If I Were Building a Coaching Business in 2026, Here's Exactly What I'd Do Differently

If I Were Building a Coaching Business in 2026, Here's Exactly What I'd Do Differently

Let me ask you something honest.

How long have you been waiting for things to finally click in your business?

Once the kids go back to school. Once this busy season wraps up. Once life slows down a little. And yet here you are, still waiting for the moment when everything falls into place.

Here is what I know after years of working with coaches and entrepreneurs at every level. Waiting never makes it happen. The turning point does not come from waiting. It comes from understanding what actually causes the growth in your business and then doing that on purpose.

The Problem With How Most Coaches Build

Most coaches build their business the way it seems like you should on social media. They post consistently, build a big audience, and wait to be discovered. And that is fair. That is what everybody says to do.

But here is the truth. About a decade ago you could go live on social media for the first time and get a really strong reaction. Fast forward to 2026 and things are very different. Social media still works but it takes more time, more consistency, and more deliberate content to see results.

And here is the bigger problem. Every week you spend randomly posting, randomly going live, or feeling guilty about all the things you are not doing is one more week away from your future best version. Hope is not a strategy.

What I Would Do Differently Starting From Zero

If I were starting over in 2026 with no email list, no audience, no past clients, and maxed out credit cards, here is exactly what I would do.

Step One: Embody the Identity From Day One

I would act as if I was a coach scaling a business from the very first day. Not someday when I felt ready. From day one.

What does that mean in practice? It means I am a planner. I plan my strategy. I plan how I am going to attack the challenge. I do not sit around and hope it gets better. I decide where I want to go and I take a direct route on purpose.

It also means I am thinking about scalability from the start. A traditional job trades time for money. A scalable coaching business is designed so that you get paid whether you are working that specific hour or not. That starts with private coaching to build cash flow and moves toward group coaching as soon as you are ready. Group coaching means you sell the same hour over and over again. Two clients means double the income. Three means triple. That is what scalable actually means.

Step Two: Prioritize Conversations Over Content

The fastest route to a sale is conversations, not content.

I know that might feel counterintuitive when every piece of advice out there tells you to post more, show up more, and build a bigger audience. But here is what most coaches miss. Your content is a conversation. And if that conversation is random and unfocused, it is going to be very hard to turn it into clients.

Before you worry about building a bigger audience, get in front of people who are already looking to solve the problem that you solve and have a direct conversation with them. Make an invitation. Test whether your package lands. Find out if people will pay, stay, and recommend you to others.

Here is a simple exercise. Write down the last five people you spoke to who were genuinely a fit for your coaching. Not a follower. Not somebody who commented on your post. People you could have actually said let us do some coaching together. If you cannot name five people in the last 30 days that is your entire business priority right now. Not more content. More conversations.

Step Three: Package Your Expertise So People Actually Pay For It

If people do not know what you offer they cannot pay for it.

A well packaged offer does one of two things. It helps your ideal client go faster toward something they want or it helps them avoid a significant cost. That is it. When somebody hires you they are not hiring you because of who you are. They are hiring you because of who they are. They are stuck. They are in pain. They keep circling the same ideas over and over again and not making progress.

Your job is to package up your genius in a way that makes somebody say I need that. I want that. I am willing to invest in that because it is going to get me where I want to go faster than I could get there alone.

Step Four: Build Your System Before You Need It

Most coaches wait until they are broke or completely overwhelmed before they decide to be proactive about building a system. And by then it is so much harder because money is tight and emotions run high and it is nearly impossible to focus.

If I was building in 2026 my personal rule would be this. Patient progress every single week. I would not implement everything at once but I would never go one week without making some kind of forward movement.

A system that automatically puts you in front of your people, fills your calendar with qualified conversations, and takes the decision making out of your daily activities is one of the most valuable things you can build. The sooner you get it in place the better.

The Oak Tree Principle

The best time to plant an oak tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today.

You do not need a better story. You do not need to arrive somewhere before you get to start. You are already on the road. And if you are taking a direct route on purpose you are going to get there.

It starts with choosing to go. Not waiting until you feel ready. Just deciding that this is the week you plant the seed.

Your Assignment This Week

Write down the last five people you spoke to who were a genuine fit for your coaching. If you cannot name five people in the last 30 days your entire focus this week is having more conversations. Not writing more content. Not redesigning your website. Not recording more videos.

Just talk to people. One clear connected conversation with the right person is impact. And people who pay, pay attention.

You are already on the road. Start paying attention to where you are going.

Ready to build your coaching business with support? Visit thecoachesplaza.com/expert to learn more about the Experts Network and take the next step.

Chapter List:

00:00 Starting from Scratch: Building a Coaching Business

09:35 Embodying the Coach Identity: Planning for Success

15:37 Shifting Focus: Conversations Over Content

25:05 Building Systems for Sustainable Growth

32:41 Intentional Progress: The Path to Success

Full Transcript:

Amanda Kaufman (00:00)

So if you're building a scalable business though, if you're building a real business, what does that mean? It means you're designing.

it that you will be paid whether you're working per hour or not.

Well, hello and welcome to a strong start. And today we're actually starting with starting. So in today's live stream, I'm going to be talking to you about what I would do in 2026 if I started all over with a coaching business. I'm talking no established brand, no social media, no email list, no, no past clients, just completely from scratch.

And my goal with today's session is to show you that it's less about having all the things already that are going to make you successful, but rather, there we go, just realized I wasn't live on Instagram. It's less about having everything you need already to be successful. And it's way more about knowing what to do to get what you need, to be who you need.

to stay focused on what you need. if you can see me and hear me, do let me know in the chat. I'm super excited that you're here. And going forward, I am going to be doing these lives at 10 a.m. Central. So if you're like worried that that doesn't work and the old time was better for you, I got you boo, because guess what? We record every single episode. So you can watch the full replay in our group, Clients Over Chaos, and what we do.

is we actually simultaneously record. it is instantly available. You just go to next five clients.com that's next number five clients.com and then you can come join the group. You can watch all the replays the entire library at your convenience. But of course I love it when you are live with me here. So yeah, do say hello and let's get this party started. There are there are a few things that I wish I knew early on.

that I'm gonna tell you today. Hello again, Tanya, I'm glad you're here. Hello, Andy, I'm glad you're here. Okay, so most coaches build their business the way that it seems like you should on social media. And that's just, that's fair, right? That's reasonable. They're taught to post consistently to build a big audience, to wait to be discovered, you know, like a big movie star.

And the thing is, is that about a decade ago, you could go to your social media and you could go live for the first time and you're going to get a pretty strong reaction from that. Fast forward to now in twenty twenty six, things are a little bit different. And the reason it's different is because people are consuming social media in a really different way. It doesn't have the novelty that it once had.

It's not that it doesn't work. It's that it takes more time and more consistency and more deliberate content to be successful with it. And we'll talk about all of that today. The thing that I also want you to know is that 10 years ago, coming out on the scene and being super loud was really effective because you were showing up as like this new

this new version, hello, I'm seeing people pop, I'm thinking 10 a.m. is way better. So, but, you know, showing up and just being really, really loud was totally valid as a strategy because nobody else was really doing it or it was really uncommon. So you would catch somebody's eye. There's this saying in business that marketers ruin everything. And the reason that people say marketers ruin everything is that

Once people find out, well, this is really effective, like going live or posting to my social media or starting a sub stack has been really big lately. What happens is that the marketplace just floods like, we should all do that. And then everybody starts behaving the same way and showing up the same way. So if 10 years ago being super loud was effective, well then what happened? Everybody else came on and then was super loud and now everybody looks the same as everybody.

So you see how that works? Strong start on a Monday. So what I wanna talk to you about this week is how can you show up, like what would I do, knowing what I now know to create a business in 2026 as a coach and expert that is going to provide for my family, is going to set me up for a brighter future, to allow me to...

Bring the best version of who I am to what I do, right? I'm a huge fan of the idea of operating in your core zone of genius. And hello, good morning, my gosh, I'm so excited you guys are here. If you are doing something that is really not your interest, not your talent, not your joy, eventually,

you're going to feel so far out of alignment that you tend to see a slow a slowing of performance. If you're like me, maybe you're somebody who has a lot of talents. Maybe you've got a lot of things that you're good at potentially. Well, your genius zone is the thing that when you cultivate that it is the very best thing. So if you're watching me live, go ahead and share in the comments. What's your genius?

So what's genius? Like are you a really amazing coach? Are you a really great listener? Are you a great problem solver? Are you awesome in an emergency? Like what is it that is your core zone of genius? I'd love to hear it. I want to get to know you even better. Okay, so you know the reason this episode really matters is because every week that you spend doing the thing everybody says

That is one more week that you're not making meaningful progress towards the goal of enrolling clients and having a full thriving practice that is a real joy. There you go. So Andy is a great listener. He notices details. Brilliant. I love that. Tanya says that she helps people feel listened to and understood and held in love. That's beautiful. my gosh. I'm goosebumps on that. I love that.

Stan is a good problem solver. I love that, Stan, that's awesome. Okay, so the thing is, is every week that you spend randomly posting to social media, randomly going live, or let's be real, randomly feeling guilty about all the things you're not doing in your business, that's one more week that's taking you away from your future best version. You know what I mean? So like, I love that saying the best time to plant an oak tree was 20 years ago.

And the second best time to plant the oak tree is today. So I'm going to unpack for you what would I do, knowing what I now know and knowing what I know about the coaching industry, what would I do if I didn't have a list, if I didn't have a rhythm, if I didn't have a following, if I had none of that. So I hope that you're a note taker and that you're gonna take some notes. And just like a little sidebar, because it's so fun, I'm hanging out at one of my best friend's houses.

She is a genius and she is the creator of the Live Life Fully coaching Life with Intentions program. And I got certified in it this weekend. So I'm living my best life. Like really, I'm really getting to live into developing my core genius. And I want that for everyone. I want people to live life with intention and I want them to live very fully. I don't want people to go one more week.

going along and getting along. You know what I'm talking about? Like just kind of tolerating the way things have been, tolerating the big, you know, nasty to-do list of things that don't get to done, you know? So, oh my gosh, you guys are so funny. You're committed to the process though, I love it. Typing with one hand because I had surgery on your hand. I'm so glad that you're here and wow, you are committed to the process. I'm here for it, that's so good. Okay, so,

Let's talk about what we need to do differently. Okay. To make this week be the week that you really plant the seed of the oak tree. The oak tree being your amazing thriving business as a coach and an expert. Okay. So I would say that the average coach, the average entrepreneur, the average expert that gets stuck in the muck, you want to know what they're typically thinking? They're typically thinking that someday

someday my opportunity will come. They tend to passively post, so we'll talk a little bit about posting. They passively post or they reactively post and they hope somebody's gonna notice. They hope that it's gonna work out. And the guy that invented management, his name was Peter Drucker, did this back in the early 1900s. He has a quote that I really love which is hope.

is not a strategy. Hope is not a strategy. So if I had nothing, if I was starting with maxed out credit cards, just being real with you on a Monday, I hope that's okay. If I have maxed out credit cards, so I couldn't just like buy my way forward. If I was feeling pretty isolated, like I just didn't have a lot of people around me that supported my vision and my goal. If I didn't have a, like I said, the email list or the technology, I didn't have a social presence. If I was just like,

starting from zero or possibly even a negative number. What would I do? And the first thing that I would do is I would embody. So to embody means like to act as if, right? To channel, to like pull in. I would act as if I was a coach scaling a business from the first day. From the first day. So I would not.

sit there and hope it gets better. Can we agree that that's correct? So what's it mean to be a coach who's building a scaling business? Well, to be a coach who's building a scaling business, she's probably or he's probably a planner. Shout out plan in the chat if you're like, yep. They probably plan out their strategy. They probably plan the way they're gonna attack the challenge.

Right? So definitely write down plan in your notes. Like I'm a planner. I'm a planner. So that's the first thing. If I'm building a scalable coaching business, so scalable by the way means that I'm not going to run out of time and I'm going to be able to make more money and I'm going to probably build something that is not going to just trade my time for money. Cause if you think about trading time for money, that's what people do with a traditional job. Right? So with a traditional job,

You what? You go to work, you get a paycheck, you're probably paid on a salary or you're paid on an hourly. You have to be there at a certain time. You can't leave until a later time and you make your money because you are there and you have an agreement ahead of time about how much money you're gonna make. Do y'all agree with my math here? out math if the math is mathin', right? So if you're building a scalable business though, if you're building a real business, what does that mean? It means you're designing.

it that you will be paid whether you're working per hour or not.

So when you first start, you might start with private clients where it's a trade for time for money, where they are paying you for a package. And there's lots of value in doing private coaching. First of all, they pay a premium rate for the privacy and your time.

So private, they pay the premium, which already is better than an hourly job situation, right? Because you're getting paid at least a premium rate for the time that you're spending working. The other thing is that when you're doing private, can be strategic and you can sell a package of sessions in advance. So with a job, you go to work and then you record the time and then you get paid. If you design a scalable business,

Instead of thinking like I'm gonna trade my time for money. We think I'm going to sell a productized version of my expertise a Productized version. So what does that mean? It means I'm selling a product there could be service There could be time that goes into delivering it. So like I've been using the example of private coaching but if you have a curriculum if you have a

a way that you lead people through the coaching, you can do something wild like group coaching. Group coaching. So group coaching, now I'm still sharing my expertise, I'm operating in my genius zone, but I get to sell the same hour. So whereas at work, if you wanted to make more money, you have to work more hours, right, in a traditional job. If I'm taking on the identity of I'm building a scalable,

expert business, I'm going to have a group program as soon as I'm ready to do it. And I'm going to sell the same hour over and over again. So if I have two clients, I make double. If I have three clients, I make triple. If I have four, five, you see how it becomes scalable, right? Show it scale in the chat. So if I'm starting all over in 2026, you know what I would definitely not do? I would definitely not.

beg for jobs. So what do we mean by that? I would definitely not beg for business. I would not beg for jobs. Instead, I would be building a product productized version of my expertise. And yes, I might do private coaching for people who want to pay the premium rate for my time so I can get a profit going for my cash flow, right? That's important. And y'all stop me if this is too nerdy, but I'm like,

For real, if I was starting over in 2026, what would I do? I would have a private option available for people who are willing to pay. For people who are unwilling to pay or possibly unable to pay for that premium experience, you know what I would be doing? I would have a group program. And then that way I can serve people and they can pay a reasonable fee, but they get to basically share the load of the compensation that I get being the genius.

with other people who don't mind accommodating the schedule of everybody being all on the call at the same time. Right? Shout out woo in the chat if you're like, okay, I'm tracking. I get it. Okay. So I'm just going to, I'm going to start with the end in mind. I want a scalable business. So as soon as possible, we're going to launch that group program. Even if I take some private coaching in the meantime to get my cash flow in. Okay, cool. Tanya is feeling it. She's, she's feeling the vibe. Good. Awesome, Andy. I love it.

Okay, so what would I do next? So I'm embodying the identity of somebody who is gonna choose the fastest route and I'm gonna do it on purpose because I know where I wanna end up. And as I was prepping for today's session, I found this quote that I just really love and I wanna share with you. The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex.

overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks and then starting on the first one. So apparently that's something that Mark Twain said and Mark Twain was a pretty prolific author and you know I think what he had to say about success there makes a ton of sense. So here's what I would do in 2026. The first thing I would do is actually I would stop doing some

And that is I would stop building an audience before I have an offer that converts. So in other words, if you've been mediocre successful with social media or unsuccessful social media, what if we shifted the focus for a minute to serving the people who are already know, like, and trust us regardless of our social media presence? So

When I start talking about this, sometimes people get worried. They're like, oh, I don't want to have to coach my family and I don't want to have to coach my friends, you know, like, especially my best friend. Like they're not going to be very receptive to that. Hang on. We're talking strategy here. OK, so the thing is, is that what people don't realize, and I certainly didn't know this until I was much more experienced. What you're putting on.

the internet, whether it's your website, your blog, you're doing live streams like this, you're posting, you're making the Tiki-Takis, whatever you're doing, it's all part of a conversation with you. It's all part of a conversation, right? So shout out CONV for conversation, because conversation is a long, long word. But if you realize content is a conversation, content is a conversation, most people are random sauce.

about the conversation that they are curating on social media. And the thing is, is if you have your genius zone, like problem solving, or you have your genius zone, like being a great listener, Andy, you went all the way. He wrote conversation in full. I'm here for it. Okay. But the thing is, if you're talking about a whole bunch of random stuff,

that is like interesting to you or what did you have for dinner today or even like giving news reports about, I hung out with so-and-so today. And then you slap people with a pitch of sit down for my problem solving complimentary session. How effective is that gonna be compared to what if all your content is talking not just about problem solving?

but talking about the way you approach problem solving in your program. And you talked about it out loud and you talked about it matter of fact. And what if your content had stories about people who you've helped with your problem solving and what they said about it. And then you put that offer out there to sit down with people. Could that work better? Right? So don't know why in the chat if you're picking up what I'm putting down. But here's the problem.

A lot of coaches, they don't know yet how to package their expertise, their genius zone in a way that is appealing enough to be paid. So I would suggest that like if you're an amazing problem solver, that's probably something to anchor to with your offer, but it's not enough on its own. The first question somebody probably would have if you said, I'm a genius as a problem solver, they probably would ask,

what kind of problems do you solve? Let me know if that's a reasonable thing. And this works for any core expertise, any genius expertise. The first problem to solve is the packaging. And we want to package up that expertise in a way that makes somebody go, I need that. I want that. I'm willing to part with some of my paycheck for that because it's going to help me and you might want to write this next part down.

If you've got a really well packaged, it's called an offer or an invitation, you've got a really well packaged offer if it will help them go faster in achieving something, becoming something, creating something or doing something to go faster or to avoid significant cost. So for example, when people work with me in my Experts Network program, one of the things that...

is so beneficial is I've personally invested well over $300,000 in my expertise in coaching, marketing, sales, cashflow, business management, all that stuff. Plus, I've invested about 10 years into entrepreneurship in an expert-based business. I've sold over $3 million of products and services under my brand, personally, that I built from the ground up. So...

If you want to go do the same thing, so just to rewind and recap for you, if you want to spend $300,000, if you want to spend a decade of your life, if you want to sell $3 million of something, go for it. But who here wants to do all that when you could simply learn from me for a fraction of the investment?

Just drop a Y if that's making so much sense. But a lot of your social content is going to be talking about the thing you've packaged up. So I've packaged up my program called the Experts Network. And if you want more details about the experts and you're on Instagram, just send me a DM with the word expert. And if you're here in the Clients Over Chaos community, let me just drop that link so that you've got it.

Perfect, you can watch that later, right? I'm not here to talk to you about all that. What I am saying though is that if you don't have packaging around your expertise, then people don't know that it's available to be paid for. People don't know what it means to them or how it speeds them up. People don't know like what the real benefit of it is. And so when people hire an expert like you,

They're looking to go faster, to solve something faster, to do it with better quality or to avoid significant cost. Okay, so I hope that makes a ton of sense. So instead of killing yourself with posting 90 times a day or learning how to be a film director, what if your first thing strategically was to get in front of people who are already looking to solve the problem that you solve and just have a direct conversation with them?

and make an invitation. So when you're very first starting out, you might even choose to do that for free or for a very reduced investment to test, well, hey, have I got a package that people will pay, play, meaning like they'll interact and stay, meaning that they would recommend this to other people. That's the first hurdle, not posting to social media because...

Goodness, wouldn't your posting the social media be so infinitely easier if you knew what destination you were driving people to? Show them the why and the tab if this makes sense. I think the other thing too is you actually get to generate revenue at this stage. Posting to social media, I mean you can get paid for social media. I've got a professional account on Facebook and just to give you an idea, if I post over 50 times a week, okay, so like an average of eight times a day,

and I do that for a month, then Facebook will pay me and my record is I got paid 20 bucks. And by the way, to produce that level of content, including the use of AI and including recycling content from other platforms like with short form video, that was taking me an average of three hours a week. So three hours a week times four weeks, that's what, 12 hours of work?

to get paid 20 bucks. Let me know if the math is mathin', right? So you can spend a bunch of energy on just posting on social media and getting like pennies if you're able to monetize your profile at all, which by the way, it took me a long time to earn the right to even get paid as a creator on social media. I don't do it for the 20 bucks. I'm not gonna say no. You know, I got a Starbucks habit like anybody else.

I'm not going to say no to 20 bucks. But the thing is, is I would be posting like a maniac anyway. And the only reason why I do post on a higher frequency in general is because I have so much certainty and clarity about the packaging of the program that I offer. I've been selling a version of this program for years and years. So the program's evolved, by the way. So like, for example, incorporating AI, there've been changes and adjustments throughout.

the process. like that's, it's like, it's always renewing, you know, inside the program. But what I'm not doing is I'm not waiting to launch something totally from scratch and always building something completely from new. I'm not building a huge social media audience that maybe is interested in following me because I've got interesting cats.

versus being interested in following me because I'm solving a problem they actually care about. So show fire in the chat, this has been awesome. Yeah, I only really do social media for, I'm personable, but I don't really do a lot of personal on social media. I am doing it because I know that I'm here to have an impact. Okay, so.

The second thing that I would do in 2026, starting from nothing, I would prioritize the fastest route to a sale, which is conversations, not content. So conversations, not content. I had so much powerful conversation and connection with people who were doing the certification with me this weekend, O-M to the J, right? It was amazing.

And you know what happens is when you have a deep connected conversation with people, the conversation tends to continue, right? So I've got continuing conversations with several people that I spent time with, real time with this weekend. So that's why I like going to events, that's why I like doing seminars, that's why I like doing masterminds and things like that. Not everybody I talk to is somebody that I can help. And...

I don't need to talk to a lot of people to have a lot of impact. Who believes what I'm saying on a Monday, right? Shout out the child. you totally agree with that, like your impact starts with one person, one clear connected conversation with somebody is impact. Now you can have that one conversation and never speak to that human being again. It's still going to be impactful. It's still going to be impactful. The reason you package up

coaching and you sell it is people who pay, pay attention. So people who pay, pay attention. They stay invested. The other thing is that people who have a problem worth talking about probably need more than one conversation to resolve it. So for example, in my program, my Signature Program Experts Network, when you enroll, like you can stay in as long as you'd like, but the initial commitment is six months.

Because building a coaching business is like, it takes work over time and you encounter challenges. Who agrees with this? Shout out to Y in the chat if you're like, yeah, that makes so much sense. look, if I could bottle up building a business into a pill, I'd be a bajillionaire, actual number, right? If I could just like send you a prescription for being an amazing business person, my God.

Right. That would be insane, but that's unfortunately not possible at this time with present technology. And even with AI, like, you know, one of the things that really surprised me is I thought at first when AI hit the scene, I'm like, well, now everybody's going to have everything they need to build a business. The end. The thing is, is that how you prompt AI, what AI tools you use, where you prioritize it, all of that AI doesn't really exactly tell you, especially if you don't know to ask.

And so what I realized I was like, my gosh, know, experts network is as important as it's ever been because people need people, right? Shout out people in the chat. If you believe that to be true as well. Like even if you're using fancier tools, people need people. Now I'm old enough to remember fax machines. Y'all remember fax machines, right? We used to, we used to communicate through fax machines, especially if we were in business. And like when was the last time you saw a fax machine?

I actually was watching The Pit on HBO. I watched a little TV, not a lot, but a little bit. It's good show. And in the second season, they brought out a fax machine. It was hilarious because a lot of the young people, they didn't even know what it was. was like, oh my gosh, that's so crazy. But yeah, it used to be technology that literally every business had, and that was how people sent instantaneous communication.

And then email took over and the internet got better and the technology evolved and buh-bye fax machine. But you know what? People still talk and connect for business. So it's the same thing with your expert based business. There's so much opportunity, but now you might be adding the technology of AI to it. Maybe there's things you used to do that you're no longer going to do because the technology is going to support.

you doing those things perhaps faster or eliminating the need to do it at all. And like that's amazing. Like what a time to be alive. You know what I'm saying? I know, right? Oh my gosh, Tati was like, doctors offices keep using stupid fax machine. I know, but you get my point. I think you get my point. So you can evolve with the landscape. That's what I'm saying. Your business still has so much value because you're in it.

and you're bringing that expertise and you're curating those experiences. Like I think about the the coaches plaza we still like we do these we've done events we've done like every week we have working sessions together and it's like yeah you can pal around with your ai doing your working session but it's a little different than sitting side by side with people working through something you know

So I think that high quality conversations is still the fastest and most important path to building a successful business. Third big thing, the time to build your system is before you really need it. So what do I mean by that? Most coaches wait until they're broke or completely overwhelmed or completely frustrated.

before they decide to be proactive in building a system for meeting people, talking to people, fitting with people, so you can coach the people. Like they either wait until it's desperate to start and then it's hard because money is tight and your emotions run high and it's like hard to focus. So if I was building in 2026, you know what I would do? I would have a rule that I would be patiently

progressing every week. That'd be like my rule, my personal rule. So I would not implement everything all at once, but I would also never go one week without progress. And it's up to me to define progress. It's up to you to define progress. But you building a system that automatically puts you in front of your people, how valuable is that?

Right? If you get it, them why. If you have a system for making sure that people are on your calendar at a time when your energy is gonna be really good and you're gonna be able to be of highest service and they have the flexibility to book within your availability, like the sooner you get that system up, dang, the better. Cause like a lot of coaches, they're like, I got a chase for business. Remember what I said earlier, your identity is I'm building something, I'm building something.

So you don't chase for business. You do not beg for business, right? Especially if you're one of my clients, I'm gonna remind you a lot, never ever beg for business. So that means don't do it on the weekend if you don't wanna do it on the weekend. Don't do it in the evening if you don't wanna do it in the evening. I don't do meetings now before 10 a.m. And by the way, I kinda made that decision today and I implemented immediately. Chris, my husband, was like, you should probably give him a week to warm up to that. And I was like, he'll be okay.

So, but the reason is because I'm doing a lot more self care in the morning and it helps me a lot to not have meetings before 10, you know, and it helps me have my energy be good. The thing is, is that proactively deciding and setting up a system where no one can meet with me before 10 sets up the rest of my day. Can you guys see that? Right? Shout out to Y in the chat if you're like, yup, I get it.

And the thing is, is that if you are building your system when you're already really off course, then it is going to be a lot harder, not impossible, but a lot harder to put the system into place, right? And that's honestly where I spent a lot of my time coaching. It's just helping people make priority decisions about what to focus on first and then next and then next, which is hugely valuable. So, you know, I started my coaching journey just about nine years ago now.

almost a decade y'all can you even believe that? time flies. But I was like in a certification with a bunch of people all at the same time. Like we all have the same starting line. And it's interesting because I think about like that cohort of coaches that I went with, I'm not sure any of them are coaching now. Wow, I just had that realization like here in real time.

But the thing is, it's not that I'm smarter or prettier or better connected. I started my business with eight names on a post-it. I was the opposite of connected. And I did have some credit cards and retirement savings that I used to start up my business and bootstrap and make those things. So I recognize that privilege. But I've also been in business long enough to have the money run out and have to keep going. So I know what that's like too. You know what I'm saying?

And I think the thing is, is that you can be very, you can start in the same place and you can go the same amount of time and wind up in very different places because of how you approached the work. Right. Tanya, thank you so much. Oh, my gosh, girl. You could make me cry. She says, I first saw you in 2020. You had red hair and you were with it. Yes, I did.

I've been au natural since 2020, yeah, right? It's wild. does take, oh, you're taking me back. I've changed my hair a lot over the years. I was blonde for a minute there too. But my big point is that, look, over your next nine years or your next decade, where do you want to be? With intention, where would you like to go?

and just know that there's gonna be a lot of people who say the same thing. They're gonna say, I want to be a millionaire. I wanna be a gazillionaire. I wanna have a full thriving coaching practice. I wanna have a beach house. wanna whatever. So many people are gonna say the same desire.

but the difference is gonna be who has a better design on getting there. That was good, I'm gonna put that on a t-shirt. Cool, so yeah, well you know what? Goodness, that's real. So she shared like, I wish I'd grown with more focus in this field. Never forget the oak tree, right? Maybe it would've been better to focus starting 20 years ago, but the next best thing is today. So what are you gonna focus on today, right?

There you go, I wanna be comfortable and live life not worried about being rich. Well, gosh, I feel like I need to do a whole nother conversation about that one, Stan. I think that's a really good point. Okay, so here's an actionable something for you. I want you to write down the last five people you spoke to who were genuinely a fit for your coaching. So not like a follower, not somebody who commented on your stuff.

Not people that you like vaguely know, people that you could have said, let's do some coaching together. And if you can't name five people that you've talked to in the last 30 days, then cool, that's your whole business priority right now, right? It's not to make more social media content, it's not to write a book, it's not to do a big rebrand, it's just having more conversations. So that's what your priority is.

So remember, you don't need to have a better story. You don't have to arrive in some place before you get to start. You're already on the road, right? And so if you're taking a direct route on purpose, you're going to get there. And it starts with choosing to go, not waiting until you feel ready, but just like you're already driving, boo. You're on the freeway. So you may as well start paying attention.

to where you're going. And if you want to know what it looks like to grow with support, definitely DM me the word expert and I'll send you some details about the experts network because that's exactly what we do together. We plan the route. We figure out where you are on your GPS. We figure out where you want to go and we help you to get there step by proven step, okay? And we show you and.

We don't just show you and be like, good luck, buddy. We stay in collaboration with you the whole time you're implementing. So you're surrounded by a support system of people who are cheering you on, who are helping you when you feel challenged. And that's what Experts Network is all about. So do definitely check it out or DM me the word expert. My Instagram is TheAmandaCoffman.

the Amanda Kaufman if you want to check it out there. And if you happen to be live with me here in Clients Over Chaos, I dropped it in the chat. if you want to understand why so many coaches work incredibly hard, can't seem to get traction, definitely watch last week's video, because it's going to walk you through that. And it's going to name something you probably felt, but maybe you haven't been able to put into words. So you have got the fastest route.

If you're looking in the library, check out the one that's called Why Working Harder is Killing Your Growth, because sometimes pushing harder is exactly the opposite of what you need to do, and is exactly what's been slowing you down. So definitely go check that out. And in the meantime, I hope to hear from you, and I hope you have an amazing week. We will be back next week at 10 a.m. And go to nextnumberfiveclients.com to go check out that library, and we will see you very soon. Thanks, guys.