Working with a coach of any kind can be a super vulnerable experience. Coaches in general are there to help you identify your pain points, or areas that you want to change and help you implement lasting change to achieve your goals. Whether you are working with a personal trainer at the gym, a basketball coach, a life coach, a financial coach, or an executive coach, it can be intimidating to reflect on what you have done well and what you need to do different to achieve your ultimate results.
I recently had a coaching call where 20 of my financial coaching colleagues spent an hour coaching me through something I was struggling with. They helped me identify what my real challenge was and then asked questions to help me validate the challenge and then encouraged me to do something different. There weren’t solutions dropped at my feet. I had to do some serious reflection (in front of all of them, via Zoom). Even though I'm smiling in this photo, I felt tears glossing my eyes. My experience of taking time to reflect and respond to these questions changed everything for me. It changed my approach and my results to this challenge. It also reminded me that I cannot expect anyone who works with me to be able to deeper than I’m willing to go myself. My colleagues and I joke “a coach without a coach is like a doctor without a doctor.”
When you’re considering working with a financial coach, do your homework. Get to know the coach and their values. Here are a few questions to ask a financial coach before making a decision to work with them:
Do their values align with yours?
What is their experience in the industry?
Why are they a financial coach?
Are they compatible with you and your significant other?
Do they listen?
Do they understand your situation and what you want to achieve?
Are they willing to meet you where you are?
Do they offer a recommendation during your initial conversation?
Do they offer encouragement and/or hope?
Do you trust them?
Once you’ve had an initial conversation with a financial coach (most offer this at no charge) you can determine if you’d like to work with that financial coach or if you’d like to reach out to someone else to get another perspective. This is an investment in your future. It is quite common for someone to reach out to two or more financial coaches to determine who would best serve them. It is similar to getting more training in a particular area of study. You wouldn’t just throw a dart through the air and see where it lands. You would find out who offers that specific training, what exactly is going to be taught, what are the expectations of the student, and how to enroll.
The last step is to make a decision on which financial coach you’d like to work with. This is probably the easiest part if you’ve done your homework and spoken to a few financial coaches. You will have a gut feeling about who it is that will best serve you and your family and who resonates best when it comes to meeting your financial goals.
If you’re interested in having a powerful coaching conversation with me, you can schedule it by clicking here. This is a great way for us to get to know each other better and to find out if financial coaching is even right for you. The first four people to have a conversation with me will receive a FREE copy of the book Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey mailed to them. No ongoing coaching commitment required. I’m not a salesperson. I’m a financial coach, here to coach those who WANT to be coached. Let’s connect!