The following is an excerpt of David’s interview in Top Coaching Techniques.
Ingrid: Hey David, you mentioned that you have a couple of balls in the court – a couple of different businesses. When you have your own business, how do you stop that from encroaching on your whole life?
David: That’s a very good question and what some people say is, you really have to devote six days a week, minimum. I was reading that Dick Smith and other people say, ‘Get stuck into it and have no life.’ Now, I don’t actually believe that’s necessary. You can actually start a business with two days a week. If you have a job already, you don’t have to just quit and go on and start something new. Again, take the guy making chili in his backyard – spend two days a week starting to develop the business and then get a small profit. Make a small profit and then you start expanding it. So, you may initially be working two days in the business, and then you expand it to three, and then four, and eventually do it full time. But, as I said, you start making systems out of the business and start hiring – for example – a high school student. Then maybe someone else who’s more qualified for another role, and build it up. You don’t have to be working in the business. That’s a job, not a business.
The following is taken from David’s interview with Ginger Cockerham in 10 Super Coaches.
Would you advise coaches to pursue certification?
Absolutely, it is a great confidence builder and adds credibility with prospects, particularly companies and professionals. In a newly emerging industry like coaching, there is uncertainty in organizations about using unproven people and solutions. Credentialling is a way to reassure prospective clients. Also, media attention is most likely to come to you if you are credentialed by a major coaching training company or coaching organization.
I encourage the coaches I mentor to start the credentialing process at the beginning of their coaching business. For example, to find out what are some of the criteria for credentialing and start using the proficiencies and tracking clients immediately, so when it is time to apply for credentials, most of the required information is ready.
The following is an excerpt of David’s interview in Top Coaching Techniques.
Ingrid: It’s hard sometimes, especially if you have a young family. The needs of family, and perhaps the families of other people, make it difficult to even save a little bit. Can a little bit help?
David: It can make a big difference. Saving $50 a week, instead of using $200 to go out, can change your outlook. Start with saving, so it is a practice. Most people pay all sorts of expenses and say, ‘I’ll save whatever is left over.’ Do not try this at home. Your expenses will always expand to your income. Pick a goal, work out how much you need, and set a savings target. Then slash out expenses. First put in bank, and then live on the rest. Play a game called ‘How to Live on the Rest’.
Client: That’s like turning your savings on its head though.
David: It is. Right. ‘Pay yourself first’, I read once in a book. Put it directly into a bank account. It can be painful to slash expenses, but when you’ve been putting $200 in the bank, and this is what we have to live on, it becomes a game.
The following is an excerpt of David’s interview in Top Coaching Techniques.
Ingrid: What if David, you know you want to get out of your current job – perhaps it’s painting, perhaps you’re a nurse at the moment – but you just don’t know what, you don’t quite know which way to head?
David: Great question. So, I think that a lot of us have learned at an early age to stop creating, to stop dreaming. It may sound simple and trivial, but really, I would start with a notepad. Get a piece of paper and write down what’s important to you in life. Now it might be adventure, it might be discovery, it might be love, and it might be teaching or helping somebody. You want to get your core values, because if you pick a job that’s not surrounding your core values, you’re not going to be fulfilled anyway. So that would be step number one.
Ingrid: OK. So that was basically where we start. Blank notepaper and pen. Should you ask and invite other people’s opinion, your friends, your relatives, your husband, and your wife?
David: That’s a great idea! I would move to step two. In step two what I would do is ask someone to write down twenty possibilities, maybe fifty, and really get silly. Maybe include a ballerina there, even if you don’t like dancing. Now I’d include working for Aschio, something like that, and really get out there and think outside the box. I think it’s a great suggestion – go and talk to your friends, ask your parents what they think you’d be great at, ask your kids. Really have some fun with it. I mean, this could be a great project all in itself.
The following is taken from David’s interview in 10 Super Coaches.
What was the most interesting or exciting thing for you about building your practice?
There are a few events along the way that I found very exciting. Firstly I’ll say it’s very exciting when you have a client make a big life change and they’re absolutely thrilled by it and they say “Thank you so much! I wouldn’t have done that if you weren’t my coach” That’s always wonderful.
But some of the really exciting things were when I got an opportunity to coach for television, I don’t think it had been done before and I was very excited about being on TV. And recently I got a chance to go to New York and audition for a television show over there, so I think there’s a lot of scope once you start getting known in the coaching community to do radio interviews, to do some television stuff, to do some magazine articles which is a lot of fun.
The following is an excerpt of David’s interview in Top Coaching Techniques.
Ingrid: Look, I have to admit, I was in year ten when we were told we had to start to choose our subjects and our direction in life, our future careers, and I thought I wanted to be a physiotherapist, David. Then I went and did work experience, and I could not get out of there fast enough at the end of the day.
David: Right, right. So you bring up a great point, and I’m sure there are a lot of listeners out there who are thinking, ‘Maybe I want to be a photographer; maybe I want to be an actor.’ but what happens is, we box ourselves, and we think, ‘I have to quit my job and go and study that, or I have to stick with my job.’ What about the middle ground? If you want to be a photographer, and you think that might be a great career, go and do a photography course. Do it as a hobby and see if you can start getting a little bit of money for it. Maybe at some point you’ll cut back your current job and transition into photography, or at some point you’ll quit.