SDH 452: How to Get the Most Out of Your Coaching and Courses You Invest In with Amanda Boleyn

Hello friends, welcome back! This week I’m so excited to talk to you about how to get the most out of the coaching programs and courses that you invest in. For this episode, I’m not referring to those which you host, but rather those that you have decided to invest in for yourself. The programs that you raised your hands and turned over your money to invest in order to grow your business and your life.

Over the past six years I have invested thousands of dollars to grow my business and myself. I have learned so much about myself and why I made certain investment decisions along the way and I hope this podcast episode will serve as a bit of a roadmap to help you assess which program or course is a good fit for you. I also want this to serve as a tool for a healthy mindset to approach that program, course, or investment that you have made and help you discover how to set up a routine and structure for the programs and courses you enroll in so that it doesn’t become a product that collects digital dust.

If you have listened to (any) previous episodes you already know how much I love my routines. Laying the foundation and having the proper systems in place is what allows us to be successful.

In this episode I’m diving into how to get the most out of your coaching programs and courses that you have or are considering investing in and for the sake of this episode, I’d like to call them ‘investments’.

Over the past six years I have enrolled in over $60,000 worth of coaching and trainings and when I began to write the outline for this episode I really considered my approach, my mindset, the results, why I did or did not achieve results, and the answers all fell into three specific buckets.

The 3 Buckets

How to cultivate a healthy and inspiring mindset towards courses and programs
How to decide which program or course is actually the best fit at that time
How to get the most out of any coaching program

Additionally, I want to acknowledge that you may be listening to this podcast and have yet to make a financial investment in yourself and in your future and that alone can be scary, exciting, and overwhelming, all at the same time and I hope that this podcast episode can serve as inspiration and guidance for you in that capacity.

You could be listening to this podcast and have enrolled in a previous course or program, gotten mediocre results or results that you didn’t expect or hope for. Maybe that was in part because you had the best of intentions but life got busy and so you never fully followed through. I have certainly been there. Maybe the next time you considered making a similar investment you questioned yourself because the voice in the back of your head reminded you that last time you paid money for a program you didn’t actually finish it. So why would this time be different? The self-doubt sets in and you’re already failing to take action because you've created that negative thought loop. Or maybe you decided to enroll in a course or program, and you look for evidence of what happened in the past, finding holes are gaps, and then you create the same mediocre results versus the results that you want to achieve.

What I have learned is that if we can create a routine and structure around these programs and courses we are more likely to keep ourselves accountable to it.

Mindset:

Own your results

Pay attention to the thoughts that you have when considering the course or program you want to enroll in and make sure you are approaching it thinking that this is going to be THE ONE.

Avoid assuming that the course or coaching program is going to fix your problems or challenges. For example, it can be easy to enroll in an email marketing course and think that you’ll soon wake up with an email list of 1,000 subscribers. The course and coach provides the vehicle and assistance towards achieving your goals but they can’t create the result for you.

Expect challenges along with highs and lows; not to attract them but to not be thrown off when they happen, because they will. Stay committed to the result and your why for signing up for the course or program in the first place.

Learn one, implement one.

I highly recommend sticking to one course or coaching program at a time unless they are complimentary of one another. If you enroll in an email marketing course, I would make email marketing your focus for the next 30-60-90 days, depending upon your schedule.

Avoid enrolling in a new course every single month without fully implementing the course work from the previous investment you made. It can get overwhelming and this can leave you with opening a loop but never actually finishing or closing that loop leaving you feeling depleted and overwhelmed. I think this is what happens a lot when you’re starting out trying to do all the things and start so many things that actually leads to burnout because you’re starting something but not finishing it.

Where this may be different is if you’re in two programs that are not competing with each other. Example: Grow You vs a Facebook Ads program. Sometimes we think we’re producing a lot or being productive because we’re in a lot of programs but what matters is not just the consumption of content but the implementation of it.

In Her Way to $75K members use the membership to the fullest extent taking advantage of the courses, coaching and community. For some, they’re enrolled in Her Way to $75K to help keep them accountable with what they’re working on and to get access to coaching and community, but they’re not actively going through all the content. Think of it like someone with a gym membership but also works with a nutritional coach in conjunction on their fitness journey.

Don’t just show up to show up. Show up to learn. Lean into group coaching calls, listen to the replay if you couldn’t make it live, if you can make it live, think of a question you want to have, avoid being passive if possible, submit questions.

How to decide which course or program is the best fit:

First, I think this varies based on which stage of business you’re in.

When you’re first starting out, if you’re overwhelmed and not sure which direction you want to go, the key is to just start and create SOME sort of track record. For example, even if you don't know exactly who you want to help or how, creating content is a great way to produce work and practice being consistent and diligent and in turn build up an audience. If you commit to creating content for 6 months consistently and showing up, you’ll be further along in building an audience than if you never started. So while it might not be the exact place (or maybe it is) that you want to end up, the whole point is to get started.

What do you need to do in this moment to take you to the next level? Always be asking yourself this as you continue on your growth plan. In some seasons it may be to simply learn to be consistent and just start. For others, it may be focusing on your email marketing for a quarter, and others may decide you want to start a podcast and so you focus on that for 3 months, or maybe it is Facebook ads.

A few quick notes on getting the most out of a program or course:

Decide how long you want to make that course or program a focus. Some coaching programs might be a predetermined length of time; 6, 8, 9 weeks, etc. If that is the case, make that your sole focus for that period of time.
Always have a goal or an outcome that you’re working towards in mind. What would success look like at the end of the program? Always own your results.
If you’ve enrolled in a course that is one where you can go at your own pace…give yourself a 30/60/90 day window to focus only on that one thing. In Her Way to $75K we help our members create focus and accountability on their one monthly thing and area of focus.

Laying Your Foundation For Success:

Put any coaching calls with Zoom links on your calendar right away
Carve out specific time blocks on your calendar for when you’re going to focus on that program's content. Maybe it is every Monday from 6-8 PM or every Tuesday from 5-7 AM, whenever it is put it on your calendar. As you start the program you’ll begin to figure out exactly what you’re going to do and what you can produce during those time blocks.
Create a folder inside your email inbox. In our onboarding emails anytime a student signs up or enrolls in Podcast Your Way or Her Way to $75K we make this part of their onboarding checklist. This way any emails that come through from the program can be neatly organized and easy to be found from weekly recaps, username/password, you name it.
Create a bookmark on your browser making it easy to locate course/program content.
Don’t rely on the program to motivate, inspire or produce your results - those are all up to YOU!

A Final Note:

Make sure you create constraints to not get distracted by other offers that are out there. Trust me, it can be really easy to think you NEED something that someone is marketing to you because they’re marketing is just that GOOD and while it may be beneficial and THAT good. The question is,

“Does this aid in my focus or create split focus?”

I think sometimes we think we need something because we are subconsciously thinking “What if I don’t get it now? What will happen” and there becomes this scarcity thinking that surrounds our decision. There will always be offers, there will always be opportunities, you just need to decide which one you are going to focus on in this moment.

Lastly, be careful of what you make the investment mean. If you expect it to solve everything for you, you could find yourself disappointed. Instead, focus on finding ONE thing. Sometimes it was the smallest shifts that actually made the biggest change later on that I didn't see right away.

Recap:

Own your results from the beginning, no matter what program you decide to invest in.
Make sure that you decide which program is the best fit for you based on where you're at in your journey and asking ‘what do I need in this moment in order to get to that next stage?’.
Ensure that you set up systems and structures in place so that you can set yourself up for success when it comes to that coaching course or program.

As always, if you enjoyed this episode, I'd love for you to tag us on Instagram (@shediditherway) and share what you loved most or what you’re implementing into your own life!

If you are someone who is starting early stages of building your business while working full time and you need help (maybe it's getting clear, maybe you need structure or even accountability) I invite you to check out Her Way to $75k. Her Way to $75k is our monthly membership program with over 50 trainings already inside, includes weekly coaching calls and a private Facebook Community, and every quarter you’ll get new templates for Instagram and Pinterest. I would love to work with you! To learn more just head to our website to learn more!

Until next time, keep doing it your way!

Insights:

“If we can create a routine and structure around these programs and courses we are more likely to keep ourselves accountable to it.”
“Don’t just show up to show up. Show up to learn. Lean into group coaching calls, listen to the replay if you couldn’t make it live, if you can make it live, think of a question you want to have, avoid being passive if possible, submit questions.”
“It can be really easy to think you NEED something that someone is marketing to you because they’re marketing is just that GOOD and while it may be beneficial and THAT good.”
“Sometimes it was the smallest shifts that actually made the biggest change later on that I didn't see right away.”