Why are You a Coach (Please Be Specific)?
Photo by Richard West
Why did you start your own business?
This is one of my favorite questions I ask coaches, business owners & entrepreneurs.
Not a single person has told me “I’m in it for the money.”
People have told me they started their own businesses for freedom and flexibility.
They’ve told me they want to motivate and inspire others to improve their lives. Others want to change the world.That’s nice, but what does it all really mean?
When LOTS of people say they’re driven to do their work because of one (or a few) of these things, it’s hard to stand out. It’s not enough to simply say, “I want to empower people/change lives/save the world” because we want to know the story behind WHY you want to empower people/change lives/save the world.
What grabs you more?
“I do this work so I can have freedom and flexibility.”
OR
“A friend of mine had to ask her husband for money to buy a vacuum cleaner. Can you believe that? A vacuum cleaner. One of my biggest ‘why’s is empowering women to have financial independence.”
Freedom and flexibility is vague and abstract. But helping one woman have her own money so she didn’t have to ask for permission to buy a vacuum cleaner is super specific. You can see & feel the fire in that right? So think specifically why you do what you do so that the next time someone asks, you can hit them with a quick and potent story that speaks to the heart of it.
What will you do differently the next time someone asks you why you do what you do?
