“Megan, are you an idiot?” you might be thinking.

“You’re a life coach. Why would you ever tell someone not to hire one?”

Well…I’m so glad you asked. Pull up a chair. Let’s chat.

Over the course of the last few weeks here on the blog, I’ve talked about what life coaching is, different types of coaching, my go-to modality for coaching, and debunking myths about it all. And you’re absolutely right…I am a certified life coach myself. So yeah, I’m definitely an advocate for coaching, and recommend it for nearly everyone!

…nearly.

Okay, I’ll stop dragging it out. Let’s get into it:

1. You have no desire to change

Change is uncomfortable at its best, and terrifying at its worst. I have yet to meet anyone who thrives on and absolutely lives for change (if you do, come introduce yourself!). But change is where magic actually happens. Change is where growth and progress are uncovered. Change is how we discover who we are at our very core.

So yeah…it’s not always super enjoyable. And while we don’t have to love it, it is important to allow it; embrace it even. As a coach, I essentially help guide my clients through changes of all kinds – while avoiding as many bumps as possible, and squeezing out as much growth as possible.

Therefore – if you’re unwilling to go through the process of any kind of change, a coach isn’t going to do you any good.

2. You just want to be given the answers

As I mentioned in a previous blog post – contrary to popular belief, life coaches do not have all the answers to life’s big questions. What coaches do have are insane questioning skills. Coaches are trained in being able to use simple, but powerful questions to help their clients arrive at their own conclusions.

I very strongly believe that you already have everything inside of you that you need to create the life and outcomes that you want. Sometimes those answers just get hidden by false thoughts, limiting beliefs, or mental blocks. A good coach will know exactly what questions to ask to help you work your way through those things.

Therefore – if you don’t want to do the work of uncovering the answers yourself, and are just looking for someone to simply hand you a checklist of things you can mark off, life coaching isn’t going to be for you.

3. You already have all of the answers

Conversely – if you book a coaching session, and go into it ready to dismiss anything that comes up, because they “don’t understand”, you’re not gonna have a good time. If you consider yourself and/or your situation to be too complex or complicated for anyone to possible be able to “understand”, then you’ve already sold yourself on that story, and coaching isn’t going to help you beyond it – UNLESS you’re willing to recognize that this is just a story you’ve sold to yourself. Once you reach that point of awareness, then and only then will a coach be able to help you.

Otherwise, you’re only going to continue believing that you’re the only one who will ever be able to understand what you’re going through, and therefore no one will ever be able to help you. Hence – coaching isn’t for you (yet).

4. You’re fine with your life being “good enough”

There’s a difference between contentment and complacency, and I used to really struggle with understanding how to live in contentment rather than complacency.

Contentment means to live in the mental space of being happy with what you have, while still actively working toward what you want.

Complacency means simply accepting what you currently have as being your lot in life, and believing nothing you do will change that (you can see that this relates back to reason #1 – being unwilling to go through the process of change). Complacency typically has many deep-seated fears that the individual has no idea they have.

So if you’re in a space of complacency, and have no desire to even attempt to upgrade your life in any capacity – coaching isn’t going to be a good fit for you.

5. You’re not willing to invest in yourself

Do you walk into the dentist’s office, and ask them for a free cleaning? Do you go to a restaurant and ask them if they could just whip up a quick meal free of charge? Do you go to the store, pick out some cute leggings, take off the price tag, and walk out of the store?

No? Why not? Oh, right…because anything worth having is going to have some kind of price tag. And guess what? Money is a renewable resource. It might not always feel like it, but I promise you it is.

Do you know what isn’t a renewable resource? Time. Once a moment is gone, it’s gone forever, and you can’t get it back. You can’t double your time. You can’t save your time. You can’t earn more time.

Sure, you could probably figure out how to give yourself a proper teeth cleaning. You could probably figure out how to replicate your favorite restaurant meal. You could probably learn how to make those leggings yourself. And you could also probably figure out how to coach yourself.

But it’s going to take a lot of time. A lot more time than it will take for you to pay a trained professional to help you get what you want.

The sooner you can understand the value in trading your money for valuable resources, the sooner you’ll be able to create the changes you want in your life.

But if you’re in a place of holding tightly to your money, and not letting it go…then coaching isn’t going to be a good option for you.

6. You’re never the problem

Do you often find yourself complaining about issues or challenges in your life that are caused by other people? Are you often wishing that other people would change? Do you constantly wish you weren’t in your current situation?

Then I’m here to tell you that you don’t have the proper level of self-awareness to be coached – yet.

You have no control over the actions of others – but you do have complete control over yourself, and your response to the actions of others.

If that sounds way too “out there” or over your head, then you might not be ready for coaching – yet.

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And there ya have it! If these describe you, then definitely don’t go here to schedule your free session with me.

But I have a hunch…and my hunches are pretty good…that if you’ve read this far, these six things don’t describe you. You might be afraid that they do. But here’s the secret: if you’re afraid that these describe you – they don’t.

So if you’ve made it this far, then my hunch is that hiring a life coach is great option for you. If you’ve resonated with me at all, and you’d like to get a taste of what a coach/client relationship would look and feel like with me, go here to schedule your free call.

Or if you’re not quite ready for that kind of commitment (I mean, it’s really not a commitment…it’s just a one time call. I promise I don’t somehow sneak you in to a long term contract. But I also get protective of my time, and get nervous to commit to these kinds of things, even if they’re free. Okay, I’m done with this forever long parentheses), you can go here and here to snag up some pretty rad free resources I made for you.

I hope you found this helpful and clarifying. As always, feel free to leave your thoughts and feedback in the comments – that helps me be sure that I’m providing value that you need!