Niki & CJ Gotcher discuss how to determine your values, identities, and priorities (VIP). These underlie WHY, HOW, WHAT, and FOR WHOM you coach. Learn about what these are and how you can more consciously develop and refine these over time (they aren't set in stone).

Whether we do so consciously or not, we have some notion of our coaching VIP. Something brought us to coaching our friends or family or diving a bit more deeply into why we might train a certain way or how training can be more effective.

Approaching these more systematically and really thinking through them can help us better understand ourselves, potentially reinvigorate our coaching practice, and help us know what to say no to. 

What we say no to can tell us much about what we value and what our priorities are. Why? Well, it's easy to say yes to things. Early on as a coach, you'll probably say yes to every possible opportunity to coach someone. You need the experience, and a priority early on might be simply get as much experience as possible. 

As you progress as a coach, however, you'll start to prefer certain types of clients or gravitate toward certain types of activities. Some may love the challenges of programming for competitive athletes, who constantly try to squeeze the most our of their performance. Others may like hybrid athletes, who try to elevate multiple physical attributes. Some may simply find joy from helping older clients regain capabilities they thought they had lost forever. 

Beyond finding a niche, the stakes go up for us as coaches when we transition from hobbyist to professionals. We're asking for money and ultimately making a promise that we can provide more value to the client than the money they paid us. More responsibility can often lead to more introspection and why we're doing coaching at all.