Gary Wood is the new director of the Christian Coach Network. He’s not new to CCN, having served on the CCN board in the past.  But members have been getting to know him over the last few months, including me.  I’ve noticed that Gary has a deep desire for Christian coaches to be successful in whatever God has called them to do.  In the last CCN newsletter, Gary extended words of encouragement to Christian coaches and he gave me permission to share an excerpt of his article, Focused Persistence, here. 

I appreciate Gary’s willingness to tell the truth – that coaching is not “an easy road to riches” and it requires persistent work.  And I’ve enjoyed getting to know Gary’s heart of faith that believes that God faithfully provides for our needs as we work in alignment with His purposes.

Focused Persistence 

Bills have to be paid. Few of us have the luxury of not realizing a financial return for the time and effort we put into our work. If you can’t make a living, you can’t make a difference. Financial realities don’t wait for your dreams to catch up. They demand attention on their own terms.

Many budding coaches have become discouraged and left ‘the business’ within the first year or two of start-up. Truth is, often a solid business and marketing strategy was neglected in favor of a wide-eyed dream of eager clients flocking to buy ill defined services on the basis of thin air.

Coaching is not an easy road to riches. It never was. Those experiencing success have worked hard to achieve it. They have put in place good strategies, with clear offerings and consistent work, day after day, month after month and year after year. They innovated and cut their teeth on lean beginnings and steadily built business or ministry over time. They learned from every failure and turned on a dime to do it different the next time.

To those of you who have achieved … congratulations. You’ve worked hard for it.

To those who have not yet arrived, don’t be discouraged. You can build a solid coaching business. You may have to change some of your assumptions about how it will happen. You may have to work very hard on strategy development and consistent implementation, doing things you never felt comfortable with previously. There may be lean times where you will be cast on the Lord in new ways. But your persistent effort can pay off.

Be encouraged.

 
The Christian Coaches Network has just launched an exciting new website.  Check it out at www.ChristianCoaches.com