Commitment and Accountability Should Outrank Cost When Considering a Coaching Relationship

When I meet people for the first time and especially at various business networking events, the subject eventually gets around to what business am I in. After I identify myself as a Midlife Transition Coach I have sometimes heard the comment from those who are familiar with what a coach does say to me, “Given my financial situation, I probably can’t afford your rates”. While I do feel it is a bit presumptuous to make that comment when a conversation on fees has not even taken place, it actually leaves out a couple of very important factors that a coach considers before taking on a relationship with a client.

For a client to receive the full benefit of a coaching relationship, the client must be able to answer for themselves where their level of commitment is in looking to examine and ultimately take the life changing actions they seek in moving forward with their life. After they have answered that question, an equally important one is their willingness to work with an individual who will hold them accountable to what they commit to doing between sessions as they look to assimilate the actions they indicate they will take into their every day life.

Yes, as a coach I do like being paid for my services. I also realize that each individual has their own financial situation which they must consider before committing to working with a coach. However, even if one believes they cannot afford an ongoing coaching relationship, there are plenty of things they can do for themselves to help move forward in their life.

Group coaching is often far less expensive for the individual than individual coaching. Finding a group of people who are sharing the same issues as you, (or even putting together a group of friends sharing similar issues), and being led by a trained facilitator to help lead group discussion and uncover solutions, is an option open to you. Individual sessions may be offered by coaches at discount or complimentary rates, even if to provide one an example of how a coaching relationship works. Are you taking advantage of them? If not, why are you not? There are numerous self improvement books in the library or at local bookstores to which one can avail oneself. The internet provides access to many different self improvement sites with insightful articles and blogs which can help provide guidance to the individual.

However, taking advantage of what these and any other sources of similar nature offer you, start with the individual. Just reading articles or discussing change, without commitment to action, is going to lead you nowhere. Taking the same actions over and over again, and expecting to get different results, is also not going to work for one either. Being reluctant to get the support of others and just relying on yourself to solve your problems is admirable on the surface but limits you only to the ideas and thought process of one person. Sharing with others, and then making a commitment to them that you will look to take action that is different from the normal for you, or which gets you out of your comfort zone, is a step on the road to progress.

If you find yourself stuck and can’t move forward or seem to find the answer, ask yourself some of the following questions? What help can I seek? Which hurts me more, to make a change and try something different in my life or to keep the status quo as is and continue to suffer with those items that are bothering me in my every day life? When will I put time aside for my needs and not worry about only the needs of those around me, or what those around me might say if I spent some time focusing on myself?

And, when you have the answers to some of these questions and others like them, then ask yourself if there is going to be a cost to getting the assistance I need to move my life forward? How much do I value myself? What am I spending money on now or have in the past that was a choice I made based on the value I placed on it as something I wanted as part of my life? If I made that choice, what is different about making this choice to invest in myself and helping to discover what I want for my life, when the returns on that investment have the chance of being so much greater for me?

Yes, the financial cost of investing in oneself is definitely a consideration when making that choice. However, even more important is the commitment to both exploring and making the life changing actions you seek, and the subsequent commitment of being accountable to both an accountability partner and yourself for trying to implement those actions into your life on a regular basis.