Episode #12: Robbie on... three of the most important parts of any coach's journey: commitment, creating it and doing your own work

This is another episode of the podcast where I (Robbie Swale) share some of my thoughts. Like in episode 8, I’m going back to some content I previously created and sharing it again here as a podcast episode. As I listen back (sometimes for the first time), I also provideupdates, extra ideas and extra links as I go.

The content I (re)share in this episode is what I created when I sat down to think about this question: what have I learned about the most important parts, aspects, shifts or stages that coaches almost always go through if they are going to create a sustainable, successful coaching business, whatever that means for them?

So many of the ideas that have been most helpful for me in my journey are contained in this episode; in some ways these videos turned out to be a summary of what I had learned from the first three years of having transforming people’s lives as my work.

In particular, I talk about:

Why you need commitment if you are going to create a coaching business in line with your integrity (and why confidence is a con).

The power of the shift to embodying the belief that you can create your own coaching business and how to make that shift.

The many, many, many ways that doing your own work is fundamental to life as a coach, including what counts as doing work on yourself.

Within that there are so many little details and nuggets in here, including: why I think the Prosperous Coach has been such an important book for so many coaches; how we slip into feeling under threat in our coaching work and how to move back into a sense of trust; and why, confusingly, making a commitment frees you rather than trapping you. Oh, and I dictate two invitations that any coach can use to jump-start their coaching business when they need to. Enjoy!

For information about my wider work and writing, visit www.robbieswalecoaching.com.

To watch the videos in their original form (and various other coaching videos), visit my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5aalWAQqFp6yTk2jghSpeQ

Music by My Good Man William: listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4KmeQUcTbeE31uFynHQLQg

Things and people I mentioned (that you might be interested in):

~2: My brother, Ewan Townhead, whose ideas these videos were originally: https://www.ewantownhead.com/

~3: The One Thing by Gary Keller, The Four-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss, The War of Art by Steven Pressfield.

~4: The Coaching School Video with me talking really fast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhK4vS0nzk8

~10: Resistance and Steven Pressfield - here’s a piece about this concept and its impact on me: https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/writing/dancing-with-resistance-a-lesson-from-my-first-year-as-a-coach

~11: The Three Gateways to a Powerful Coaching Engagement article: https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/writing/the-three-gateways-to-a-powerful-coaching-engagement-getting-unstuck-growing-confidence-and-uncovering-possibility

~11: Rich Litvin: https://richlitvin.com/

~16:30: Nassim Nicholas Taleb: https://www.fooledbyrandomness.com/

~19: Holly Aston: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/holly-aston-4a361553

~22: Michael Neill: https://www.michaelneill.org/

~29: The War of Art by Steven Pressfield: https://stevenpressfield.com/

~30: Mike Toller: http://www.michaeltollercoaching.co.uk/

~32: Tim Ferriss and The Four=Hour Body: https://fourhourbody.com/

~36: My article, ‘Recommitting Is The Journey’ - https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/writing/recommitting-is-the-journey

~45: My article, ‘How I Became a Full Time Coach Less Than Two Years After Starting My Training’ - https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/writing/how-i-became-a-full-time-coach-less-than-two-years-after-starting-my-training

~47: The Prosperous Coach by Rich Litvin and Steve Chandler - https://richlitvin.com/the-prosperous-coach/

~48: Carolyn Freyer Jones: https://www.carolynfreyerjones.com/

~48: Coaches Rising: https://www.coachesrising.com/ (check out episode 6 of this podcast for an interview with Coaches Rising Co-Founder Joel Monk: https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/podcast/episode-6-joel-monk-conversations-at-the-cutting-edge-of-coaching)

~50: Diana Chapman from the Conscious Leadership Academy on the Coaches Rising Podcast where I heard her talk about trust and threat: https://www.coachesrising.com/podcast/stop-being-so-serious-playfulness-and-coaching/

~58: Robert Holden: https://www.robertholden.com/

~62: The15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership by Diana Chapman, Jim Dethmer and Kaley Klemp: https://www.amazon.co.uk/15-Commitments-Conscious-Leadership-Sustainable-ebook/dp/B00R3MHWUE

~75: Jamie Smart: https://www.jamiesmart.com/

~76: Jo Hunter and her company, 64 Million Artists: https://64millionartists.com/about/

~83: Joel Monk and the episode of this podcast where I interview Joel: https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/podcast/episode-6-joel-monk-conversations-at-the-cutting-edge-of-coaching

~84: The original 5-part Train Series of articles, in this order: https://linkedin.com/pulse/train-series-1-stories-robbie-swale/, https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/train-series-2-change-robbie-swale/, https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/train-series-3-time-alone-robbie-swale/, https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/train-series-4-creativity-robbie-swale/, https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/train-series-5-habits-robbie-swale/

~90: The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks

~92: My article about time management, where I speak about some of Gay Hendricks’ insights: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/15-ways-transform-your-relationship-time-get-more-done-robbie-swale/

~93: My article about the most important reasons to hire a coach, if you are a coach: https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/writing/6-reasons-why-hiring-a-coach-is-the-most-important-thing-for-you-to-do-if-you-want-a-successful-coaching-business

~94: Jordan Hall on Rebel Wisdom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_j3cCrpXERg