“How long do I have to run discovery sessions before I can leave my job?”

My client, John, asked this question (that HUNDREDS of coaches have asked me).

“After coaching for 6 months, I still don’t have enough clients.”

So I asked John… “How many discovery sessions did you run in the last 6 months?”

I always tell new coaches that discovery sessions are the KEY to getting coaching clients.

I always tell new coaches that discovery sessions are the KEY to getting coaching clients.”

You GIVE AWAY coaching ONE TIME…

…and you get paying clients for months or years after that single discovery session.

(In fact, my ‘7 clients in 7 weeks plan’ revolves around discovery sessions.)

John answered, “In the last 6 months? About 25 discovery sessions I guess.”

I said “You’re not running enough discovery sessions.”

I realized that I hadn’t yet shared the key to building a full time coaching business:

It takes 100 discovery sessions to leave your job.

So this is what I said to John…

“Run at least 100 discovery sessions.”

“At that point you’ll have a lot of clients, possibly enough clients to quit your job.”

“One hundred?? That sounds like a lot of discovery sessions.” John resisted.

“I’m just trying to get enough clients.”

So I coached him… “John, you’re focused on getting enough clients…”

“…but I think you have a bigger problem.”

“Your approach seems to be ‘do as LITTLE as possible to get clients’.”

“And you don’t succeed in a rare and coveted profession like coaching…

…by seeking to give as LITTLE as possible.”

MINIMIZING effort is the opposite of what John should be doing at this early (and delicate) stage of his coaching business.

Your relationship with your coaching business is one of the most profound relationships you’ll experience in your life.

Minimizing it is catastrophic.

Can you imagine if your intimate partner minimized their relationship with you?

How would you feel?

You’d probably be shocked that your “soulmate” valued you so little.

Yet so many coaches are just that stingy in their coaching businesses.

John wanted to know the least amount of work he could get away with…

… and still get enough clients.

NO WONDER he wasn’t hitting his coaching business goals.

Just like it takes 100% commitment to keep your soulmate…

…it takes 100% commitment to get enough coaching clients to quit your job.

Your relationship with your coaching business is one of the most profound relationships you’ll experience in your life.”

Most coaches aren’t 100% committed.

Even committed coaches don’t go FAR enough with discovery sessions.

Coaches underestimate the number of people they’ll need to connect with…

…and how many discovery sessions they’ll need to run to transition to full time coach.

What is far enough?

100 discovery sessions.

The Faster you deliver 100 free sessions…

…the faster you’ll enroll enough clients to leave your job…

…and reach a full time income coaching.

Between 0-25 discovery sessions:

You’ll enroll few (if any) paying clients…

…and the clients you DO enroll… often don’t stick around for long.

During this phase, new coaches experience a lot of doubt.

Many of them feel like losers.

Many quit.

Why?

First, with so few discovery sessions under their belt…

…the coach usually isn’t very good (at least at running those discovery sessions).

Second, this phase will violate any unrealistic expectations you have.

Enrolling ZERO clients discourages a coach…

…who expected to fill their practice after running only 10 discovery sessions.

So, no matter how ‘badly’ this phase goes for you, REMEMBER…

This phase is not about getting tons of clients.

Between 0-25 discovery sessions, you’re LEARNING the basics.

The winning mindset during this phase?

NO EXPECTATIONS.

NO EXPECTATIONS.”

Between 25-50 discovery sessions:

You’ll start enrolling some clients.

A few of those clients stick around, but it’s easy to get frustrated during this phase.

Why?

By now, you’ve put tons of work and time into your coaching business.

But, you’re probably not getting as many clients as you expected to.

Imagine you spent hundreds of hours running 50 sessions…

…but you only kept 3 paying clients from all that work.

Coaches in this phase feel cheated or disappointed…

…even though they’re finally starting to get real results.

Your best mindset during this phase?

PERSISTENCE.

PERSISTENCE.”

Between 50-75 discovery sessions:

You’ll start to feel your coaching business coming together.

Most coaches in this phase feel optimistic and hopeful about making a full time living in their coaching business.

Why?

You likely

• doubled your paying coaching clients during this phase.
• got a lot more enrollments per discovery session.
• gained much more confidence and coaching skills.
• got MUCH BETTER at running those discovery sessions.

So confidence goes way UP.

The pitfall to avoid during this phase?

Taking these breakthroughs for granted.

Coaches that ‘yawn’ at the site of their own progress will feel ripped off.

For these coaches, no victory is ever enough.

Don’t let that happen to you.

Your best mindset during this phase?

GRATITUDE.

GRATITUDE.”

Between 75-100 discovery sessions:

You’ll know your coaching business is working.

You’ll finally have confidence in your ability to transition to full time coaching.

A coach in this phase doubles or even triples their clients.

For instance, you might start this phase with 6 clients…

…but by the time you’re running your 100th discovery session…

…you’ve got 12 paying clients!

Coaches are usually surprised at their explosive growth in this phase.

After doubt, disappointment, frustration, and struggle…

…most coaches aren’t expecting to double their clients so easily.

How will you cause this unexpected ‘explosion’?

Remember, at this point, you’ve already run 75 discovery sessions, so…

• you’re more effective in every part of the client attraction process.
• you’re enrolling more clients per each discovery session you run.
• some prospective clients from all those discovery sessions return saying “Now I’m ready to start coaching”.

You might even hear people calling you an “overnight success”…

…but you’ll know there was nothing “overnight” about it.

You just ran ENOUGH discovery sessions…

…fast ENOUGH…

….to get ENOUGH coaching clients to leave your job.

How long should it take to climb the ‘100 discovery session ladder’?

Run those 100 discovery sessions in 6 months.

Why 6 months?

You need consistent practice through fast repetition.

The more sessions you run in any given period…

…the more skill you build.

The more time you let pass between each discovery session…

…the more you’ll fall out of practice.

…and the less effective your discovery sessions will be.

Your coaching business thrives off momentum…

…but inaction suffocates it.

I told John all about the ‘100 discovery session ladder’.

And, despite such inarguable logic…

…he kept coming up with reasons why he couldn’t follow the plan.

He said “Kris, I can’t run 100 discovery sessions, because I don’t know what my niche is yet.”

I said “Don’t worry about your niche right now.”

“If you run 100 discovery sessions you’ll find your niche along the way.”

And, with that assurance, John went on to run more discovery sessions…

…but I could tell by his low numbers…

…that he was still dragging his feet.

So, in the next session, I confronted him…

“John, you’re not keeping up with the plan.”

“What’s slowing you down?”

“Why are you dragging your feet?”

John replied, “I just feel like I’m not a good enough coach.”

I answered, “If you want to be a better coach…

…you should run MORE discovery sessions, not LESS.”

“The more sessions you run, the better coach you’ll be.”

“And, you’ll never deliver a perfect coaching session anyway.”

“It’s called a ‘coaching practice’ for a reason.”

After that, John finally started climbing his own ‘100 discovery session ladder’ at full speed.

Here’s how you climb your own ‘100 discovery session ladder’ in less than 6 months.

Set 2.

Run 1.

Each day:

• Schedule 2 discovery sessions
• Run 1 discovery session

That way, in a 5 day week, you’ll schedule 10 discovery sessions and run 5 of them.

Why are you running only half of those scheduled sessions?

Because some people don’t show up.

That’s ok.

Let them go.

You can attempt to reschedule them if you want.

Otherwise, move on…

…and coach the clients that show up.

If you run 5 discovery sessions each week…

It will take less than 6 months to climb the 100 discovery session ladder.

Enroll 1 out of 5 of those clients, and you’ll have 20 paying clients.

If I told you that running 100 discovery sessions in the next 6 months…

…would get you 20 paying coaching clients…

…would you do it?

…would you climb that discovery session ladder?

20 clients in 20 weeks is life changing.

But having 20 clients is really not the important part of climbing to the top of that ladder.

At the top of the 100 discovery session ladder, you can give all your clients away.

Why?

The most important reward at the top of the ladder…

…is being so extraordinary at running those discovery sessions.

In addition, those 100 discovery sessions will allow you to…

• Meet interesting people.
• Give people their first experience with coaching.
• Help people commit to their dreams.
• Guide them to define clear goals.
• Give them a coach in their life who’s “all about them.”
• Give them a quiet space to hear what their mind is trying to tell them.
• Help them to see what the reality of their situation is.
• Help them to see new possibilities in their life.
• Help them to decide how they want to change their life.
• Help them feel heard for the first time in a while.
• Help them remember who they really are.
• Help them to think about their life rather than simply accepting it.

…and, you’ll feel like you earned every client that you attract.

Think it’ll be too hard to reach those 100 discovery sessions?

True, it’ll be harder than dreaming about it!

Dreaming takes no effort at all.

But if you want to make that ‘dream’ a REALITY.

You may need a “reality check.”

Dwelling on how “Hard” things are…

…doesn’t get you off the hook.

The universe only rewards action (not dreaming).

Practically ANYONE CAN run 100 discovery sessions…

…if they’re willing to accept reality.

And, why WOULDN’T you want to accept reality??

Do you really want to wave a magic wand…

…and wake up tomorrow with a full coaching practice?

Do you expect your first coaching clients to appear out of thin air?

That’s not reality.

Even if you COULD magically get all the clients you wanted with NO EFFORT…

…you’d quickly lose all of those coaching clients.

Why?

Because you did NOTHING to grow into the coach who attracted those clients…

…through your own commitment.

…your own skill.

…and your own experience.

Those ‘free and easy’ clients would FEEL you’re lacking as a coach…

…and quickly exit their coaching relationships with you.

…all because you’d have missed out on the ‘effort-driven’ development…

…required to BECOME a coach who has a full time coaching practice.

Don’t indulge in the fantasy of winning the ‘coaching client lottery’.

In fact, real lottery winners usually lose their money shortly after they win it.

Why?

Because they never grew wealthy through authentic development.

Growing wealthy through your own authentic effort…

…is a much more sustainable and realistic path (versus the lottery).

Your coaching practice growth is no different.

Grow your coaching practice through authentic effort.

It’s more realistic…

It’s more sustainable…

…than dreaming of easy client windfalls.

Your coaching business is a powerful tool for you to grow as a person.

Your coaching business is a powerful tool for you to grow as a person.”

Climb the ‘100 discovery session ladder’.

Focus on how much more of a coach you are BECOMING each day.

Focus on your step by step progress towards REALIZING the dream of a full coaching practice.

You’ll eventually make a difference for THOUSANDS of people.

You’ll gain insights from learning about people that you coach.

You’ll leverage those insights to contribute to others.

You’ll eventually turn on the “client faucet”…

…and get a ‘stream’ of clients whenever you want.

If you’re going to coach for a living…

…you’re going to run HUNDREDS of discovery sessions anyway.

So you might as well get started NOW.

If you care about people…

…and serve 100 of them through discovery sessions…

…you’ll build an income.

…and make a difference.

If you care about people…and serve 100 of them through discovery sessions…you’ll build an income…and make a difference.”

I believe in you.

Kris “Climb The Ladder” Thompson

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