Why would anyone hire a coach?

I love to sing.

I sing in the shower, in my car, around the house, anywhere and all the time.

Put on some catchy tunes and I’m probably instantly learning the words, or making up my own, and singing along like it’s my personal rock concert.

I also love to golf.

Though if you heard all of the colorful language during my round yesterday you may ask yourself why — and trust me, I questioned it too.

The concept is pretty simple, really. Put the little ball in the little hole a really long way away in as few of strokes as possible. Easy peasy.

So I love to golf and I love to sing (even at the same time) and I’m not great at either one of them. But I want to be.

So instead of struggling along a course or making my dog hide in the corner when I sing, I hired a coach — no, not the same one for both.

While I CAN sing and while I CAN get through 18 holes without embarrassing myself, I can do both of these things better with someone helping me.

Hiring a coach to help us improve in a hobby or talent isn’t uncommon at all and drastically reduces the amount of time it would take us ourselves to improve.

It takes the guesswork out of the nuances that may not be so obvious and us custom to exactly where we are in our talent level.

So when a prospect tells me they don’t want to invest in a consultant or coach for growing their business I can understand. It can be a lot of money and they may feel like they should be able to do it themselves.

These are usually the same people who come back to me 3 to 6 months later after trying it their way and asking if my offer is still on the table.

Even though you can do something, I find investing in someone who can move me along further, quicker is a much better use of my time and talents.

What are your thoughts on hiring coaches in your life or business?