Do I Need to Feel Ready for Coaching?

Often as a coach I hear -

“I’m not sure I’m ready.”

“I should probably get myself together first.”

“I’ll reach out when things settle down.”

"I don't think I should commit the time when things are so busy"

"It feels like an indulgence"

It's common especially from people who have spent years showing up for everyone else, managing everything, investing in their teams and families but hesitate when it comes to investing in themselves.

From experience I know:

You don’t need to feel ready to begin coaching.
You just need to feel willing. Open. Curious.

“Ready” can be a way to delay or avoid the discomfort of starting. A way to protect ourselves from vulnerability. (it's a perfectly human reaction too)

But it’s also what keeps us stuck.

🧭 What “Not Ready” Often Means

When people say they’re not ready, what they often mean is:

• “I’m still too unsure to explain what I need.”

• “I feel too messy to be seen.”

• “Other people are coping — why can’t I?”

• “I don’t want to be a burden. I should manage this on my own.”

These thoughts are deeply human — and deeply unhelpful.

Because they keep you waiting for a different future, a different path or a different version of yourself

🌿 What I See as a Coach

Over the years, I’ve worked with clients who:

• Thought they had to have clear goals before starting coaching

• Believed they were “too much” or “not enough”

• Felt guilty putting themselves first after years of caring for others

• Had already waited months or years — because they didn’t feel ready

Almost every one of them started unsure.

And almost every one of them later said:

“I wish I hadn’t waited so long.”

🔁 “Not Ready” Shows Up Everywhere

This mindset doesn’t just hold people back from coaching — it shows up across life:

• “I’ll apply for that job when I feel more confident.” (or more qualified or have more experience or meet more of the person spec)

• “I’ll set boundaries when things are less chaotic.”

• “I’ll book time for myself when everyone else is okay.”

• “I’ll try something new when I’m more sure of myself.”

Many clients will be waiting to feel worthy or prepared.
Some , especially but not exclusively women wait until they've shrunk enough or remoulded themselves to squeeze into someone else’s idea of enough. That time either doesn't come or when it does it feels so burdensome and fake, it become unbearably uncomfortable.

Waiting doesn't pause life, it keeps ticking by.

Change doesn’t come from waiting until you’re ready.
It comes from deciding you don’t need to wait anymore.

🧘‍♀️ What Coaching Can Offer (Even When You’re Not “Ready”)

You don’t need a 5-year plan to begin. You don’t need to explain your whole life story in perfect clarity.

You just need a sense that something isn’t working anymore for you — and a willingness to explore what could be possible.

Coaching gives you space to:

• Hear yourself think

• Notice the patterns keeping you stuck

• Gently reconnect with your own voice

• Connect with your version of your values

• Move from self-doubt to self-trust

• Take one small step — even if the next one is still unclear

It doesn’t ask you to be ready. It asks you to show up. As you are.

❤️ In Summary

It's never too late or early to start. You don’t need to have it all together.

A coach will guide you at the pace that works for you, gently coaxing you towards what you learn you want and to be.

The Discovery Call is the chance to find the right coach for you, they will help you shape what you want from coaching. They will also tell you what they need from you, so that you can get the most from your coaching, you can then make a choice as to when to start