Myth #16: I Don’t Want to Say I’m a Coach Until My Message and Process are Perfected

Some people believe they must perfect their messaging and process before sharing their work. But the reality is that action creates clarity, and no amount of thinking alone will prepare you like real-world experience.

If you’ve ever caught yourself thinking, “I’m not ready to call myself a coach yet — not until I figure out my exact niche, define my method, build my framework, and know how to explain it all perfectly” — you’re not alone.

This myth whispers to so many gifted, called, capable coaches. And it’s sneaky, because it sounds wise. It sounds like humility. But in reality, it’s fear dressed up as preparation.

Let’s be honest-

Are you really not “ready” in the logistics department and unable to move forward?

Or are you just scared to be seen before it’s all perfectly polished?

• If you’ve already walked with people through change…

• If you’ve already encouraged, asked powerful questions, held space, or helped someone get unstuck…

• If you’ve already seen fruit from the way you show up in conversations…

Then you are already coaching my friend!

You may not have a name for your process yet. You may not have every detail of your message refined. But coaching isn’t something that begins once your Canva graphics match your elevator pitch. Coaching is something that begins the moment you start helping people grow.

This myth keeps you circling, waiting for clarity when really what you need is permission to begin before everything makes sense.

Because here’s the truth:

Clarity doesn’t come before you take action.

It comes to you because you take action.

The same is true for certainty, courage, and competency.

When you speak out loud what you know to be true, when you try to explain what’s on your heart, when you work with real people and let your own story shape your language- that’s when the message gets clearer. That’s when the process gets refined.

If you’ve ever rewritten your Instagram bio twenty times trying to find “the one line” that explains what you do... If you’ve ever created a Google doc to organize your coaching framework, then chucked it because it felt messy or incomplete or confusing... If you’ve ever thought, “Who am I to say I help people?” even though deep down you know you already do…

Then you get what I’m talking about!

I’ve totally been at the that place feeling stuck because I was overthinking or waiting for the “perfect moment” to start sharing about my coaching practice. In fact there was a really big chunk of time where I couldn’t even share about my coaching business because it was still just such a desire within me, not even what I could have called a practice or a business.

It was a dream that I felt like I was stepping into but not a full fledged business. It seemed more like I was trying to be a business owner for a long time and trying to be a coach, but I wasn’t acting like either. And a lot of that stemmed from my belief that I wasn’t really a coach or entrepreneur until things like my message and my process were perfected.

No one told me this but I can see in hindsight that I taught it to myself from my own belief system.

I can tell people I’m a coach when I have a full schedule and a profitable business. That’s honestly like saying I have permission to go to the gym once I’ve gotten in the best shape of my life. It’s ridiculous, and I didn’t know I was operating from it, and you might now be aware of it either.

Perfection isn’t the goal though. The progress and actions of your journey are the goals.

I want to normalize this for you because lots aspiring coaches struggle with this myth.

It’s important for you to begin giving yourself permission for the process and know that clarity and confidence grow through action, not endless preparation.

Here’s an example of the cycle:

A coach spends months creating and fine-tuning her website and designing expensive business cards (can you say... multiple times?) but hasn’t told anyone she’s a coach or even worked with a single client. When she finally does, she realizes her process needs tweaking anyway and she’d never have known without the breathing human client in front of her.

What if she had just started with humans in the first place? She'd be so much farther along. Why doesn't she? Because-

Humans are sOOoo scAAaary!

And it’s normal to want to perfect things so that no one has a reason to judge or reject you. But the people problem you’re facing is this: no matter how hard you try to remove all possibility of people judging or rejecting you- they always will, regardless of your striving to prevent it.

Trust me, I know. Ask any coach, any entrepreneur, any influencer or thought leader, any pastor or missionary, any content creator or boss. People will keep peopling. And there’s nothing you can do to stop them.

So why keep waiting for perfect in a world you can’t control with your perfection anyway?

Perfectionism will delay the valuable lessons you will need to learn from actual client interactions. You will always have a season of experimenting and practicing. And you’ll go through it again when you offer a new method of coaching or a new program, etc. It’s a really fun part if you let it be and let go of the need for self protection and self provision through perfectionism.

If you spend years or months thinking about how you will coach people and who you will coach and determining your niche and figuring out how to be a better coach but you are not coaching people, then you’re not getting experience and you don’t know what you want to coach on, you don’t know what you’ll be good at coaching on, and you don’t know who you should be coaching. Without this information and experience you can’t coach or make money… and you definitely can’t make a living.

Take Imperfect Action TODAY

Start right where you are even in the messy and awkward. Reach out to people who express interest in growth, personal development, coaching, or anything you could help guide them through and into.

You DO NOT need a website for this. You just need a way for them to schedule a time and pay you. That’s it. I promise. Everything else you build before telling people you’re a coach is to help you buffer and keep you protected. It’s all internal because on the external side those things aren’t necessary. And you can tell me you don’t believe me but I know it to be true for myself and for many of my clients. You could potentially make tens of thousands of dollars or more without ever buying a domain or choosing a logo.

No one is hiring you for your perfect message or process. They have no idea what you’re measuring against or where you’ve set the bar. Your message and process develop over time because you work with people and find out what you need to know to refine them.

Clients hire you to listen, ask, care, hold space, and help them grow. Everything you’re worried about will evolve naturally as you actually engage with them.

Start with little actions, experiment, and build your consistency muscles. Post about beginning the coaching journey on social media. Talk about what it’s like to do something new and scary and how you’re overcoming the fears. People will get to know you, learn from what you share, and see that you really get them.

Offer free discovery calls to help yourself start verbalizing what you offer as a coach. It’s a great place to start describing what coaching is and how it can help people.

Offer low cost sessions as you experiment and learn. This is an R&D season of your business so use it well.

Create a simple offer of a single session and a package of sessions that you feel comfortable beginning to offer people.

Your perceived failures are the lessons that offer the most value to you in your growth as an entrepreneur and coach and they will shape your future and business more than continual success ever will.

Remember this too: your first clients are usually not your ideal clients that you’ll work with forever. They begin coming to you after time when you dial in your messaging and process. But you’ll never speak to them or work with them if you don’t first start coaching humans. Do anything and everything you have to do to coach as many people as possible so you get the experience you need to become a better coach. Working with clients in any way will help you refine who you’re best suited to serve.

Your message is allowed to evolve.Your process is allowed to grow.And you are allowed to take up space as a coach while that happens.

BUT: You don’t get to skip the messy middle. But the messy middle is where the gold is. It’s where your voice is forged. It’s where you discover the words that actually connect with people instead of the ones you think you should use.

Perfection is not a prerequisite for purpose or calling.

So let me say this clearly:

You don’t need to perfect your message to share it.You don’t need a five-step process to call yourself a coach.You just need the courage to start before you feel fully ready.

And if you’re showing up with a heart to serve, a willingness to learn, and a commitment to honoring others’ stories — you’re doing this right.

Remember that taking action creates clarity and builds momentum. Perfection is an illusion and your clients care more about your ability to help them than about the polished details you’re so focused on.

Reader Challenge

• Announce your coaching services to your spheres of influence, even if you feel unprepared.

• Offer a discovery call about coaching and/or one free session to someone who needs help.

• Draft a simple, informal email to a friend or colleague explaining what you do and how you can help.

• Reflect: What did you learn? What surprised you? How did taking action make you feel?