes you focus on the undesirable without empowering you with what you should do.

Watch this video for more insights on the power of words:

Regular Feedback

Feedback scripts success. Encourage clients to practice journaling to share their thoughts and experiences right when they occur, and awareness is fresh. Check on your clients, in-between sessions, to see how things are going and if more support is needed. Awareness leads to goal attainment and in a shorter time.

Upskill… All The Time!

Best coaches remain at the top of the ladder by constantly learning new tools, techniques, and methodologies. This makes tool selection instinctive. If you don't practice, you may not be able to open the right path for your client when the 'AHA moment' occurs.

Remember that if you skip any of these stages, you'll find your client and their success slipping away.

Imagine yourself in a coaching session and arrange the seven skills in order of requirement to take the client through the four steps of goal identification, reality check, objective setting, and the will to act.

Think about which of these skills come naturally to you and the ones that need work. Rank them on a scale of 1-5 in the table below.

Then come up with 3 ways in which you can improve the areas that need work.
(Eg.: Watch Evercoach videos on ways to increase self-awareness or research ways to practice non-judgment.)

You can use this chart for guidance:

Skills	Strength (1-5)	Action points
Trust
Curiosity & Non-Judgment
2X Listening
Compassionate Truth
Positive Messaging
Regular Feedback
Upskilling	Cell	Cell

Building Your personal Coaching Business

Being a personal coach is not the same as having a personal coaching business. Building yourself as a brand and creating a steady stream of paying clients out of it is a process.

5 Elements To Build A Personal Coaching Business

1.Identify Your Coaching Niche

You may want to say yes to every client when you're starting out. But you can only help a client if you have a deep understanding of your own strengths and the kind of problems you solve.

For instance, if you're equipped to address interpersonal relationships, then an individual with emotional issues looking to shed weight is not your client.

Some personal coaching niches you can choose are:

Relationship coaching
Family coaching
Career coaching
Financial coaching
Mental health coaching
Mindset coaching
Spiritual coaching
Health and wellness coaching

2. Build Your Coaching Toolbox

A tradesperson is only as good as the tools they use. Identifying your expertise will also help you select the right set of tools to help clients.

But don't be a squirrel collecting everything shiny that comes along.

It's important that you understand which tools are useful for your niche and those that you are naturally great at.

Some coaching tools and what they do:

Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP): Helps change language and behavior.

II.

Interview Techniques: Conversational tools used to help clients share information better.

III.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): Helps replace negative thought patterns with positive ones to remove trigger responses.

IV.

The Stop. Start. Continue. Change: Facilitates service improvement, idea generation, problem-solving, and negotiating behavior changes.

Guided Meditations: Helps overcome mental blocks, become mindful, clear old patterns, and visualize their goals.

VI.

Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT): Helps dispense emotional baggage using acupuncture, hypnotherapy, journaling, etc.

VII.

Positive Affirmations: Reinforces positive self-view, clears pre-conceived notions of limitations, past failures.

VIII.

Perspective Change: Based on the principle of "All problems come with learning potential."

3. Master Proven Coaching Methodologies

Since coaching tools are only as good as the skill with which they're used, let's understand the coaching methods you will need to master.

Coaching methodologies are goal-oriented structures, each solving problems with a different approach that is best suited to the client.

There are many methods that have been derived and put to use to change millions of lives.

A few that may be called the classics are:

1⦁ GROW Model

Stands for: Goal - Reality - Options - Will

This coaching model was created by coaching industry pioneer Sir John Whitmore, who likened it to planning a journey. The step-by-step method answers the question "where do you want to reach" in life.

2⦁ SMART Model

Stands for: Specific - Measurable - Achievable - Relevant - Time-bound

This method is traditionally used in business models where the results must always be tangible and measurable.

Though straightforward, these methods are powerful if the coach can ensure:

The goal is genuinely inspiring to the client

The client is fully aware of their circumstance/resources

However, the success of each model depends on how clearly one can define the goals by answering "what do you really want."

You can also create your own unique coaching methodology by using the disjointed learning theory model.

4. Price Your Coaching Packages Right

Most personal coaches, though wonderful at seeing the endless value everyone brings to the world, undervalue themselves.

They're constantly stuck between feeling "I don't charge enough for the time I invest" and "I'm charging too much already."

So, what is the right price point?

First of all, it’s a good idea to identify your minimal viable price. What is the least that you have to charge for your services to make ends meet?

Calculate your annual living expenses, taxes, add a holiday and arrive at a figure. Divide this by the number of days you want to work, and you'll have what you must make per day.

Let’s take an example.

For an annual $ 100,000 salary, your monthly income -- after accounting for 60 days when your client load is zero -- comes down to about $10,000. If you work a 5-day week, you would need to make at least $500 a day. Let’s say your coaching packages are weekly one-on-one coaching sessions of an hour each. If you decide to spend 5 hours coaching each day, that’d mean enrolling 5 daily clients and charging at least $100/hour to make your goal.

Keep this as your starting offer. Quickly get creative with marketing and start adding a profit margin to it.

Get innovative with offerings and create win-win scenarios with your clients. For instance, hourly rates can pinch clients.

Consider offering coaching packages that target goals, so the client pays for SUCCESS, NOT SESSIONS! The chunk will offer you financial stability and set you free to really focus on changing lives.

5. Create A Marketing Funnel

To enroll clients, you need to get them to believe in you and your methodology. You need to establish a connection with them and offer them value at every stage of their engagement with you.

A good marketing funnel ensures clients see the value you bring and pay top dollar for it.

The secret lies in creating a channel that:

Broadcasts your philosophy,
Showcases your authenticity, and
Establishes your expertise.

Step 1: Awareness

The first step is to create awareness through value-based free content like blogs, podcasts, infographics, images, whitepapers, videos for social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram or Youtube, etc.

Watch this video for 3 simple ways to start creating content right away:

Step 2: Lead Magnet

Once the audience is interested, draw them to your offer with a lead magnet. This could be a free webinar, a one-on-one session, or even a free copy of your book. It should solve the top problem your ideal client could be facing so they become open to sharing their contact details in exchange for the solution to their problem.

Step 3: Enroll

Once they have shared their contact details, you have a qualified lead to have a coaching conversation with and convert!

Read Evercoach's the ultimate guide to life coaching business, and the guide to creating a sales funnel. Draft a plan to promote your coaching practice.

To position yourself strongly, ask:

What kind of problems do I like solving?
What's my personal coaching niche?
Can I use my life story to showcase as an example of overcoming adversity?
Who do I enjoy helping?
Can I repurpose any skills from my previous work experience to revise my price point?

Also, watch Evercoach's video to understand how to reach more coaching clients >>

How To Get A Stamp Of Trust & Expertise

Coaching is the second-fastest-growing industry in the world after IT. And it is definitely one of the best jobs in the world – helping people!

But with a no-qualification for entry, the bar has been set pretty low, and the personal coaching industry is facing a trust deficit.

One may want to name drop coaching legend Tony Robbins here, but remember he worked for Jim Rohn, learned on the job, and grew!

That's not a bad way to come into your own.

Coaches often start as protégés to grow their skills, results, clientele, and reputation.

A faster way to remedy the "trust deficit" is to go for a coaching certification.

6 Benefits of Getting A Coaching Certification

PROFESSIONAL TRAINING: Get training-driven perfection to turn your "gift" of working well with people into a unique and valued tool that gives consistent results.

BETTER PAY: Certifications also give you credibility, evoke trust. They ensure you can bump up that hourly rate and still have people queue up outside your door.

PEER GROUP EXPOSURE: Certificate training helps you meet other high-potential coaches such as yourself and form a valuable professional network that's great for business. This peer group opens doors for collaborations and client referrals.

PERSONAL GROWTH: A great certification course, like Certified Life Coach by Evercoach, offers a lot of literature, practice material, and tools to coaches, who can continue using it even after the course is over. You also get access to a huge set of mentors to turn to every time they hit a wall!

SECURITY: As the personal coaching industry grows, the chances of it getting regulated are increasing. If and when that happens, coaches with solid credentials stand the best chance to get a license.

STAY CLUED IN: Certification programs give access to organizations that are industry trendsetters. You stay in the loop on best practices, the latest research, and market updates.

First Step To Become A Personal Coach

You are now ready to build a fulfilling career as a personal coach. It is a career with tremendous growth opportunities and many rewarding experiences.

As a successful life coach, it’s crucial you continuously work on honing your coaching skills and techniques to create lasting transformation for your clients.

Conduct A Powerful Session With Any Life Coaching Client

Our free life coaching template will allow you to show up with confidence and leave a memorable impression on any life-coaching client.