Hello, #MedicalMoguls! It’s Dr. Drai, Dean of Medical Moguls Academy. I help doctors build profitable businesses based off of their purpose so they can maximize their revenue in half the time. Doctors, it’s time for you to live in your purpose, create more profit, and have the time freedom that you deserve.
If you really want life-changing results from your coaching experience, realize up front that it is a team effort. You are not being “taught” by the expert: The two of you are going to be working together to create a paradigm shift in your life that is utterly transformative—for the better.
These 7 ideas will help you do what ninety-plus percent of all other coaching clients fail to do: Make the absolute most of the dollars you are paying, your time and the time of the expert you’ve hired—before the two of you have even sat down for session number one.
- Identify the Biggest Question You Need Answered
This is what you need to work on first, so you will be able to accurately fit the type of coach you need to your central, core question.
For example, if you are really, hopelessly stuck on what you want to do with your work life, you don’t need a lifestyle coach or a business coach—you need a career coach!
If you know exactly what you want to achieve in your business but obstacle after obstacle miraculously appears every time you set yourself to a task (and we’re not talking about procrastination here), you need a business coach.
If your biggest question is “why don’t I care about anything in life anymore”, you most likely need a psychiatrist, psychologist, counselor or trauma counselor (depending on what brought you to that pass).
If you realize that your biggest question is “how do I get my husband to stop belittling my business and throwing up real obstructions”, you may need a marriage counselor rather than a coach!
- Take Candid Stock of Yourself
Are you going to sit passively, waiting for your coach to point out areas of your personality or business habits that need to change… or are you going to be ready to start achieving results, without having to spend time trying to change habits that don’t work for you?
Not doing some candid self-assessment before investing in coaching or meeting your coach is like arriving at basic training after a year on the couch, eating potato chips: You’re going to have a much harder time than the recruit who has been at least attempting to eat healthily and even just going for a brisk walk every day.
Ask others for input, if your ego can handle this. If your coaching is strictly for your business, ask them: “What do I most frequently complain of in our forum?”
If you are trying to change personal habits, ask your family questions like: “What one thing do I do that you wish I would change?”
- Think of Your Parents, When Self-Assessing
Whether or not we like to admit it, we were raised by one or both parents with all their quirks, foibles, good habits and bad. Rather than blaming, objectively list their most persistent habits, when it came to interaction with you, your siblings and the world around them. Even if one actively rejects parental patterns, habits we were raised with have an insidious way of sneaking into our own interactions.
For example, if your parents were practical, impatient, cynical people who despised “weakness”, you may find that “weakness” is something you secretly fear. You don’t go to sentimental or heart-tugging movies because you are terrified you’ll cry.
Challenge your assumptions, once you’ve identified them, by asking yourself questions such as: “What do I think will happen if I cry at a sad movie in front of people?”
You might be surprised at the answers that come tumbling out:
- “I’ll be ashamed.”
- “People will laugh at me.”
- “People will despise me.”
- “I’ll be weak.”
Make notes of these reactions and consider including them in questions you plan to ask your coach.
Be aware of them when you find yourself instinctively and internally contradicting your coach in your head. Clinging to old barriers and beliefs will actively harm your progression along life-changing paths—and cost you more time and money if you don’t deal with as much baggage as you can before your first coaching session.
- Keep It Relevant
By all means, do the preceding exercise even if you are only planning to have strictly business coaching. Knowing which patterns you inherited from your family can help you recognize when a reaction is counter-productive, based on deeply ingrained habit and conditioning.
But don’t ask a business coach to help you deal with your feelings towards your father if you’ve hired her to help you set up a more organized and productive schedule. Just be aware that you’ve identified sub-conscious barriers you always throw up when trying to change, and let yourself really listen to—and adapt—her suggestions.
- Get Your Body in Shape, Before Hiring Any Other Coach than a Personal Trainer
If you are considering hiring a life coach, performing the previous types of self-assessment can be really helpful. For example, you might realize that the inner issues you’ve identified are really more in the realm of a trauma counselor or psychologist—in which case, set up an appointment with one of these professionals before you go near a coach.
If you realize, however, that you live too much in your “head” and that you are addicted to internalizing and self-analyzing, a better bet may be not to buy into old patterns by continuing to explore your inner demons, but instead—hire a fitness coach!
Working on your body releases endorphins. Physical exercise can be a fantastic release for emotions (something those who are inactive frequently don’t realize or know). In addition, starting to feel physically energetic can boost your confidence a thousand times more than all the psychoanalysis in the world.
- Know What You Want the End Result to Be
You will achieve far more—as well as ensure you hire the right type of coach—if you identify your most important goal in advance.
Be both specific and realistic. Coming up with answers like “I want to make more money” is not a goal—it’s a daydream. Ditto for “I want to be a billionaire this time next year”. While there have been a few people who have achieved the latter, it’s not a realistic goal for the average person; particularly if you don’t have one strong, identifiable product or skill that sets you above the rest of the field.
A measurable, quantifiable goal might look like this:
- “I want to identify a signature product I can create and have it set up, ready to launch, by the end of six sessions”
- Interview Your Coaching Candidates
Choosing the right coach is all about the mix. It’s part chemistry and part process. Make sure you and your potential coach fit together well by asking key questions. You don’t have time for coaches who behave as if you are lucky to sign up with them.
It’s your life, you’ve worked hard for the money you’re investing: Make sure you get the right fit. Tell your candidate what you want to achieve, and ask what he or she can do to help you achieve it.
Most of all, ask about your candidate’s coaching philosophy and core values. If you hear anything there that doesn’t fit, he or she is not the candidate for you.
Remember…
- A coach that makes you feel too comfortable is a buddy, not a coach.
- A coach who is controlling or makes you feel bad about yourself is abusive.
The reason you hired a coach in the first place is so that you can venture out of your comfort zone monitored by someone who has walked in your shoes and knows what you need to do.
Only outside those safe little borders do we encounter—and defeat—dragons, rescue princes, achieve the impossible and see fantastic, new, eye-opening sights.
Coaching can help you become who you were meant to be, so make the most of every opportunity to gather every gem from every session.
THANK YOU for reading this blog post #MedicalMoguls. If you want to talk to me 1-on-1, schedule a FREE appointment here www.MedicalMoguls.com/Freedom. Until next time… It’s Dr. Drai. #PurposeProfitFreedom
