The Emotional Rollercoaster of Running a Coaching Business

Episode Transcript:

Come back to another episode of the Book Your Dream Clients podcast. Today, I wanted to chat with you heart to heart about the emotional roller coaster of running a coaching business. So sit back, relax and enjoy. 

So many coaches go through all the emotions. Well, actually all of them, not some. And I want you to know that the feelings you have right now are valid and it's okay to feel whatever it is you're feeling while you're running your business. There is no better illustration than a roller coaster ride. When it comes to describing what it's like to run the coaching business, this is how I picture it: 

I picture it as you are smooth sailing, it's going slow. As you're setting up your business, you're getting your website up, you love your branding. You are getting all of your social media channels established, and you're consistently doing all the things. And while I'm saying this, the rollercoaster is you are in that little. I have never been on a roller coaster because I choose not to have a heart attack at a young age. So I hate, I hate all that stuff, whatever it is that you're sitting in, as you're going on the roller coaster, this is what's happening right now. It's just slowly starting to climb. And you're getting really excited because you finally have everything put together. You feel like, you know what, I've done everything. And now is the time for all the amazing things to happen. And as soon as you're happy, you have your arms out wide because you're so excited about everything that you've done. 

Boom, the rollercoaster drops on the steep hill and you just go crashing down and you feel like, when is this going to smooth out again? I feel like I'm just going down, down, down, down, down. And the reason why you feel like you're going down, down, down, down, because you didn't get that instant hit of a client. You didn't get that instant hit of satisfaction. You didn't get somebody to sign up for your program. Nobody's joining your Facebook group. Nobody's commenting on your Instagram posts.

And so you just let yourself crash and you have a choice when you are going down at a high speed. You can either embrace herself and prepare for that smooth out point. Or you can jump out and you're done. This is how your business just goes right? You're excited and you'll stay up for a while. And then it goes down again. That's just how it goes. So many people jumped ship when you're going down. Not many stick around to see what the next wave will be. I have all kinds of analogies in here. I love analogies because it paints a very, very visual picture. For me, I'm a very visual person and analogies help paint that for me, it's like, you're on this crazy, never ending track that you have a choice to get off or you can stay on.

And I told somebody the other day on a podcast about having the choice of, you know, I have a nine to five and I run a successful coaching business. And she asked me, well, why are you still doing that? And I said, because I don't feel like God has put this idea in my head for me to quit my job. I feel like God will let me know when it's time I can leave. I have no problem with having both. I'm fine with it. God, doesn't plant an idea in your brain because he wanted you to just crash and burn. He planted an idea in your brain cause he believed you could help people. And so did you at one point, so when you feel like you're just going down and there's no stopping or slowing down for you so you can even catch a breather, remember how it felt when you were going up and you were so excited because of all the possibilities that were coming your way, always go back to that point.

You're going to go on that roller coaster. And you're going to have those exciting moments when you're preparing for something like a launch or you are updating your website or your sales page, or you post something that's exciting to you. That's going to be that really high moment for you. And you know what? We're never going to get the results we want because we set our expectations so high. We really set the bar high for us. And I love that about you. And I love that about myself because why would we have it any other way? Why would we set low expectations? So the tricky part is about all of that is you have to not get upset when it doesn't go your way. You have to be okay with every single result that happens in your business. And whether that is “bad or good”, it's still results. It's still feedback. It's still a lesson and every lesson and every, every ounce of feedback that we get is a gift. And we have to be okay to go along the ride because I don't know about you, but I would sure regret jumping off the rollercoaster and missing out on something really amazing coming my way.

 I know it feels like there are so many ups and downs and it feels like a toddler wrote the map on where you're going to go. It just feels crazy sometimes. And you're wondering when can you ever get a break? Or when is it going to be your turn? Sometimes you even get mad, like seriously, I've done everything. When is it going to be my turn? And it makes you angry. Cause it feels like you almost wasted so much time. I get it. I absolutely get it.

But what's the alternative, to give up or keep going for the people who are going to need you? What if somebody was applying to work with you today and you gave up, you shut everything down? What if somebody was going to give you a nice compliment and let them know that they've been silently watching you for years and you've really helped them build their business or help them through something personal? There are so many silent people out there that you'll never know who count on you showing up. So don't give up, don't hop off. If you feel like you are headed on a fast track to burnout, I want you to pay attention to any signs or symptoms that are coming up in your life right now. So for me, I know when I don't feel well, or maybe my back hurts really bad, or I sit down and my, my mind is like, no, get me out of here.

I pay attention to anything subtle. And especially when, the signs are really strong when the passion isn't there. When every task on your calendar feels like homework that you did not want. Like I'm thinking of school. Why are you giving me all this stuff to do? I don't want to do it. That's how I felt about homework. And if you're feeling that way about the things that you're assigning to yourself, you need a break. If everything on your calendar is overwhelming to you, you look at your planner and when you once found excitement for everything that was coming up, you have that sense of dread. You need a break. My dear, you need to take some time off. You need to either take the day off or the week or maybe a month. And that's okay. Don't think of it. As you hop off the rollercoaster, think of it as you just sitting back and closing your eyes and just being okay with where you're headed, because you're headed somewhere really good.

You're not headed anywhere bad. Don't worry about it. Let go of the control, loosen the grip and just breathe and let your business do its thing. You don't plant a garden staring at the seed. And over-analyzing every little thing that sprouts, Oh well, this isn't doing it this way and comparing all the different plants in your garden, right? You have to just let it be, let it grow, take care of it, nurture it, but let it grow at its own pace. And that is your responsibility as a business owner, as a coach to not only do that for yourself, but do it for your clients because we don't want to create more people who are, you know, obsessed, overly obsessed with control of their business. And can't let go of anything. Over-working, stressing out, anxiety filled coaches. We don't want that. We want to be an example for our clients.

So when you feel like that rollercoaster is getting the best of you, be sure that you have a mentor or a coach to check in with and be your own coach too if you notice one of your clients was feeling or acting in a certain way that you are right now, what would you say to them and be sure that you listen to yourself too. Sometimes we are really great at giving advice, but not so much at taking it. And I think that you are an amazing coach and you should pay attention to your own advice sometimes. 

Okay, I hope this episode helped and I hope it inspired you to maybe take a breather or relax and just enjoy the ride of this wonderful emotional rollercoaster. We call entrepreneurship, running that coaching business you're doing so well. And I'm proud of you. And please let me know if you need help with anything, or you just want to talk something out. I'm here for you. 

Thank you so much for listening to this episode. And I am grateful that you will probably join me in the next one. And if you would be so kind to subscribe or leave a review, I would be more than happy about that. I would even treat you to a cup of Starbucks coffee or an Amazon card. We feature those all the time in the Facebook group. So if you want to share one of your reviews that you left me for the Book Your Dream Clients podcast, simply take a screenshot of it and let me know. You can even just send it to me in a message. If you're a little shy, I'd be happy to say thank you with a small gift card. So thank you so much again, I will see you on the next one.