Hey, this is Lindsay Dotzlaf, and you are listening to Mastering Coaching Skills episode 263.

To really compete in the coaching industry, you have to be great at coaching. That’s why every week, I will be answering your questions, sharing my stories, and offering tips and advice so you can be the best at what you do. Let’s get to work.

Hey, coach. Today, I want to share something I think pretty exciting with you. I am going to share with you an audio from a video that I recorded to go into my new membership, The Complete Coach. And whether or not you join the membership doesn’t matter. That’s not the point here. I think this is really powerful, and I wanted you to hear it either way.

So, I’ve been talking about it, obviously, a lot on the podcast. And as I have been creating the membership, I really leaned into what is kind of the success path of my clients? Like, what does it look like when they come into the membership and as they evolve?

And because I really created the membership for so many different stages of business, I felt like it was really important to define what it would look like at each stage for growth. And after I recorded this video and, I was putting it in the membership, I was sending all the clips to my business manager, and I realized, “Oh, I should really record a podcast about this.” And then I thought, “Actually, why wouldn’t I just share the audio of this thing that I recorded for my clients inside the membership?”

Because, as you’re listening to this, if you’re listening in real-time, the membership has launched for a private launch, which is just for clients and past clients. And if that’s you and you don’t know what’s happening, feel free to send me a message and say like, “Hey, I’m not getting the emails.” Maybe you unsubscribed or whatever, and you’re just hearing this and you’re like, “Wait, I want in now.” But it will launch publicly next month in December, on December 3rd, and the founding members’ pricing and all of that starts December 3rd through December 5th. So, that will all be coming.

But as we are getting ready, as I’m recording this, actually, the private launch starts tomorrow. So, I couldn’t be more excited. But truly, I was sending you know the video in and I was like, “Oh my gosh, I have to record an episode about this because it feels really important for coaches to think through. Like, where am I in these stages?”

And I don’t think it matters if you’re in the membership. Of course, the membership will help you reach the different stages. That’s the whole point of it. But I actually think this applies to every coach. So I’m going to play you an audio that is from a video inside of the new membership. And it is one of the first things they listen to when they join. And it kind of just sets the stage for what I think of as kind of the coach journey. It kind of takes you from brand new, like just starting today, to I feel solid and amazing about my business. And yes, there are ups and downs, but I feel like I can manage them.

And so I just thought it would be so useful for you to hear all four stages because I go through, like, what does it look like at each stage? What are you doing at each stage? How are you feeling at each stage? And you know, what are you kind of working on so that you can get a picture of like, what does it look like as I continue to grow, as I continue to build this practice that I love? What do I have to look forward to?

And just know, I mean, I say it in the video, but just know, it’s not like you progress through the stages and you just only stay in those stages because sometimes you might have a new offer, you might have something new in your life. You might have something just new going on that throws a wrench in your plan, right? That just kind of takes you back a couple of stages. But every time you work through them, you get like faster and faster at navigating them. And it’s really powerful for you to see that.

And full disclosure, at the end of this recording, what you will hear is me walking them through an exercise that helps them decide where to start in the membership. And I was going to actually cut that part off because I thought a podcast listener will not care about this because you aren’t in the membership.

But then I thought, what it might actually do is, even if you never join the membership, it’s going to help you create clarity around where to put your focus right now in your own business, in your own coaching practice. There will be three options, and it’s just going to help you decide, like, where does my focus go? Maybe it’s all of them. Maybe more focus goes on one than the other two, or maybe you’re just going to notice like if there’s an imbalance. And I just really hope this is useful for you.

So, the part where that happens is where I start to say like, close your eyes. Right? It’s like kind of a guided, not a meditation, but a guided path through where are you now? What journey are you on? Pick where you’re starting.

And again, even if you never join, you can use this as a, what does that mean for me in my business right now? And then in the audio, it will direct you to go to pillar 1, 2, or 3. And if you’re like, “Oh my gosh, I really wish I could go to that right now,” then maybe that’s a little sign that the membership is calling to you and you should consider it.

And we will put the waitlist link or the link, if you’re listening to this later, in the show notes. But for now, I just want you to enjoy and to learn and to take away whatever you need that you pick out from what you’re about to hear.

Hello, I want to take a minute right now to walk you through the success path framework for The Complete Coach. And what this is going to do, the purpose of this is to paint an overall picture of what it could look like for you as you move through this membership and help you identify where you are right now and what you might want to work on and really allow you to see the possibility of what could come from being here and what is in front of you.

So I know that some of you are currently brand new. Some of you are building your coaching practice. Some of you may be rebuilding. Maybe there are some things not working, and you have been or you plan to kind of break some of that down while you’re here and rebuild. Maybe for some of you, you’re finally prioritizing your coaching practice or deciding exactly the structure that you want it to have. Any of those places where you are, I just want you to know they are perfect. Wherever you are right now, that’s exactly where you are supposed to be, and it’s going to fit in perfectly with one of the stages in this framework.

So most coaches, when they are building their business, they kind of think of juggling all these different things. They are building a business, they are learning how to coach their clients and be effective as a coach, and then they’re learning how to balance that all with their life and how to enjoy their business and enjoy their life and kind of make it all work together. And often, coaches do this by piecing together things they learn over here and things they learn over here, and then a podcast here and hiring another coach here. And then they have to do the work of weaving it all together.

And one of the main reasons I created this membership is so you no longer have to do that. It’s kind of a one-stop shop for all of your coaching needs, and we are going to be talking about everything we do in this program through the lens of making sure that it is all integrated and working for you.

So welcome to your journey. Hopefully, you are excited, you’re ready to get started, and you’re already thinking about, “Ooh, where do I kind of know I want to start?” Like, where am I already kind of feeling not balanced? Or maybe you’re just brand new and you’re like, “I don’t even know, I’m just excited to start.” Hopefully, this video is going to help you and give you a little bit of direction.

And feel free to come back and watch this video as many times as you find it useful. Maybe you might need a refresh every once in a while. This is the place to come, to come check back in, see how you’re feeling, see how you’re progressing, or maybe if you’re starting something new, if you have a new offer or a new business structure, maybe you just come back here and watch this video one more time.

There are four stages that coaches move through. I’m going to share all four of those with you, but first, I want to say, I know some of you are brand new, some of you have been coaching for years, some of you have lots of clients, maybe you’ve never had a client, maybe you’re working with free clients, maybe you have a handful of clients. Whatever it is, it does not matter. This is the right place for you.

Part of this is going to help you identify where you are right now and if you’re in stage 1, 2, 3, or 4. This is not about starting from scratch. This is just about identifying where you are, what’s your current reality, and there’s going to be no judgment. For those of us that have successful businesses that have been building this for a while, we have all been in each of these stages. And I don’t really think there’s any way to just fully skip any of them.

And I also want to note before I tell you about the stages, that it’s also possible to move back and forth between stages. Because maybe when you’re creating something new, it does feel a little scary, a little, like you might feel less confident all over again. And so you might kind of go back a stage or two, and that’s okay because the more you learn to work through them, the faster and faster you’ll be able to work through them next time with more confidence.

So let’s just start exploring the stages. Let me know what you think. Does this sound familiar? Stage 1, this is maybe those of you that are brand new coaches, you’re just kind of starting out, or maybe you’ve been a coach for a while, but you haven’t really been able to make things work for you, however long you’ve been doing it.

Or like I said earlier, maybe you are, feel like you’re backtracking a little bit because you’re starting over with something new. I call this fragmented and scattered because everything feels a little all over the place, right? You feel scattered, and when you look at all the pieces of your business and all the pieces of everything you’re doing, it looks very fragmented.

Everything that you’re doing feels separate and maybe like it’s competing or confusing. You might be consuming a lot without implementing as much as you would like to. Maybe you don’t know exactly what to focus on, so you’re might be a little all over. Maybe you’re making a lot of changes consistently because you’re not quite sure what’s sticking.

Maybe you’re listening to a bunch of different voices and everyone is kind of saying different things, and that might feel a little confusing. Maybe you might even be questioning like if you’re ready, are you doing it right? Are you sure you’re going down this path? Are you sure you want to have this business? Totally normal.

Maybe you’re feeling isolated, like you’re figuring it out alone, it can feel a little lonely. Maybe you’re coaching very inconsistently, or you haven’t even started yet. Maybe you landed here, and if you’re honest, you’re not even 100% sure if you are a coach, like if you consider yourself a coach.

How you might be feeling in this stage: scattered, maybe anxious, or overwhelmed. Maybe anxious about money, maybe overwhelmed because of all the different things going on. Maybe that imposter syndrome feeling is really loud in this stage, right? It’s kind of like, “Do I even know what I’m doing?” Even if you’ve had tons of training, I think until you start applying that training consistently, you can have all of the knowledge in the world and still feel a little bit like you don’t know what you’re doing. You might also just be feeling alone or lonely.

So who’s here? I already mentioned this a bit, but this is brand new coaches, right? Obviously, of course, it’s totally normal to feel this way. Or you’ve been doing it a while, but still very scattered. Nothing ever feels like it has clicked into place.

Maybe you have a couple of clients, or you might not have any, might not have even considered having a client yet. And you are just in general overwhelmed by all the pieces and not quite sure how to fit them all together, or maybe even not quite sure what you want.

So first of all, this is, again, completely normal. I cannot say this enough. This is where we all start. This is where integration starts for everyone. You are not doing anything wrong. And in this stage, you might begin to start to see some connections. Like some of the little pieces will just start to come together, especially now that you’re here and you have all the tools.

Stage 2, building and possibility. This stage, to me, can feel quite fun if you lean into that feeling of possibility. What this looks like, you’re starting to gather a clear path forward, right? You can see it. You don’t feel like you’re consistently on it, but you can see it. It’s starting to just come together, starting to work a little bit. Maybe you feel like you found your people. You feel less alone. You are finding your people as far as maybe some clients are starting to come into view, and maybe also some colleagues and some connections.

You are starting to see connections between the three pillars that we’re going to be talking about in this membership, between your coaching your clients, running your business, and balancing it all with your life, right? Like you’re starting to see the connections. “Oh, right, when I set boundaries here, it really does affect my pricing, for example.”

In this stage, you’re implementing, you’re no longer just consuming, and you’re feeling just a little more confident, and you have maybe some potential clients or even your first clients or first few handful of clients.

You also have started taking care of yourself while building. So you’re not hustling, you’re not putting your own health on the back burner, taking care of yourself, living your life on the back burner. It’s all feeling a little balanced. You’re also starting to build genuine relationships with, hopefully, other coaches, maybe in this space, maybe in other spaces. You’re just feeling more confident showing up.

What this might feel like, first, it might feel like relief, right? Especially after moving from stage 1. This makes so much sense. It also might feel like hope, like, “Oh, maybe it’s going to work.” It might feel like possibility, and possibility is one of my favorite feelings. To me, it just feels like this incredible openness in my chest, very similar to curiosity, which coaches, most of us are quite good at.

So hopefully you can find that space in your chest, just that feeling, or figure out what it feels like to you. There also might be some clarity coming in at this point. It’s starting to replace the confusion. And maybe you even have this inkling of like, “Ooh, is this momentum?” Right? Like maybe some momentum is starting.

So what, who, who’s here? Who’s in this space? What it could look like is you have a few clients, you’re making some money, so you’re charging for your coaching, absolutely, in this stage. You kind of feel like you might be ready for your next level of integration, but you don’t feel fully solid yet. Or maybe you just were getting your first clients, but the path is really starting to look a lot more clear.

What’s important to know here is you’ve stopped kind of treating your skills, your business, and your life as competing. You’re letting it all come together and feel a little more balanced. And by balanced, always, I mean whatever that means to you, whatever you want balance to be. You’re really starting to see how they work together and how you’re on the right path.

Then there’s stage 3. This is where it really starts to feel good. This I’m calling strategic and grounded. So what might be happening for you if you’re in this stage, you’re really starting to trust your own approach, right? Everything you’ve been learning over the last two stages, it’s really coming together, and it’s really working for you.

You’re no longer just taking someone else’s approach and kind of copying it or mimicking. You are fully leaning into trusting yourself, trusting your approach. You’re also starting to make decisions without feeling like you need as much permission, right? You’re not looking around like, who’s going to tell me I can do this? It comes back to the trust, right? You’re starting to really trust yourself.

You also are possibly having consistent income. That’s a really fun part, right? You’re starting to trust, “Okay, not only is money coming in, but also it’s not a fluke, and I believe it’s going to keep coming.”

You feel very solid in your coaching skills. Like when I say you’re a good coach, you’re like, “Mhm,” and you just feel confident in that. You know it. You have set those boundaries for yourself, personal boundaries that really, you know, show up in all areas of your business. And that’s starting to feel really good. You no longer question it, you no longer wonder if you’re working enough or overworking or underworking. You’re just kind of starting to feel good around it.

You’re contributing to your community. And by that, I mean possibly here in this membership, or I mean, hopefully you’ve been contributing the whole time, not just consuming. But maybe you’re leaning more into contributing and consuming, or you have at least a good balance of both. And at this point, you certainly have clients and you feel much, much more confident.

You just feel grounded, right? Not perfect, but everything just feels solid. And that’s the main feeling. So how are you feeling? Grounded, right? You’re feeling trust. You heard me say that multiple times. You’re feeling pretty proud of what you’re building. Like this is real. And you’re feeling connection, right? You’re connected to the community, maybe to some colleagues. Maybe even you’re feeling connection to your clients at this point. Hopefully you are. You’ve been working with them now for a while. Hopefully, you’re just feeling more connection all around.

So who’s here? Maybe you’ve been coaching for a while. Maybe you came in with a bunch of skills already, business skills and coaching skills, and you built kind of quickly, and you’ve kind of hit this stage where you’re like, “Okay, I feel good.”

You certainly have a practice with all the pieces that you need, and you feel great about it. You’re making consistent money, and you’re really at the stage where you’re like, “I want to know this is sustainable.” I kind of want to know what’s next. Like, am I staying here? Am I scaling this? Is there something after this? That might be the thing you’re considering.

And you’re at the point in your evolution where you really are starting to trust your own internal compass. You are really good at evaluating advice, at taking what works and leaving what doesn’t. You also are really becoming an expert, your own expert, but an expert of your business, and starting to sound like an expert to your clients.

Then there’s stage 4. And this is like the ultimate. And from experience, I will say yes, it’s fun to be in stage 4. I don’t think you just get there and stay there forever. Like I said earlier, right? As you create new offers, as you make changes to your business, you might find yourself revisiting some of those stages. And I want to be so clear that that is fine. You do not need to rush to get to stage 4 because the more practice, honestly, you have in the other stages, the better that’s going to do you when you find yourself back there someday.

So stage 4 is confident and thriving. So what this means, what does this look like? Your practice, your coaching practice, is enhancing your life, and your life is enhancing your coaching practice. Not every single day. We all have bad days, but overall, that feels true.

You are making consistent income on your terms. So not only are you making consistent money, but you’re doing it in a way that feels really good to you. All three of your pillars feel in rhythm. They’re sustainable, not perfect balance all the time, that’s not a thing, but it feels very clear when you should focus on one over the other or over here instead of over here.

You really are trusting your own judgment at this point and making very strategic decisions. You have people all around you who understand. You feel very connected. You’re surrounded by people who just understand your journey. The isolation at this point is totally gone. Or if it sneaks back in, you see it quickly, and you know how to solve it.

How you’re feeling at this stage, very energized by your work, totally energized, ready to show up. You’re feeling confident and grounded, definitely feeling connected. Certainly you are proud of yourself, and you’re just overall probably just feeling relief when you really think about it. It’s probably a lot of relief of some of the pressures of the hard work that it takes to build what you have built is starting to disappear or is gone completely, at least for now.

So who’s here? The people that are here are maintaining and deepening, right? They are really the people that just like where they are, they want to maintain, and maybe they want to deepen some of their skills, some of their connections, or scale, right? Like you might feel amazing where you are, and you might also know there’s a next step.

You’re consistently staying connected to the community, to this membership community, to your community, your colleagues, all of that. You are continuing to evolve without burnout. It doesn’t feel like that much work anymore. Sometimes, of course, there are hard days, but in general, you know how to solve it, right? You’re having a hard day or a hard week or a hard month, you can kind of see the end in sight, and you know exactly what to do about it.

And this is the place where you really are fully integrated in the three pillars, right? Your self-care practices are on point, as in you’re just taking care of yourself, right? And that is making you a better coach, and it’s making it easier to run your business.

Your coaching confidence is affecting all of your sales conversations, the way you show up for your marketing, everything about your business. And just having you feel good outside of coaching, your business boundaries are protecting the life you want to live. And it is just all working together really well.

So you might be asking, “Okay, I hear you, but now what? Like now, where do I start?” And here’s what I want to say. I want to make this very clear. This is not a race. There is no timeline for you to get to stage 4 as fast as possible. I don’t actually think that’s possible. You have to go at your own pace because racing to stage 4 won’t actually create all of the things I just described in stage 4, right? So maybe you’re in stage 1. Maybe stage 2, maybe stage 3, starting to feel pretty solid. Or maybe stage 4. Maybe you’re just like, “I’m just here to maintain and deepen or scale.” Any of these are perfect, and this membership will meet you wherever you are.

You can take anything I teach in this membership and apply it to all of these stages. In the beginning couple of stages, it certainly could even be the only thing you need. In the more advanced stages, depending on your business structure, there might be some things that you, or it’s very clear like, “Oh, I want to go out and get this specific type of support.” Maybe it’s something I don’t teach in here.

So I just want to give you permission to move at your own pace, to stay a while, to come back and forth, move back and forth between those stages when you need to. Everything is exactly right. You’re exactly where you’re supposed to be, even when you don’t feel like it, because there’s always a chance for you to move forward, for you to advance to a different stage at any point.

So the difference here is that we are not learning just more and more and more separate things that aren’t connected. We are really looking to find how does everything connect? And when I make an improvement over here, how does it influence everything else I’m doing? We also are going to be thinking about everything in terms of your skills, your business, your life, none of it competing against each other, but one solid ecosystem, one integrated practice.

So I’m going to walk you through an exercise because when you’re finished watching this video, I want you to know exactly what to do next. Okay? So play with me for a minute. I want you to close your eyes. If you want to, you don’t have to close your eyes, but either close your eyes or just gaze at your wall. Whatever it is, just like we’re going to do a reflecting for just a second. And I want you to think about those four stages.

Which one speaks to you? When I was going through them, right? The are you feeling scattered and fragmented, maybe brand new? Are you starting to build and feel possibility? Maybe a few clients? Are you feeling more strategic and grounded? Like maybe you have something that could be repeatable? Maybe it’s kind of working? Or are you feeling just super confident and thriving? Pretty grounded in it’s working. Just use your gut. Which one is it? Like, where do you think you are right now?

All I want you to do at this point is just notice, you don’t have to be sure. You can always come back and watch this again or look at the notes and read through the stages again. But still with your eyes closed or with the gaze at the wall or whatever it is that you’re doing, I want you to think about now the three pillars in this membership.

One is coaching skills, how to support your clients. One is business, how to run your business, how to support your business, how to make money. And then one is the life integration piece, the integrating your business and your life in a way that feels amazing to you. And then I want you to kind of tap into your intuition or your gut or your higher knowing, whatever it is you might call it. And I just want you to answer this. Don’t overthink it.

Which one of these pillars might need your attention right now? Not which one should you focus on, but which one is truly calling to you? Which one is saying like, “Hey, if you put some attention in here, I bet you might find some improvements all around.”

And then I want you to trust what comes up. Was it your coaching skills? Was it your business? Was it integrating it all with your life or enjoying your life while figuring out how to run this crazy coaching practice? And if you truly don’t have an answer, that’s okay. If you do, I want you to trust it. And then the next thing I want you to do from here is click back where you see the three pillars. Go into that pillar, go to module 1, and just start right there. Start with that video.

If you don’t have an answer, I have two recommendations for you. First, no problem. Just go back, find the pillars, just start with pillar 1. Just go in order. You can always change, you don’t have to finish the pillar before moving to the next one, right?

Or you can go to pillar 2, the business pillar, and find the archetype lesson and take the archetype quiz because that’s just fun. I think everyone will enjoy that. It’s fairly simple. It’ll give you immediately some insight about yourself and about your business. It will inform so much about how you are marketing, how you might market moving forward, how you might sell your coaching. Just go start there.

Thank you so much for being here. Seriously, I really appreciate you. I am here for you, and I cannot wait to watch you move through these four stages and support you along the way.

Okay, so after listening, what do you think? Did you do the exercise? What came up for you? How are you feeling about the three options? Where do you want to put your focus right now? If you’re not a member, do you know which area needs attention?

If you want to, again, access the actual pillars, the content, the community, the calls, The Complete Coach opens to the public on December 3rd of 2025, if you’re listening to this in the future, and hopefully it’s still open years from now.

The waitlist link, if you’re listening in real-time, will be in the show notes, and I really do hope to see you there. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out, of course. But if you have no interest ever in joining, then I hope this was still really, really helpful and that you have some takeaways and that you took some notes and that you’re going to go implement whatever you learned into your business right away. See you next week.

Thanks for listening to this episode of Mastering Coaching Skills. If you want to learn more about my work, come visit me at lindsaydotzlafcoaching.com. That’s Lindsay with an A, D-O-T-Z-L-A-F.com. See you next week.