A coach will facilitate your self-discovery process, meaning the identification and prioritization of your goals, and additionally, help you to discover and implement the steps forward on the road to your personal achievement. Your coach will help you create your action plan, as well as prepare for and help you overcome any challenges you encounter along the way. Your coach serves your accountability partner and will play a significant role in transforming you into a Goal Achiever instead of just a Goal Setter, someone who walks the walk instead of just talking the talk. Think of your coach as your success partner, whose reason for being is to help you get what you want quicker, easier and with better results than you could have on your own. With that in mind, here are three common actions in no particular order, that fall short of achievement when considering changes without seeking the help of a coach:

#1 – Investing in resource materials without creating/following a plan of action. 

Let’s face it; there are an infinite number of things that you can spend your hard-earned money and valuable time on these days. When you know you want things to be different or better, it’s easy for you to waste your time and your money in one of two ways:

The first way is spending your time and money collecting information that comes in the form of books, software, seminars, reports, or programs. You are collecting information that you believe can help you get what you want. Now don’t get the wrong idea, information is a great resource, but we want to make something very clear. Information resources alone will not get you results. You will only succeed by taking consistent action toward achieving your goals by applying what you’ve learned from the information you’ve collected.

The second way you may be wasting your time and money is by acquiring and participating in things that have nothing to do with, and even go against you reaching your goals. Have you ever allowed a month to go by where you indulged every food craving you had and did not exercise regularly during that month, even though your deepest desire is to achieve and maintain a healthy body weight and lifestyle? Or maybe you’ve gone out and used a credit card to buy an expensive gadget that you don’t really need, when what you truly desire is to eliminate all debt and achieve financial freedom? Spending your time or money on things that give you immediate gratification but have nothing to do with your goals and values will always leave you feeling empty and looking for the next quick fix. Working with a coach on an ongoing basis is the most time and cost-effective investment you can make in yourself and your quality of life. Coaching can help you to evaluate your behaviors, and ensure that your habits are in line with your goals. 

#2 – Waiting for a “good” time to make a change or go after the things you really want in life.

Life will always be filled with family and business obligations to attend to, errands to run, chores to do, TV programs to watch and people and projects that want your time, energy, and money. Your life will always be busy, life will always get in the way of what you want to achieve, if you let it. Join forces with a professional coach who can assist you in making the most of every moment starting right now. Your coach will hold you accountable while keeping you focused and on track to achieving your goals no matter what life throws at you.

#3 – Telling yourself you can’t afford a coach

Those people who use coaches consistently report that it is the best money they ever spent because their investment in an ongoing coaching partnership enables them to achieve their goals. What’s even better is coaching enables them to achieve their goals quicker, easier and with better results. Now think about that for a moment. Think about what that means for you. Anything you want is available to you quicker, easier and with better results through the vehicle of coaching.

If you are still unsure, consider this, it’s not enough for you to say you want things to be different. Just wanting something doesn’t make it so. You must decide and then take purposeful and consistent action toward what you want. When you invest in a professional coach, you support your commitment to achieving the things that you want.