Don't Do That . . . Do This . . . After Passing Your Health Coaching Board Exam
In the spirit of the double-sided reflection, I'm offering DON'TS and DO'S for a timely launch of your health coaching practice.
After months of dedicated training, my son’s college rowing team made it to the nationals this year! Watching the boats head up the river to the starting point, stroke by stroke in steady determination, I was reminded of the small, deliberate action steps that deliver us to the launch point of our coaching careers.
Congratulations! You Did It!
Three times each year, a new cohort of National Board-Certified Health and Wellness Coaches (NBC-HWC) leaves the supportive cocoon of their training programs, entering the field of health coaching filled with purpose, passion, and a powerful evidence-supported skillset to improve the health and wellbeing of people and whole populations.
The excitement is palpable across social media channels and within our dedicated community of NBC-HWCs:
I passed, and I am so excited!
Congratulations fellow coaches, we did it!
Delighted to have passed the exam this spring!
So excited! I just found out that I passed my exam today.
So honored to have passed and to now be part of this inspiring community of professionals dedicated to meaningful change!
The Golden Window for Launch
Between the proud accomplishment of certification and your inspiring vision for next steps, there is a golden window of time to harness the energy of your training experience to launch your solo coaching practice and career.
If you manage this time with clarity, intention and a bit of moxie, you’ll breathe life into your vision and propel yourself forward to your official launch in a timely fashion.
If you linger too long in the question, ‘Now what do I do?,’ doubt, uncertainty and fear, in the form of imposter syndrome, will take up residence in your mind, keeping you and the populations you wish to serve stuck in post-certification limbo.
Taking action during this golden hour is all about avoiding popular pitfalls (the kind I’m personally familiar with!) while taking steps to build your coaching practice and the early confidence necessary to put yourself out there into the world.
Don’t Do That!
Don’t mistake “launching” your business with “growing” your business.
It’s common to come out of the training and certification process with loads of juicy ideas for getting your coaching business off the ground, from creating a signature program and growing a mailing list, to building a viral following of raving fans on social media.
While these business “growth” tasks are important, chasing all your great ideas can stall your ability to find and sign your first coaching clients—and begin to eat away at your confidence to do so!
Defining your “launch” as the ability to onboard and coach a paying client can channel your focus to an actionable 5-item checklist (give or take) that can be accomplished in a short period of time—especially with the option of all-in-one-coaching platforms.
(1) Secure liability insurance to protect yourself.
(2) Establish a place where people can find you and learn more about you and your offerings.
(3) Have a system for appointment booking and meeting with clients.
(4) Set up a payment service.
(5) Ensure you can collect and store coaching notes in a HIPPA compliant way.
After all, when you have a client who is ready to say “yes,” you don’t want your response to be, “Great! Let me get back to you with the details.”
Don’t wait to identify the perfect niche before you start talking to people and seeking opportunities to coach.
I continue to challenge the common narrative that identifying your perfect target population is a pre-requisite for engaging people around your coaching offerings. I made this argument in detail in a previous post, “How to Use the ‘Who Says?’ Theory to Launch Your Coaching Business,” so I’ll spare you a replay. Waiting until you reach niche perfection risks getting further and further away from your coaching skillset, motivated mindset, and the bold confidence you gained within your supportive learning community.
Imposter syndrome loves this!
It preys on skills gathering dust in the closet, while you “niche down” and craft the optimal “I help” statement with the hope it will land the perfectly aligned client (action phase only, please!) into your coaching calendar.
Why stop at the 50 required practice coaching sessions knowing it takes 10,000 hours to achieve mastery in a discipline? Keep the momentum going with your coaching efforts by proactively seeking opportunities to embrace your new identity and spark authentic conversations about what you do and how you help.
Don’t invest in another certification (for at least 6 months).
Having broken this rule myself many times, I have realized that “life long learning” has a shadow side. Adding fancy letters after my name was often a fleeting salve for a fear of putting myself out into the world with the credentials I had already earned. Additional learning and studying also took time and valuable resources away from more productive avenues for business growth and support—like maybe the help of a skilled mentor to increase my business acumen.
Feeling the urge to add more bling to your byline?
Ask yourself, “Do I really need more credibility or information to start talking to people about what I do as a health coach? What is underneath the urge to invest in growing my credentials versus putting my current skills to use to launch my coaching business? What if I paused on this idea until I engaged 50 people around my coaching services and gained insight into what I really need for a successful launch?
Do this instead!
Create your email signature line.
Starting to OWN your new and elevated identity as a NBC-HWC can be achieved in simple, concrete ways like creating and using a professional email signature line. Be sure to include the NBHWC badge and clear contact information to increase your credibility and set you apart from others who identify as “certified” health coaches.
I remember the boost of confidence I gained when I took a job in corporate wellness and set up my company signature line. Each time I moved up in my position, from coach, to skills trainer, to T & D manager, it was the first thing I did to both celebrate and step into my new identity.
Here are a couple of examples—mine is straightforward and my coaching friend has some fun extras!
Tip: You can access the digital badge link and directions for downloading on the nbhwc.org website under “Resources.”
Write down your “Launch Scenario.”
This is a fun writing exercise that can offer a clear and actionable definition of your “launch,” remembering what I shared earlier about separating what it means to launch from all that needs to happen to grow and scale. Keep the lens tight—say 3-6 months out depending on how much time you have to invest on a weekly basis.
I’ve spoken to coaches who have told me that launching is as simple (simple NOT simple, lol!) as “The ability to take one paying client and speak more confidently and effectively about what I do and the benefits of working with me.” Honestly—that is a pretty solid launch scenario that feels like a yellow brick road to growth and scale!
It also gets to the heart of what most often holds us back—the vulnerability of actively engaging people around our coaching product.
Try the following prompts . . . “Where do I see myself and my coaching business 3 or 6 months from now?” “What are the practical and actionable steps I need to take to start moving in that direction?” “What does my launch checklist look like?”
Then ask . . . “What feels overwhelming about those tasks and how can I find support for navigating any real or perceived obstacles?”
Close the loop by doing this exercise with a coaching colleague. Offer each other helpful feedback on the strengths, challenges, and opportunities of your launch scenarios.
Craft, practice, and deliver your coach introduction.
Podcaster, Tim Ferriss, captures how we often feel about putting themselves out there into the world and marketing our coaching services:
“What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do.”
When I was launching newly hired coaches into busy corporate settings, I was surprised to hear how many self-identified as “ambiverts.” On the one hand, they boldly and passionately entered a people-forward profession. On the other, they cowered at the thought of approaching and interacting with new people.
“You want me to do what?” they would exclaim when we discussed navigating the worksite to introduce themselves and their coaching services.
I realized how much I could relate! It’s a scary and vulnerable feeling to risk rejection in response to our coaching pitch.
The remedy is having a plan and a strong, flexible script for sharing what you do and how you help. Write it out, practice with your friendly support system, and revise it with their input. Then, take it to the streets where interacting with real people (even those who aren’t in your particular niche) will give you information about its effectiveness. You’ll also realize that “Thanks, but no thanks” is nothing to be afraid of!
A Clear and Present Danger: Failure to Launch
It’s common to announce your huge accomplishment to the world with the outward energy of “I can’t wait to get started!” while secretly harboring an uneasy feeling around your ability to make it happen.
Days can stretch into weeks or even months without experiencing indicators of progress. The risk is spiraling into the three D’s—doubt, demoralization, and despair—perhaps even giving up before you’ve had the chance to become a working coach.
Do me a favor . . .
Post-certification limbo can be avoided by embracing Albert Bandura’s action-oriented theory of self-efficacy—growing your belief that “I can do this!” is as simple as taking small, manageable steps that validate your current capabilities (You are a NBC-HWC, after all!) and bolster your confidence to take the bigger, bolder leaps toward growth and scale.
The clock is ticking down on that golden hour between learning and launch. Steering clear of the common pitfalls while embracing three easy action steps will enable you to translate your training momentum into a timely launch of your coaching career.
This Week’s “Lean In” Prompt
Which of the “Do’s” resonate with you as a manageable action step toward a timely launch? Set aside time on your calendar to dive into one of them:
(1) Set up your professional signature line then send me an email at megrootcoaching@gmail.com with the word “done!” I’ll send you a high five back.
(2) Create your launch scenario and checklist then find a friend or book a pro bono session with me to share it. I’d love to hear your plan!
(3) Craft and practice your coach introduction and find 5 people to engage. I would love to be one of them. Book an appointment below!
Coach’s Corner: The Ultimate Help Desk for Coaches
I continue to enjoy offering support for NBC-HWCs (or those seeking to earn their certification) for all things related to launching and thriving in your health coaching career.
Here is a genuine invitation to my “Coach’s Corner.” These are 30-minute sessions, PRO BONO, where we collaborate around any topic that will help you move forward. Here are just a few ideas on how I can help:
Share your launch scenario or your coach introduction with me!
Struggling to figure out the difference between launching and growing—I can help!
Need help gaining confidence and clarity around how to introduce yourself and talk about your coaching services? This is my jam.
Coaching conundrums, skill development, and helping people change.
Anything else! It helps to not feel like you are going it alone.
Various 30-minute time slots available on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays in the upcoming months. Just click the link and book. It’s that easy!
Coach’s Corner Link: https://calendly.com/megcoaching/coach-s-corner-1
Breaking News!
I’m excited to share that I will be presenting at the 3rd annual Health and Wellbeing Coaching Conference October 17-19, in San Diego, California with Jen Wright, Founder of Wellspired Collaborative. We will be sharing what it takes to launch and grow a successful health coaching practice in our interactive panel, “From Learning to Launch to Career Longevity: Strategies for Starting and Scaling Your Coaching Practice.”
I’d love to meet you there!
Additional Launch-Related Posts
Here are three other posts I wrote to support post-certification next steps:
Other Helpful Resources
Here’s where to find the digital badge link and directions again: nbhwc.org website under “Resources.”
Vibly, an all-in-one coaching platform, is emerging as a favorite among NBC-HWCs. Four out of the five items on my proposed “launch checklist” can be done within this one location.
Sonja Ecklund, NBC-HWC, has developed a free 1-CE course that walks you through its features and set up. It is a win even if you decide the platform isn’t for you! You can find it here:
Growing Your Coaching Practice with Vibly: https://nbhwc.org/find-a-ce-course/#!biz/id/673384704b77bbd6ed07829e
**Note: These are not official product endorsements. Just trying to be helpful with ideas of where to begin!
Thanks for Stopping By!
As always, thank you for visiting and reading this week. My aim is to always share ideas, stories, and information that provides value in a way that nudges your coaching and the field of health and wellness coaching forward.
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Onward!
Meg
Thank you bc I am in this current place. Passed in April and still grinding my wheels and spending money on canva and trying to find the right app for this and that. I just need to put jt out there !!!
You are so good at helping new coaches find their voices and figure out what comes next! Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom and insights! And thank you for the shoutout!!