How To Become A Success Coach: Your Ultimate “How-To” Guide

This is going to be an in-depth guide what success coaching is about. To be

more specific, this going to tell you how to become a success coach.

Over the years I have trained around 35-40 success coaches and have helped them establish their business. In fact, you can even call me a success coach for coaches.

I have personally worked with the founder of Rock House Global, Christopher Howard who has shared the stage with the likes of Jay Abraham and the legendary Brazilian Jiu Jitsu master Rorion Gracie of the famed Gracie Family.

He is the very definition of a “celebrity coach” and has made over $100 million in coaching.

In fact, why don't you hear from him?

So why am I showing you that?

Was it to just show off?

No.

It was to put you at ease and let you enter the mind frame of someone who is here to learn what I have to offer.

I have trained and worked with the best of the best when it comes to success coaches. And here I am going to layout every single thing that I have learnt about the bulletproof success coaching model.

And more than anything, you are HERE to learn aren’t you?

Of course, you are…otherwise who reads an article titled “How To Become A Successful Success Coach”? Who does that?

People who want to learn about being a success coach…that’s who.

So, let’s get started.

What is a success coach?

A few days back during dinner my wife’s friend asked me:

“So Sai, I get that you are a coach, but what is it that you do?”

And I told her that I am basically a trampoline.

I make the coaches jump higher than they would have had if they tried just by themselves.

Ok..that may be a pretty weird metaphor but it does the trick.

As a success coach you are going to be your client’s hack. You are going to speed up their entire process and make them achieve their dreams faster.

You are going to take them to levels that they thought they were going to be incapable of achieving.

You are going to be their guide as they walk forth into the great unknown towards achieving their dreams.

Why people hire a success coach?

To put it in very straightforward terms, a success coach gives their clients a list of tasks and a planned out strategy model which helps them achieve their goals faster.

So why will people hire a success coach?

Or rather… when will people hire a success coach?

In my observations, there are 4 moments when someone will look for success coach’s guidance.

• When they are starting something new and need guidance.
• When they have been stuck somewhere for a long time.
• They have an idea but don’t know how to execute.
• Don’t have any systems in place.

Each and every need will roughly fall under each of these categories.

Let’s start exploring them:

When they are starting something new and need guidance

A lot of times we are overwhelmed when we start something new.

We feel completely lost by everything that we see in front of us and it gets it to us. And that’s quite ok.

It is very human to be completely intimidated by something new, and more often than not, during moments like this, the smartest way to go about it is via guidance.

This is where you as success coaches can thrive.

By providing the necessary guidance/mentorship you can take your clients to the promised land.

When they have been stuck somewhere for a long time

Imagine this.

You have identified something that you really want to do for the rest of your life.

You think “This is it! This is what I want to do for the rest of my life!”

And then… that sensation hits you.

The sensation that tells you that no matter what happens, you are not going to get through this and you will never be able to act on your dreams.

That slowing creeping sensation, that tells you that you are not good enough catches up to you.

The thing that was supposed to set you free suddenly chokes you down.

You are stuck in a rut.

The sad part is that most people will quit sooner than later the moment they are stuck and you can’t blame them…there is only so much heartbreak that one can take.

This is precisely the reason why you as a success coach can do wonders for anyone who is stuck.

There are two reasons why someone gets stuck in the rut:

1. They have lost their motivation.
2. The things they are doing are not working anymore.

You can help them in both the places.

You can inspire them and reignite the fire in their belly

OR

You can give them a set of strategies and force them to rethink their whole approach.

They have an idea but don’t know how to execute

We have all had that moment.

That moment when you know you have stuck gold.

You start having all those fantasies about you standing on top of the world because of this idea that has come to your head.

But then…something happens.

You realize you don’t even know where to begin.

That’s something that vexed Tolu Fagbola.

He was a career counselor for a university in the UK but he was dying to branch out and try out things on his own.

He knew what we wanted to do and had a very clear image in his head.

But for whatever reason… he just didn’t know where to begin, and that was stifling him.

So, he joined my program and within 3 months he quit his job and started his own coaching business called: “Career Transitioners”.

Hear from him here:

When he was with us, Tolu used to keep saying: “Sai, thank God I joined your program, if I didn’t have you to guide me I wouldn’t even know where to begin.”

This just highlights the importance of a success coach for people like these.

This is what you can do for anyone who is in the same place as Tolu was. You can give form and shape to your dreams and make them steer their ship towards the promised land.

Don’t have any systems in place

Imagine this.

You know what you want to do, you have a very clear picture in your head.

You know what you want but there is a problem.

Your work system is extremely inefficient. In fact, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that your work system is completely inefficient.

What should take you a week takes you a month, this leads to loss of clients, money, and more importantly, time.

So how do you go about this?

What do you do to make sure that you are achieving your business goals and targets in an efficient manner?

Does that ring a bell? In fact, chances are that you have had clients who fit this bill.

What can you, as a success coach, do here?

Well, you can show them the optimal path that they can take to achieve their goals. You can have a look into their system and point out where all they are lacking and what else they can do to take care of it.

In fact, this is a huge part of what you are going to learn in my webinar (Scroll down to the bottom of the article)

The idea is to give our webinar participants various systems which can build their coaching business for them.

The Difference Between Life Coaching and Success Coaching

 Hmm, so what are the main differences between life and success coaching…or are there any differences at all?

Their skill sets tend to overlap quite a bit, in fact, you can’t be faulted to think that they are one and the same.

There is an article by Jeffrey Sooey which helps define the differences or, should I say, DIFFERENCE quite well (You can check it out in the resource page below).

The main difference is that as a life coach it is your job to make your client see their end goal and result and make them work towards it.

Whereas as a success coach your client at least has an idea of what they want.

If you are an academic success coach, then to make sure that your students score above a certain score if the goal.

If you are a success coach for coaches, then making them sign in 3-5 clients before the end of 2 months is the goal.

On top of that, a bond with life is a lot more emotional whilst the success coach-client bond is more of a mentor-mentee relationship.

Essential Skills that You Need to Be a Successful Success Coach

Now, remember, before I list down the skills keep in mind that these are going to be generic and for obvious reasons.

Whatever your specialty is, you are going to be a master of that.

The field that you are going to specialize in you will probably know more about it than I do.

But. Generic or not, it's shocking how so many coaches don’t have these skills and even if they do, they tend to overlook these and as a result, they end up shooting themselves in the foot.

So here we go:

a) Listening: Yes, LISTENING. It’s such a critical skill and it's so sad that most people don’t use this.

People are so busy talking about themselves and caring about themselves that they don’t even bother listening to anyone else.

And trust me…I was a Dating Coach before this and I know how critical “listening” can be built, sustain and salvage any relationship.

You can’t just simply listen.

You have to absorb yourself in what that person is saying, you have to be genuinely interested in what they have to say.

Most of your clients simply want their voice to be heard, they want to be comfortable opening themselves up to someone.

Allow them to do that around you.

The best way to do it is to repeat whatever they are saying back to them. Like paraphrasing whatever they said or asking for clarifications.

Trust me, people love it when you talk to them about themselves.

b) Questioning: You need to learn the art of asking open-ended questions which will make your clients think and open up more about themselves.

Usually, there are two types of questions that you must know how to ask:

1. Questions that builds rapport.
2. Questions that penetrates their defenses.

Building rapport is absolutely crucial and can make or break your conversations.

Rapport basically means finding things in common to talk about and build upon it. The more commonalities you find the more your recipient will pay attention to what you have to say and more they will relate to you.

It is critical in getting your clients open up to you.

Now coming to the penetrating questions.

You have to remember that these are people who are paying you their hard-earned money because they want you to strip them down and expose their insecurities and self-imposed limiting beliefs.

Trust me, you are going to do no one favours by being nice. You cannot pull your punches.

You have to tell them things the way it is.

c) No BS feedback: This is sort of follows on from the last point.

When you are going to give them feedback do not hold back.

If they have followed your instructions and are showing positive results then do not hold back. Reward them with praises and compliments, that is going to do wonders for their self-esteem.

However, on the other hand, if they have fallen short of their goals and have not really followed your instructions then you mustn’t hold back.

I am not saying that you have to completely decimate and destroy them but you need to know that anything less than 100% is not entertained.

Your time is precious and you shouldn’t stand for someone who is willing to waste your time.

You absolutely must hold your clients accountable.

d) Giving a Different Perspective: As a success coach it is your job to give your clients a different perspective than what they are seeing.

Most people tend to develop tunnel vision whilst pursuing a goal. They don’t see the other paths that may appear in order for them to reach a goal.

It is your job to test both yourself and your client to see other paths to reach their goals.

e) Not Judging: Keep your judgment to yourself.

Whatever you do…do NOT judge your clients for any of the actions of their past.

It may seem like the most obvious thing in the world, but it is just soooo hard to execute.

When I was a dating coach I used to sometimes cringe with what my clients used to tell me.

There was a client who ruined his marriage because he was a sex addict and spent all his money on escorts.

Then there was another client who got a restraining order from the person she loved because she used to stalk him all the time.

Trust me, it was hard not to judge and I will admit that in these two cases I did. I do regret that a lot.

The thing is, even if you do not directly state it, they can always detect that you are judging from your vibe.

Come from a place of unconditional acceptance.

“I don’t care who you are, where are you are from, what you did…as long as you love me.”

Wise words from The Backstreet Boys.

Did I just quote the backstreet boys?

HA you are judging me right now, aren’t you?

See? You need to work on that.

f) Trusting Your Gut: There will be many times when you will be stumped with a client.

The thing that is logically supposed to work just doesn’t

Sometimes you follow the “Coach’s Rulebook” and then suddenly, something comes that is out of the syllabus.

What do you do in moments like these?

Well…when something happens, you throw the book out and go with your instincts.

Listen to your gut.

What is intuition?

It is the sense that your body and mind builds after years of indulging in a particular craft.

Do not underestimate your body and mind when it comes to improvising and coming up with a solution during extreme duress.

Trust your gut and trust yourself.

When the going gets tough and you are faced with a problem, try backing yourself.

More often than not the solution will appear.

g) It’s About Them Not You: When you are with a client ALWAYS keep the focus on them a 100%.

Do not go on and on and on about yourself and your journey.

I am sure your life is a lot more interesting than theirs but that is not why they are paying you their money for.

Keep the bragging to a minimum.

Remember though, bragging and self-confidence are not the same things.