Three simple tips you can use to increase your confidence, gain potential clients’ trust, and establish yourself as an authority in the life coaching industry

One of the first challenges that every new life coach faces is establishing their credibility and authority.

You want people to trust you as a coach – and you want to trust yourself! – but that can be tricky when you haven’t done any coaching yet.

Before I do that, there are a couple things you need to know.

To start with, take a deep breath, and remember that something called you to this work.

I believe that nobody gets called to the coaching industry just because it’s a place where they think they can make money.

The best coaches are the ones who really want to help people, and I believe that includes you.

Part of the insecurity you feel might come from the fact that you want to help people, but you’re not sure if you can help them as effectively as you want to.

So, first of all, trust the training you’ve received. If you don’t think you got the right training, find a training program that DOES make you feel equipped to be a life coach.

Here are three tips for building your reputation as a new life coach

Ultimately, though you’ve been certified, and been through the best training in the world, the start, growth and belief in the business rests on you.

Tip #1: Get experience and social proof by coaching a few people for free

One easy way to give your confidence and credibility a boost is by taking on a couple of clients, and coaching them for free for around six weeks.

At Brave Thinking Institute, we train people in a vision-driven model, because without a specific result that your client wants to create, there’s nothing for your coaching to guide them toward.

A ship with no destination doesn’t need a navigator, and a person with no goals for their life will get little or no benefit from working with a coach.

So find a friend or someone you know, and ask if they’d be willing to let you give them free coaching for the next six weeks. Then help them identify a result they’d like to create, and use your coaching skills to help them create that result.

The goal, of course, is not only to help your client, but also to have them film a testimonial about what happened in their life because of your coaching.

This gives you early social proof, and gives your paid clients a reason to trust that their investment in you will pay off.

Tip #2: Practice articulating your message

People get great value from working with a life coach, and the ability to articulate this value – to your potential clients, to your business contacts, and to yourself – is your biggest asset as an authority.

A simple way to practice this is to memorize at least the main part of your message, and practice it in front of a mirror, almost like an elevator pitch.

While you’re doing this, it’s important to speak with power and authority. Don’t wait until you FEEL powerful and authoritative to do this; the feeling won’t come if you simply wait for it.

Instead, CREATE that feeling by practicing it.

Tell yourself, “I am a confident and powerful life coach,” and put it on like a costume until it becomes a real part of you.

When you do this, part of you might say, “Sure you are; you haven’t even had any clients yet.”

When that feeling comes up, remember: everyone who ever became good at something started out feeling insecure, but they went ahead and did it anyway.

Here’s an example of someone using this practice in their life

When Andrew Carnegie was giving Napoleon Hill his assignment to spend twenty years studying and researching success, he said,

“Napoleon, go home, and for the next thirty days, look at yourself in the mirror three times a day but imagine that you’re talking to me. While you’re doing this, say, ‘Andrew Carnegie, I shall not only match your achievements in life, but I’ll meet you at the post and I’ll pass you at the grandstands.’”

So Napoleon, a young writer who was struggling to pay his rent, was supposed to look himself in the eye and imagine that he was telling the richest, most successful man on the planet that he was going to not only match, but surpass his achievements.

Let’s apply this to your life.

For thirty days, three times a day or whenever you start to feel insecure or overshadowed by the giants in your industry, I want you to find a mirror, look yourself in the eye, and remind yourself why you do what you’re doing.

You have a pure heart and a good intent. So look yourself in the eye, practice articulating your message about how people benefit when they work with you, and build your self-image and confidence by saying the words, “I am a confident and powerful life coach.”

Tip #3: Borrow confidence and authority from someone you respect

Whoever it is that you’re looking up to, they became successful by choosing to have confidence.

Sometimes, they were shaking in their boots – but they still chose to take action, they did what they could with what they had, and by doing that, they became more and more successful.

Nobody comes out of the chute a success. Every time someone becomes good at something, they start out by not being good at it, and it’s no different in this industry.

So take courage from the fact that everyone – including me – started out inexperienced and at least a little insecure, and if the people you look up to can create success from that starting point, so can you. We can all thank Jack Boland for this lesson on finding, then being an inspiration.

This month, I invite you to take on a few free clients, practice articulating your message, and borrow the confidence and authority of the people you respect.

Make sure you care deeply about the people you have the opportunity to help, and focus on that care until your desire to help people becomes bigger than the fear that would prevent you from reaching out to them.