7 Daily Habits of Exceptionally Successful Coaches

“Our daily decisions and habits have a huge impact upon both our levels of happiness and success.” ~Shawn Achor

As the owner of a coaching business, you’re more than just a certified life coach; you’re also the marketing department, the CEO, CFO and the cheap labor.

But successful coaches, while they vary in style and by niche, have a few things in common – starting with these 7 daily habits.

7 Daily Habits of Exceptionally Successful Coaches

1. Gladly Grinding: Love your work so much it feels like play.

If you’re doing what you really love, you’re on the right path to success. Now here’s where inspiration meets perspiration: if you want to be truly successful as a coach, you’ve got to show up to work every day and work hard to build and grow your business.

That means no days off without planning, no playing hooky and no stopping. A coach is also an entrepreneur, and as such, you’ve got to be ready to grind every day – and you’ve got to do it with a smile.

2. Time is Money: Focus on ROI.

As you build your business, it’ll be tempting to stop the daily grind to focus on your passion projects. While you should absolutely take the time to work on these, you should balance them with activities that bring in the money.

It might feel a little “icky” to you, at first, because you’re on a genuine mission to help people, or maybe because you don’t really know how to ask someone to pay you for your services.

But remember: you’ve got the right and the responsibility to support yourself, one way or another. Without the money, the passion projects won’t happen anyway – so when you’re working on anything you’re passionate about, consider the potential return-on-investment and spend your time accordingly.

3. Get in the Game: Laser-Focused Money-Making

Like I said, whether we like it or not, we’ve got to think about making money in our coaching businesses. Money is the foundation of your business and it’s what will allow you to grow it and offer help to even more people.

That’s why you’ve got to do something each day to foster the connections and activites that will help make you money, whether immediately or in the long-run. Some of your daily money-making activities might include the following.

• Networking events
• Twitter chats
• Periscope or Blam.im broadcasts
• Asking for testimonials
• Asking for referrals
• Offering complimentary first sessions
• Following up with clients

4. Think About Tomorrow: Preparing for the Next Day’s Business

Anything you can do to make your money-making activities for the next day a little easier is part of this habit. If you spend the last couple hours of today preparing for tomorrow, you’ll be one step ahead and your day will go more smoothly (and, to be honest, you’ll make more money).

Some things you can do in that time might include the following.

• Create website content.
• Create products or courses.
• Work on your ebook.
• Blogging
• Build marketing funnels.
• Sending emails to connect with new influencers or clients.

5. Build Your Small Army: Wow Your Clients and Potential Clients

Successful coaches know something you don’t: you need a small army to really “make it” in this business. That means that you’ll have a core group of clients, fans and/or readers who will become your sort of advocates in the coaching market.

When someone asks a question you can answer, those people will recommend you. When anyone needs help with a problem you specialize in, you know who your small army will look for – and that’s the thing.

It goes two ways. So if you’re going to build that small army, you’ve got to do something to wow people every day. That means that you need to do the following kinds of activities each day.

• Email your existing clients personally and check on their progress.
• Email one or two of your favorite influencers in your niche each week. Offer them a tip, a link you think they might like or even a simple but genuine comment on something they’ve published recently.
• Send out a survey and ask how you can help people.
• Give stuff away, such as a niche report or an online e-course. This will not only wow your clients and potential clients, but it’ll offer you the chance to sell them on coaching sessions and other products later. Plus, it places you as an expert.
• Answer your emails. When your clients, potential clients and blog readers email you, be sure to respond to them personally. If you get the same kinds of emails all the time, just write up some canned responses – it’ll allow you to send those personal responses so much more quickly.
• Respond to comments on your blog. When people see that you’re responding to others’ comments, they’re far more likely to leave a comment too. They want to know you’re a real person, and they want to feel some kind of connection to you. When people feel that connection, they’re more likely to hire you as a coach or purchase your products.
• Be a real person on social media – for the same reasons. People want relationships with individuals, not faceless corporations.

6. The Business End: Administration for Coaches

As a coach, if you’re not quite ready to hire an official assistant yet, you might need to do your own administration stuff each day. This might include things such as:

• Paying your business bills
• Maintaining your company website
• Social media marketing and automation
• Writing and distributing your newsletter
• Etc.

However, if you’re spending more than an average of about an hour a day on these kinds of activities, you might want to consider getting an assistant.

7. Remember Yourself: Without Exception

When you’re working and doing what you love, you might have a tendency to forget to actually STOP working. But for the sake of your sanity and that of the people you love, it’s important to “leave” work each day, at least mentally.

While many coaches work out of their homes, the most successful ones create some clear cut definition between “home time” and “work time.”

Here are a few ways you can make that happen.

• If you have an office or an office space, put a sign on the door that lets your family know that you’re working – whether you’re in a session with a client or your working on one of your other daily habits, this will help them to recognize the difference between work time and home time.
• Post office hours on your website and on your office door. Let everyone know when you’re working, and that they should only call you in case of emergency or if they need to talk business. This way, your clients and business contacts as well as your family will know when it’s appropriate to be in touch directly.
• Schedule time with friends and family just like you would schedule work stuff. That way, they’ll know they matter and you can stay balanced too.

One last thing: be sure to take at least an hour a day for just you. Whether you take a hot bath, take a long walk or do a formal meditation, find something to calm and center you – and do it, or some version of it, each day. Remember, if you’re not taking care of yourself, you can’t take care of anyone else.

What would you add to this list? Tell me your most important daily habits for success! Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments section.