Want to Be a Great Coach in 2022? Be a Little Selfish

Are you a coach planning to use CoachNow in addition to the slew of tools you're likely already using (e.g. WhatsApp, Email, Text, Facebook, etc)?

If so, I'd rather you not use CoachNow at all.

I'm 100% serious.

The last thing I want is for CoachNow to become another communication channel that keeps you up at night, wondering if you've seen all the messages, posts, and notifications.

To me, this signals that you are not creating appropriate boundaries within your coaching business.

Of course, our job as coaches is to help our athletes realize their fullest potential.

We eliminate self-doubt, bolster confidence, and teach invaluable leadership skills. We serve as role models for our athletes, help them through their darkest hours, and cheer on their biggest wins.

In the midst of all this responsibility and pride, all too often I see coaches take on too much and burn out.

I fundamentally believe that, as a coach, you need to take care of yourself FIRST, your business second, and your athletes third.

For many years I juggled being a high-performance coach, start-up founder, and father. I had very little time to myself and found myself prioritizing everyone else instead of my own health and wellbeing.

After I burned out, I realized what I was doing wrong: I wasn't being selfish enough.

Now I know most people think "selfishness" has an inherently negative connotation, but that's not how I've come to see it.

It all depends on context. On how you act and what your intention is when being selfish. And when, where, and how often you act selfishly.

To me, being selfish means intentionally setting boundaries. It means being communicative, clear, and deliberate. It means not sacrificing your morals, values, and ethics. It means actively investing in your health and happiness, and knowing when to draw a line in the sand.

And, to be clear, there needs to be a healthy balance here.

I'm not advocating for you to have no regard for others. Because if you're always selfish, you're a jerk.

BUT if you're never selfish, you're incapable. Incapable of helping yourself. And that makes you incapable of helping others, both in your work and in life.

To create the best outcomes for your clients, you need to be selfish at times. You need to "fill your own cup" as they say, before it can overflow to others.

For me, I fill my cup by focusing on family, mental health, and physical health. Maybe for you, that's taking an hour to go for a walk in nature, hitting the gym, or playing a round of golf (for fun, not just business).

By now you're probably (selfishly) thinking "enough of the soapbox, Spencer, what does this have to do with CoachNow?"

Coachnow was built from the ground up to help coaches recover their freedom of time, income, and location while maximizing the impact they have on their athletes.The platform enables you to communicate with all your athletes at once, leverage automation tools, and stay up to date on your athlete's progress.

But, to reap the benefits of the #ConnectedCoach lifestyle, you need to set intentional boundaries and expectations. And, yes, to avoid an endless cycle of feedback, you need to be a little selfish when enforcing them.

For starters, set a boundary against using disparate channels and apps that keep you constantly checking your phone. All this does is increase anxiety about missing important notifications and, before you know it, there's no boundary between work and life. That's unsustainable.

My worst nightmare is giving you yet ANOTHER app you have to check. I'd rather help you streamline your communications into a platform tailor-made for this exact use case.

I've said it before and I will say it again: prioritizing work-life balance will help you show up as your best self for your athletes.

And you can't do so if you aren't a little bit selfish.

With the new year upon us, now is the time for you to find your unique balance of selfish/selflessness.

What small change can you make today to create stronger boundaries that protect your ability to spread your joy, enjoy your journey, and perform your best?

Here's to being selfish to be selfless!


P.S. Check out this followup post, where we outline the boundaries and expectations we have found to be the most effective for ConnectedCoaches. In the meantime, check out 3 benefits and 3 biggest mistakes coaches make when doing video analysis.