The ATA Chronicle - July/August 2022 - 12

ourselves until someone else
points them out.
This type of problem
solving is where coaches
can help us do the inner
work that's a less obvious
component of success in
business. Strategy and
discipline are key, but so is
personal growth and getting
to know ourselves better.
Having outside
perspective and
insight on the
workings of your
business can
be invaluable.
The truth is that selling
your services is simply
another skill that can be
learned. Getting support
in this area can mean
thousands of dollars of new
revenue for your business.
If you find marketing to be
intimidating, working with
a strategist can ease the
process of a) figuring out
what you need to do, and b)
taking action.
A business or marketing
coach will help develop a
marketing strategy that
makes sense for your
target market and for your
personality, because the
best marketing is the kind
you'll actually do. While
it can be easy to let these
tasks slide when it's just
you, working with a coach
helps you stay accountable
to your commitments, even
when you're busy with
current clients.
Goal Setting and Achievement
Dreaming is easy, but how do
you then bridge the gap from
12 The ATA Chronicle | July/August 2022
where you are to where you
want to be? This is where a
coach can come in, guiding
you to set goals that are
ambitious enough but still
within reach, and to break
them down into actionable
steps to get there.
A skilled mentor or coach
will also be able to help you
identify what has prevented
you from achieving your
goals thus far. Maybe you're
trying to work on too many
things at once, so you need
to work on getting your
priorities clear and focusing
on one thing at a time. It
could be that you have an
unconscious fear that keeps
you from taking action
(e.g., of success, of failure,
of being seen-it could be
anything). Or maybe you're
setting goals based on what
you think you should want,
rather than what you actually
want (it's hard to put in the
work for something we're
not excited about). We often
cannot see these things in
Addressing Fears
and Limiting Beliefs
This sounds like one of
the more dubious parts of
coaching, but it can also be
the most impactful. Running
a business is not for the
faint of heart. It can involve
facing many fears, which will
vary for each person. Family
and friends with so-called
" normal " jobs may not
understand, and it can take
someone on the outside to
see what's really going on.
Identifying and working
through your fears and
limiting beliefs can allow
you to make huge strides in
your business. (According
to former BBC producer and
bestselling author Mark
Mason, " limiting beliefs are
false beliefs that prevent
us from pursuing our goals
and desires. " 4
) It's really
quite practical. Certain fears
and beliefs we have about
ourselves and the world
can keep us from taking the
actions needed to achieve our
dreams, and then this lack
of action causes us to fail to
achieve our dreams.
Here's an example of
what this might look like.
Say you're not having
success with marketing
to direct clients. You've
halfheartedly tried a few
methods but find it hard to
follow through because you
always prioritize pending
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The ATA Chronicle - July/August 2022

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