I am so happy to invite you here. I'm so happy to sit at the table with you. It is going to be an extravagant, amazing journey that we go on together. So I'm Laura Malone, and we are here together to really find tactical, tangible strategies, support tools, help connection so many things in this coach calling that we have. Okay, and I'm gonna give you a little overview of how I got here, but then we're gonna jump into something that is super tangible for you today. So I've been a mom, homeschooler wife in full-time ministry, uh, 19 addresses in 20 years, bless my heart, and so many things, so many things. So, um, it's been a whirlwind and it's been beautiful and chaotic and traumatic, and yet God's grace has sustained me and I got to this place. So I have had it, it feels like when I look back, I go, wow, I've lived 17 lifetimes <laugh> in my, you know, less than five decades, but more than four decades.
And I am so pleased and honored to be able to partner with God in coaching and in this podcast because to be honest, I started a podcast last year, and it was my next right step. It was imperfect action taking something that I, I teach and preach and coach on to everybody around me is take imperfect action. And I thought, I'm just gonna do it. I'm gonna take imperfect action. I'm gonna do this thing and see what it's like. And I did. And in the, in the middle of it, I discovered God's True Calling was from my podcast to be specifically geared towards you as my listener. And the direction I was going was good, but it was not exactly where the Lord was leading me. And when I, when I heard that, I really found that all these things I'd been doing, they felt a little bit lackluster and not so motivated. I wasn't super excited to do it. In fact, it was hard to come up with even with research and, ugh, just so many, so much time and effort put into the podcast. I wasn't loving it. And now I recognize it's because I was talking to the wrong person. I was talking to the person, uh, that I had been coaching for all of these years. I was speaking to the same person that I've been working with. And while I love doing that one-on-one, I don't love repetition. And so the idea of talking into a podcast like a microphone and a computer repeating myself without somebody else on the other side, um, and a coaching session was really draining to me, that is a, a personal thing that like, that's something that I would look for in a client. What's, what's not making you feel alive and what you're doing? How do we discover what the root system is? Well, God showed me my root system, and he also said that is the season of addition was over and my season of multiplication had begun. And I've always known for about 11 or 12 years since the beginning of Sterling and Stone mentoring being birthed in my heart from the Lord. I've always known that I would eventually have a training program and I would actually be working with coaches to train them up and support them as opposed to one-on-one client sessions just in coaching. So I'm really excited to be here today and doing what I'm called to do in this season. So sometimes you're calling is seasonal, and I believe in primary and secondary callings. And I will say my primary calling is to love the Lord with all of my heart and serve him and reveal him and his character and his nature to the world. My secondary callings while I'm here on earth are wife, mother, and the ministry that I'm called to. And now I know that it's not only coaching, but it is training up undergirding and releasing others who are called to coach. So it used to be my secondary call, one of my secondary was to be a coach to clients, but now my clients have changed and my clients are now coaches. And I couldn't be more thrilled for this change, this pivot in my life. And I'm so glad that you're with me. I'm saying all of that because I want you to know that there's a journey and everything. And when I share about coaching and I share about my life experiences, I want you to know how much I've gone through, how long I've waited to get to the place that I'm at. So don't compare your beginning to the middle part of my journey, okay? I'm not even at the end of it. So don't compare your beginning to my middle. All right? I'm gonna talk to you about what coaching is in general, because some of you may not know, some of you may have actually gotten to episode one because you are looking at how to become a coach of some kind. Maybe you wanna be a life coach and, and purpose coach. Um, in general, I, let's just say, let's call life coaching the umbrella. And we're gonna talk about all other types of coaching being under that umbrella, even business coaching. Because if we look at the foundations of life coaching, the way that I see it, the way that I, that way that I teach it, that I want you to understand that all of the foundations there, sorry, if you can hear the bird right, right outside my window, thank you, birdie. If you want to do anything else in a client's life, but you don't look at the roots of that client's life system and belief system, their spirit, soul, and body holistically, then you will miss the ability to see greater results in their business, their health. Anything else that life coaching is an umbrella to me that helps you navigate different niches and specific areas that coaching can go into. So coaching in general is reaching out a hand to someone and offering to walk with them on their journey. It's helping them see, growth opportunities and discovering their next right steps on their path. It's very individual. Iit's high touch and it is not telling them what to do and how to do it. It's not teaching and preaching. It's not telling them to take the path you took. "Look what I did. This will work for you."
It's not a generalized process that all people should follow, and it's not a workbook for them to follow without your compassion and connection. So a life coach, is an expert at believing in someone and holding space for that person's process, question asking, guidance towards a horizon, unlocking potential. They are experts in clarifying direction and offering accountability their space holders for the journey. Okay, here's a little difference. Mentoring is giving you what I have, but coaching is pulling out of you what you have. I do a mix of mentoring and coaching depending on the need at hand and also at the client's request. So for example, if you want coaching in parenting, nonprofit ministry, homeschooling, moving 19 times in 20 years, these are some of the things that I carry and I can mentor you in with my life story, my experience. But even that, at some point, the journey turns back to coaching where I bring you through questions that help you become intentional and lead you into ownership of your storyline. I use mentoring and my personal experience as a way to show you what's possible and to build your faith because I have lived for 20 years, let's just say 25 years off of miracles and maybe I'll get to share some of that in the future episodes, but I have literally seen so many miracles; my husband has taught me and led me well into that. And I want to use my stories to show you what God can do and wants to do in your life. That's part of my mentoring side of my coaching, but it always comes back to you as the client. Okay? Now, if you wanna do something that I've never done before, then I still have amazing tools in the coaching realm that don't need prior experience in my life from me to help you. For example, if you wanted to become a bestselling author, that's something I haven't done yet. But I do know how to lead you onto your path and help you get out from under the hindrances that are holding you back to help you create clarity and a strategy map for how to get there and to help keep you accountable so that you actually reach your horizon and become that bestselling author. I can challenge you at the level that you need and help you better discern what's going on for you personally as you're on the journey. It doesn't matter what a client wants to accomplish, become, or obtain coaching offers someone to go with them on the journey. If you wanna be a health coach, a business coach, mindset coach, parenting coach, it doesn't matter what niche that you want to speak to and work with, you still need the building blocks of coaching. So let's just go with Legos, okay? I'm gonna lay out a bunch of Legos and you can pick 'em up and decide which ones work for the foundation you're building. Some might be the right size, but the wrong color. Some might be the right color, but they need wheels, okay? There's no wrong way. Your coaching journey is your own and as your guide, I'm gonna tap into my teaching, mentoring, coaching, and leading gifts because it's a podcast, I can do all of this, but if you were my client and we were in a session and I was your coach, I would mostly be listening. You'd be doing all of the talking. A coach is an active listener with tools in their pocket, and those tools mostly look like questions, not just any question, but the right question that you need to be asking right now. So this podcast is going to uncover for you how to use these legos as a solid foundation for any type of coaching business. And we'll also have incredible guests that share their journeys into coaching and business. How the wise tool of the Enneagram can help you unlock doors for yourself and your clients. Because as a coach and as a business owner, if you work for yourself as a coach, you are going to need keys. It is a journey that's not just about your client. You are gonna go through hard stuff, you're going to be challenged, you're gonna grow into things that you never knew were possible. You, business and entrepreneurship and coaching. They take things from you that you may not fully be operational in yet, and you're going to need help and support. That's why I'm here. I know you do. I wish I'd had that. I'm giving you everything that I wish that I'd had, and I'm giving you what I did have that I thought was valuable. We're also gonna talk about a lot of things like entrepreneurship as a coach and what that takes, building a business, how to overcome personal challenges as you're coaching others through theirs. And also ways to connect people back to the narrative of the gospel. Because coaching is a modern day discipleship tool. I kind of see it the different, like the difference between being told you need to eat dinner because it's good for you and choosing to go out to a restaurant you love and you're willing to pay for it because you want that food.
But when you're told you need to eat dinner because it's good for you, you need nourishment. It's kind of like being told that you have to take a discipleship course at church in order to become a member there. You do it because you're told to do it. How much fruit do you get out of that? You probably get some kind of fruit outta there, but when you say, "I'm hungry and I'm thirsty and I want this food, I want someone to serve me this type of food, I'm willing to pay for it because it's investing in something I know I want and need," and you make a reservation and you ask to be served specific food that will fulfill your hunger and thirst- that is coaching. You're investing in your own hunger and thirst. When you are a coach, your clients come to you saying, "I'm hungry and thirsty for this thing and I want someone to help me own it and take responsibility and become intentional. And I just don't wanna be so alone on my journey." So you can use these coaching foundations like the Legos to work with other believers, but all of it is usable outside of the context of any type of religion. I stress that personally. I firmly believe that being a Christian is a deep relationship, like a true relationship in your innermost being of your spirit with Jesus, not a wall of religion to scale, okay? Like we're not having to climb over something and be perfect. We don't have to get fit before we go to the gym. We bring ourselves to Jesus. That is the context I'm talking about in being a Christian life coach. It doesn't mean you are always working with Christians, it just means that we're doing this from a spirit-led place in connection with a good Father. All of my clients know that I love Jesus no matter what they believe, and if they disagree with me, it doesn't matter. They know who I am. That's everything I do. All that's in me flows from that place. Not everybody wants me to use Christian language or pray for them, and that's totally fine because their coaching journey is about them, not me, but they're gonna know me as a child of God by my love for them. Coaching is how my light shines. So I am going to give you tangible tactical action taking homework, okay? It doesn't matter if you are already coaching or you've never heard of life coaching before, or maybe you're specifically here because you wanna know how to become a coach. Here are three things you can stop and do right now to find the answer. Are you called to coach? We're gonna go with the scripture that you're gonna ask, seek and knock. First, you're gonna ask God to reveal his calling on your life. And if this season is the right one, the right season for you to pursue that calling. Second, you're gonna seek out personally what are your gifts and strengths. You can even go back over this list if any of your gifts or strengths are strategy, clarity, possibility, compassion, connection, hope, bringing intuition, innovation, um, building, teaching, guiding, healing, listening, pastoring. Then you might already have Legos, coaching Legos in your pocket. Also, consider what types of things that you have experience in and what you're passionate about, what you could talk about for half an hour without notes. And you'll see what area you might love coaching people in. Third knock, this knock is gonna look like a text message. So I want you to come up with three people that you trust to speak into your life and send them this message. So say "my coach", that's me. If you'll agree to it, you can just call me your coach for now, "My coach, has assigned me some homework. I need to know if you think I would be a good guide for someone who wants to reach a goal. Would you say I have or could develop the skills needed to be a helpful guide to someone who wants to accomplish, become, or obtain anything in their life?" These responses can help you see what you're really capable of. Do you need a life full of experiences that mirror your clients? No. No, you don't. You just need strategies, tools. You need the foundations of how to be an active listener. Be compassionate. Know that the world has multiple perspectives, not just yours. And ask questions. Do you need a degree or experience as a therapist? No, because you're not gonna dig up their past and trauma. We are not diagnosing or writing any prescriptions. You're simply asking questions for their future. You are holding space for someone to not be so alone on their journey. You are going to encourage and champion and remind them of where they say they wanna go. You're going to share truth and hope and pray for them to know the love of God. Coaching is how I fulfill the Great Commission in my life. I'm reaching the one that's in front of me with the tools God's given me, and I'm bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to earth in a way that's specific to how God designed me to reveal his character and nature to the world around me. Now, the question remains, is that something you believe God has invited you to as well? Regardless of your answer, I hope that the Christian Life Coach Collective can be a soft place for you to land and a piece of hope for you when you need an anchor. If you are called to coach, stay with me. I'm building my beta training and certification program for you to become a Christian life coach. If you are not already, or maybe you just want new building blocks, maybe you're starting over. Maybe you have been coaching, but everything was online and you're really looking for a cohort and a program of people really practicing together and coming together to learn from one another and encourage one another. I really believe in peer mentoring and peer coaching. So my program has that built in. There's no reason to be an island. There's no reason to reinvent a wheel. The world needs coaches out there in the context of somebody who says, "here's my hand, I'm gonna walk with you." If you hear that there's too many life coaches out there, that it's diluted that they, that you don't need to be one, that is a bunch of bologna. Bologna sandwich in my language, that's what I call bs: bologna sandwiches. And I grew up on bologna sandwiches and I don't recommend them, okay? Don't need those- so bad for you. The world needs more people to rise up and help one another. And that's what we do as a coach, that's as a Christian life coach with any specific area of focus that you want to have. These building blocks, this foundation can really set you up to support other people, but it's also life changing for you personally. When you implement these things in your own life, when you turn to God and you, you get clear on your calling and you have a direction to head and you're living your life, you're waking up and you're full of purpose. That is such a magnificent accomplishment and feeling in the world. I highly recommend that, if it's not coaching, that you go pursue your calling. Find a life coach who can help you discover what you're called to and your life purpose because when you know it, you might already be doing it, but because you think it's something else, you are not content where you are. When you understand it, it's powerful because you are the writer of your story. You and God co-author your story. You don't have to be the victim, you don't have to stay there. You don't have to continue believing what you've always believed. You can decide to stop believing that you're a victim. You can decide to stop believing and thinking that there's no hope and there's nothing else but what you have and that it's terrible. You can change your thinking and I'm going to teach you how- it is so exciting that I can't wait to get to the next episode and all of the following episodes to be able to pour truth and hope into you. So you are going to be a wonderful coach if that is what you're called to. I'm going to make sure of it. I can't wait to reconnect with you. And jump into the Facebook group because I'm starting this new podcast so I'm starting a new Facebook group over and we're go, I'm gonna link all of that into the show notes. I'm gonna link the ask, "seek and knock" down there so that you can know what you are doing, what your homework is, and you can know exactly what to text your friends. And I'm going to link the Facebook group to you so you can jump in. And I'll be praying for you that you hear the Lord and you know the way that you should walk because he has given you everything you need. He's equipped you for everything he's called you to. He has prepared the way for you to walk in, and I am excited to guide you and be with you on this journey. And just to end, I bless you, your calling, and your coaching.
TRANSCRIPT from the Christian Life Coach Collective Podcast Episode: #1
Show notes:
The Great Commission in Matthew 28:16-20, "Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
MATTHEW 7:7, "Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you."
ASK: God, what is Your calling on my life in this season?
SEEK: What are my gifts and strengths that could enable me to be a great life coach? Are some of them: strategy, clarity, possibility, compassion, connection, hope bringing, intuition, building, innovation, teaching, guiding, healing, listening, pastoring, etc.?
KNOCK: Text this message to three trusted advisors in your life:
"My coach has assigned homework for me to ask you: Do you think that I would be a good coach for someone wanting to reach a goal? Would you say I have, or could develop, the skills needed to be a helpful guide to someone who wants to accomplish, become, or obtain anything in their life?”
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