Are you making rookie mistakes as a Kids Life Coach?
Did you know I have been coaching children for almost two decades?
When I look back now I can see such silly “rookie” mistakes I made!
Back when I started coaching children, I was armed with a teaching and educational psychology degree. No formal life coaching qualification or experience at all. (In fact I still haven’t ever done an adult life coaching certification because I don’t think it is applicable to children)
When I started my journey in 2003, there were no service providers offering anything remotely relevant to coaching children!
I did every course I could find and none were good enough when used in isolation. (In my opinion) EQ, NLP, Positive Psychology, CBT, Social Psychology.
I read books. Followed thought leaders. Learnt learnt and learnt. I was committed to helping children and what I realised was this....
Intuition was my biggest asset.
Whilst I felt like I was winging it...I actually had a solid foundation in place, to make good decisions relating to the children I was coaching. Yet I made so many “rookie mistakes”!!
This is why my current Level 1: Theory of Kids Life Coaching is so intense! It walks students through my exact path of growth but in a structured way that avoids the pitfalls. It takes a minimum of 6 weeks (one week per module) or longer depending on past experience and background.
So why am I sharing this.
Well yesterday one of our students in the Level 1 course sent me this:
“I feel as if I am missing something. Maybe I am just not use to studying anymore because I am finding the work tough to get through.”
This was my response....
"MOST OF OUR STUDENTS SAY THIS SO YOU ARE NOT ALONE. IF YOU ARE USED TO BEING GIVEN THE ANSWERS OR THE READING MATERIALS OR THE TEXT BOOKS AND STUDYING, THEN THIS WAY OF DOING THINGS CAN INITIALLY BE CHALLENGING. THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT THIS TYPE OF LEARNING IS EXPERIENTIAL AND GETS WAY BETTER RESULTS THAN TRADITIONAL BOOK LEARNING."
You see...in my experience the best way of learning is facilitated learning. It is about being guided to find the answers and to develop an enquiring mind!! To be discerning with what you read and to distinguish valid facts from peoples opinions!
In my Level 2 Kids Life Coach training all the hard work of finding the answers yourself initially....comes together!! I give a system for categorising and filing that theory that works everytime!! In fact most of our certified Kids Life Studio coaches say this one method is indispensable in their coaching practice!!
So if you are the kind of person who likes thinking both in and out of the box when it comes to supporting children than I have no doubt you will enjoy learning the theory behind coaching children.
Because guess what...you don’t have to be doing it alone....seriously....you don’t have to waste time figuring out the answers to coaching children like I did. You don’t need to be making “rookie” mistakes!
For me I had to figure it out and you could probably do the same...but my biggest lesson in my 17 years of business is this...
Stand on the shoulders of those who have done it before you.
What this means is this:
✅ Be coachable - Learn from others and build your coaching practice quickly but be ethical in the way you do this.
✅ Be committed - don’t build yourself as a world-class kids life coach with the primary purpose of paying the bills or gaining fame or recognition. Choose to be a change maker that actually makes a difference to children!!
✅ Be resourceful - this means ditching the blame and shame and name calling!! Stop complaining about children’s mental health issues and actually become part of the solution! This means being willing to try new things, learn new ways and being open to innovation from others who are doing it already.
What it doesn’t mean is this:
❌ Being arrogant and passing people’s ideas off as your own because “you had already thought of that”. Intellectual property theft shows your character and you will eventually be discovered or called out on it. Do what’s right and give credit where credit is due.
❌ Boosting yourself off the back of others to gain followers or credibility with no intention of sharing your newly acquired knowledge. Selfish coaches stay small and isolated and they ooze more ego than common sense. Join a network of coaches (like this one) and share...share...share!
❌ Thinking you could do what another person is doing and so you copy them. You take their ideas and “tweak” them so that you can pass them off as your own. Every thought leader deserves recognition. Let me give you a good example...
Growth Mindset....
Who coined that term?
Carole Dweck
Yet have you seen multiple service providers creating products and programmes and Facebook groups using this thought leaders work with NOT one mention of her name and no credit given?!!
So where am I going with all of this....
Well I am proud to say that I have stood on the shoulders of giants to get where I am. I give credit to those who have paved the way through validated research and developing their own frameworks and models. I know how hard it is to do that....
I have put in the hard work developing my own Kids Life Coaching model that works!! I love sharing this with people like you who want to fast track your reach!
With children at risk even more so now with Covid-19....I don’t want you spending years figuring things out for yourself!!!
So take a look at my Level 1 Theory of Kids Life Coaching and get started in making a solid foundation for your success as a kids life coach! (and if you want more than that!! Reach out and I can help you become fully certified!!)
Wishing you all the best as you avoid the rookie mistakes I made and fast track your way to supporting children ethically and sustainably!!!
Sending lots of love and zeal your way!
Zelna Zeal
Kids Life Studio® & Kids Life Coach Academy Founder
