What To Do When You Want To Quit Coaching

Honestly, Sometimes Being A Coach Sucks

Toku McCree
5 min readJan 27, 2021

At least a couple times a year, I want to quit coaching.

The clients are so annoying, they don’t want to do the work, they don’t want to change, and I start to feel like being a coach is pointless.

The money (while good) is unreliable, it feels like I’m always just a few canceled contracts away from being stressed about money. Sometimes I’ve got plenty of prospects other times it feels like I only have a few.

The work (while rewarding) is super difficult. I have to be the constant stand for deep possibility for each one of my clients. Even when those clients are being asshats. I have to do this even when I feel like I’m not present to much possibility in my own life and in the world in general.

Wanting to quit is a normal part of life.

During my marathon, I wanted to quit. During most of my long term relationships, I’ve wanted to quit. Hell even while writing this post, I wanted to quit.

Stepping into anything worth doing creates tension.

There’s the desire to complete the task, to keep going, to do the work, and the desire to get out of the tension, to take the day off, and do something easier or more enjoyable.

Getting out of the tension always feels pretty good. At least for a moment.

--

--

Toku McCree
Toku McCree

Written by Toku McCree

Executive coach and writer. I’ve toured with rock bands, trained as a zen monk, and taught preschool. My hope is that my writing makes you think.

No responses yet