How I Learned Coaching by Doing It All Wrong (and Why I Wouldn't Change a Thing)
"If you know better, you do better."
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Being a trader myself for quite a long time, I started coaching other traders for performance back in 2020.
I helped 5-figure traders, then scaled to 6, and then started to have some 7-figure traders interested in my services. I partnered with prop firms and people I never thought I could.
I was genuinely making a difference, which brought me immense satisfaction.
Everything was going great; what itched me was that I had no certification or college degree allowing me to do what I was doing.
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The coaching service started very naturally, not planned at all. I helped for free, and it evolved into a paid service as I delivered value on social media and here on Substack. And guess what? Nobody has asked me for it so far.
But about a year ago, I hit this point where I thought, “Huh, maybe it’s time to get a certification or something.” As things got more serious, it seemed like a professional thing to do. So, I started looking for a course that could, at the very least, give me some fancy diploma.
Fast-forward: I signed up with the International Coach Academy (ICA), thinking, “Yeah, I’ll breeze through this and get certified quickly.” I mean, how much more could I possibly learn about coaching, having been doing it for three years with some success? (Yeah, I can hear how that sounds now!)
Long story short, I was dead wrong. That course was like being smacked upside the head by a reality check. It was as enlightening as it was humbling.
Whatever I thought I was doing for the past three years? It was not coaching. It was something else—some mashup of teaching, mentoring, and maybe some forced coaching in between. And man, did I feel like a fraud at that moment? I can recall the imposter syndrome as if it were yesterday. But on the flip side, I was also astonished and delighted with what the true nature of coaching entailed.
Turns out, just being a trader doesn’t automatically make you a good coach for other traders.I mean, look at Phil Jackson. The guy wasn’t a great player, but coached some of the greatest—MJ, Kobe, Shaq—yet hardly the star on the court himself.
Coaching isn’t about having all the answers or telling someone exactly what to do—it’s about listening, being present, asking the right questions, and letting them find their own solutions.
Pure coaching is one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done. And a big part of it was because I had reinforced bad habits. It’s like teaching piano to a grown-up who’s been playing with the wrong hand posture for years versus to a kid who’s like a blank slate.
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So, there I was, unlearning and relearning and realizing just how much I’d been holding my clients back. As I learned more, I’d immediately apply it with my clients and could sense the improvement in my approach and the value they’d gain by the end of each session.
Now, why am I telling you what looks like the biggest flop of my life? Because here’s the thing—while I initially felt disappointed with myself, I managed to see the other side of the coin (basically, I coached myself through the struggle).
Most people wait to get the theory, the certification, the perfect conditions before they take action. I’ve never been one to sit around with theory—it makes me nervous to ingrain so much unutilized knowledge; it’s like I need to do something about it before it escapes my brain, thanks to my awful memory. So I dove in headfirst, coaching first, figuring things out along the way.
Most people are too comfortable in that passive stage. Action before theory is a rare move.
“I’ll start trading once I finish learning this strategy”
“I’ll speak Spanish once I get the diploma.”
“I’ll start writing once I finish this course.”
Waiting for theory is the most effective excuse for putting you on hold—it feeds your laziness about what seems to be the right cause.
I’ve always been a doer. Don’t get me wrong, I love learning, but I’m very practical– everything I absorb needs to influence my life in some way. That’s why I stopped aiming to read as many books as I could and started focusing on applying the knowledge in them. This is how my entrepreneurial path began and how it got here.
Taking action before you feel ready gives you a head start because so few are willing to do it. You can easily position yourself one step ahead just by… taking action. Even if it sucks, at least you’ve done two things:
Reinforced the neural pathways that help you break out of your comfort zone.
Eliminated an option, which still brings you closer to the right path.
Would taking the course first have avoided the imposter syndrome? Most likely, but guess what? It’s in pain that we come to the wildest realizations and growth. I felt horrible at first, but even then, with what I knew at the time, I was helping people, and that counts.
You’ll always make mistakes from the perspective that all you have to give is defined by your level of knowledge and capacity to utilize it.
One of my clients lives by the principle, “If you know better, you do better.” And that’s a pretty solid way to live—true to yourself.
So, is it theory before action or after? I’d say it’s a mix of both. Keep striving to update your level of knowledge while not being afraid to make mistakes—lots of them. They might lead to big flops, but they’ll also give you an edge over those too afraid to try.
With love,
Sara
Trading Performance Coaching Service
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Coaching isn’t about knowing all the answers; it’s about guiding others to discover their own.
Learning and then applying what we are learning is super important in moving forward in our business and life endeavors. I agree that often we get stuck in the "I don't feel ready yet" stage. We have to try things and then learn from them (a simple and yet profound and difficult to apply concept). I am learning too that we can't stay stuck in non-action. With non-action, nothing changes.