I was coaching onstage recently and one of the other presenters was my friend Preston Smiles. He was sharing about his journey as a speaker, teacher and coach.

His videos on YouTube regularly get thousands of views and hundreds of comments. Some have had hundreds of thousands of views.

He was sharing some great ideas for increasing engagement with your audience.

But the most fascinating thing I heard him share was that for five years he rarely got more than a dozen views and a handful of comments on each video.

The thing was, during that time he didn’t stop recording his videos. And he didn’t stop engaging with the few people who took the time to comment.

Those five years weren’t wasted.

He was doing the work.

He was learning and growing. He was gaining confidence. He was building his skills.

I WAS TERRIFIED…

When Vishen Lahkiani, the founder of Mindvalley approached me five years ago to ask if I’d be willing to create an online training for coaches, I was scared!

You see, I’d never been on camera before.

But I pretended to be bold…

And I turned my weakness into a strength.

I told him I’d love to create something, but that I wasn’t like other teachers and I wouldn’t teach to camera.

Instead, I’d be COACHING on camera, which was something people rarely get to see.

He loved the idea!

If you ever get to watch my earliest videos you’ll see that I barely look at the camera. I was literally terrified of it!

If I was feeling really brave I’d say my name looking into the camera but then I’d turn away and dive into coaching whoever was my client that week.

I spent almost three years making coaching videos – week after week after week.

And slowly my confidence grew.

And my skills improved.

After a few weeks, I could speak to the camera for 5 minutes.

After a few months, I could speak to the camera for 20 minutes.

And, a few years later, I can happily spend hours and hours recording live video in a studio.

SERIOUSLY. DO THE WORK.

I see coaches who have completed a weekend training wondering why they don’t have clients.

I meet coaches who’ve completed a six-week certification and are frustrated that they’re not making money.

And I come across coaches who have been coaching for a year wondering why they don’t yet have a 6-figure (let alone a 7-figure) business.

You know, I just discovered that to become a licensed professional counselor requires two years or 3,000 hours of post-master’s supervised experience in professional counseling, including 1,000 hours of direct client contact and 100 hours of face-to-face supervision.

I did some research on Google and I found that the requirements for an Interior Design License in Florida are to complete a two-year interior design program, followed by 7,040 hours of experience under the direction of a licensed interior designer or architect.

And, in North Carolina, it takes 1,528 hours to become a licensed barber!

THE BEST INVESTMENT

The billionaire investor Warren Buffett said in a recent Forbes interview:

“There’s one investment that supersedes all others: invest in yourself … everybody has potential they haven’t used yet.”

If you want to be an extraordinary coach, you’ve got to invest in yourself. If you want to be an extraordinary coach, you’ve got do the work. If you want to be an extraordinary coach, you’ve got to spend time every year on your professional development.

We created our Intensives to be the best possible Professional Development out there for coaches.

You build Fearless Coaching skills. You build Client Creation skills. You spend time with a community of Extraordinary Coaches.

You’ll also be given challenges. And you’ll laugh. And quite probably you’ll cry!

Our October 2018 intensive has sold out, but you can join us April 4-7, 2019 in San Diego. Reserve your spot.

Love. Rich

P.S. Sam Altman once said: “The hard part of standing on an exponential curve is: when you look backwards, it looks flat, and when you look forward, it looks vertical.” Which is the very reason I called one of my favorite ever articles: “Mastery.  Or How To Become An Overnight Success As A Coach in 46 Years!“