Start with what you want. Then figure out who would benefit from your getting it, and who has easy, ready funding resources to invest.
All professionals, coaches included, want to be paid what we’re worth. Giving away our services and knowledge devalues them and us. And there are practical considerations like rent, gas, and groceries. There’s plenty of money around; it’s knowing where to find it and how to access it easily.
Employers are one possibility. Many companies budget money for training and professional development of their employees. Instead of a seminar, conference, or college course, request a personal coach for a semester or a year.
What do you want to learn? to work on professionally and personally? What would benefit both you and your employer? What would add value to you, and or to company clients, for both now and down the road? Consider confidence, public speaking/presentation skills, leadership skills, coaching to navigate the challenges of a promotion or to prepare for one.
Employers are also wellness and health conscious these days. It is less expensive to have healthy employees: lower insurance premiums and less absenteeism mean big savings. Consider the benefits of getting a wellness coach–if you’re serious about living a better quality of life and you’re ready to make the lifestyle changes you know are required. (If you could do it alone, you would have done it already.) A healthy, happy, energized employee is good for business. Wellness is a productivity issue.
Employee rentention is another concern of businesses. Demographics, global competition, technology, generational work ethics and expectations all factor in. Retaining good, qualified, positive employees has a value. Retention is more cost-effective than recruiting and training. So be creative. Want a personal trainer, professional development, wellness, or success coach to strategize with? Something an employer can write off as a business expense and that will benefit you and the company is a good thing.
The bottom line is that whatever approach you take, make it a win-win in all respects. You benefit; the company benefits. Make it easy to say yes. It’s good business. Get a coach to help you. It’s all good.
Other possibilities for easy funding resources, anybody?