Ep #132: Balancing Framework and Freedom

You are listening to episode 132 of The Confident Coaches Podcast, the one where we find the balance between freedom and frameworks. All right, let’s go.

Welcome to The Confident Coaches Podcast, a place for creating the self-confidence you need to do your best work as a life coach. If you want to bring more boldness, more resilience, and more joy to your work, this is the place for you. I’m your host, Amy Latta. Let’s dive in.

Hey coaches, how is everybody doing this week? Hope you’re doing fabulously. Hello mid-May. It’s getting gorgeous out there and I hope you are feeling amazing and excited. And I’m really excited to have this conversation with you today because this has been the hot topic inside my two paid programs, what we’ve been talking about here.

And I think what I’m going to bring to you in this episode is going to really open your mind to some possibilities that you have not considered before. And a lot of this is also coming from some questions and some concepts that have come up in the two programs. So we’ve been exploring this in Free To Paid Coach and in the mastermind.

And I should probably make sure that from here on out I’ve been kind of calling it the mastermind because we’re in this transition zone. So starting in this episode the current round of mastermind is actually still technically called CCM or Confident Coaches Mastermind. I’ve been teaching them the path to 100k, but it was still the name of the mastermind.

As of this week I will only refer to it as Path To 100k. Path To 100k Mastermind, as I announced last week, is replacing confident Coaches Mastermind. Confident Coaches is no more, the results, where we’re going is still the same. But how we get there, the method that we get there, the different ways we’re going to get there, that’s what’s being rebuilt. And I talked all about that in the last podcast episode.

So when you, brilliant coach, come into this confident coaches world, there’s actually three ways that you can work with me. You can do what you’re already doing, be a free client. I may not know you personally, but you can listen to the podcast, you can get my emails, you can sign up for the free trainings that you see when you are on my email list, whatever I mention here on the podcast.

This is 100% available to you right now. You can have me in your ear every single week. This is a great way to get to know me. Do you like my vibe? Are you all in? Are you picking up what I’m throwing down? That kind of thing.

You can also work with me in Free To Paid Coach. If you’re a brand new coach, if you’ve never had free or paid clients, or if you’ve been kind of that toiling around for a few years with lots of hits and misses, Free To Paid Coach is the program that gives you the step by step of what to do to become a paid coach and how to handle the emotional roller coaster that comes with taking those steps. Because one without the other does not make you confident at all.

Listen, there’s a whole lot of multi six-figure and seven-figure coaches who aren’t actually that confident. And we are nipping that in the bud right here. So Free To Paid Coach, this is my $1,000 program. You pay, you get immediate access, you have immediate access to our online course, we have weekly coaching calls, you have a Facebook group support, and it’s a forever program. As long as it exists, you’re in there.

And then lastly, you can also work with me in the mastermind, The Path To 100k Mastermind. And this is because you’ve got success as a paid coach, you’ve made at least $5,000 in the past six months, you’ve been throwing spaghetti at the wall, you’re getting a feeling for what sticks and for what doesn’t stick. And you really believe you can make $100,000 as a coach.

And you’re also pretty sure, your brain keeps telling you that you have to do more and more and more and that path is still pretty muddled and there’s a lot of uncertainty. And you’re pretty sure that you’re going to have to hustle your way there, and just the thought of that is like exhausting you. And you don’t really want to be exhausted but you think that’s what you got to do, and you’re not really sure. Like you believe you’re going to get there, but you’ really don’t know how you’re going to get there.

So what Path To 100k Mastermind is going to do is you’re going to learn how to find what’s working and what you really love already so you can go replicate that. And then we’re going to identify what’s not working, and what you hate, and what really fucking sucks so that we can cut that shit out.

And some of what we’re going to talk about in this episode, we’re going to spot the frameworks or the rules that you’ve borrowed from other businesses and mentors that you don’t have to keep using, that you get to challenge. And you’re going to also create the really deepest connection with yourself, what I call my knowing.

I’ve used this technique of connecting with my knowing for literally years, long before I was ever in business. I can teach you the same thing so that you can do what you absolutely love to do, while you start thinking like 100k earner.

So this is, Path To 100k is my 100k for six months mastermind. We start with a live event that teaches you everything you need to know about that path to 100k process, how to use it, how to make it your own. That weekend alone is worth the entire investment. But wait, there’s more, then you get the six months of weekly coaching and the private Facebook group where we’re going to be doing evaluations and celebrating all of the wins and doing week to week coaching and really deep diving.

This program, while the other program is open enrollment, open all the time, unlimited, this program is limited to no more than 20 coaches. So no matter what, there’s a way to work with me in the confident coaches umbrella because confidence equals clients, equals cash. And that’s what we like.

And today we are talking about finding that balance between following people’s frameworks and finding your freedom. Because listen in, coach, that is going to be your fastest way to the cash that you want to make. And we’re going to be talking more about like the role of your goals versus serving your clients.

So really understand that when I say all of this equals cash, this is not to the detriment of your clients. But we’re working this hard, we’re doing this work, we’re getting this uncomfortable, heck yeah, the whole point of this is that we are making a living. We are making a living that changes our lives.

Now, I would have told you that I present an incredibly authentic and vulnerable self to you in my business. That I am me 100%. That I am a what you see is what you get kind of gal. But thanks to some really deep dive coaching of my own this spring, I’m realizing that what you’ve seen is me, but it’s still within someone else’s framework.

Like this is my take on coaching and running a coaching business, but it’s still within the confines of my couple of certifications and the few business coaches that I have worked with. And honestly, like full disclosure, this was shocking to me.

Like I am the queen of confidence. This is my entire platform. I’m all about showing up unapologetically. So to discover that there were still more layers of other people’s rules and expectations on top of me, frankly, was shocking, and proof that our work here is never really done.

And because of that, I also have extreme grace for myself. And this is the conversation that we’re going to have today about freedom and frameworks, and that this is just another layer of the work. If I’ve learned anything in this confidence coaching world, the more I learn, the more I discover, there’s more to learn.

There is no destination. As soon as you think you’ve reached profound enlightenment, the universe is going to be like, “Nope, we got more layers, sister.” It’s like a never ending path. So let’s enjoy it. Let’s love it and have so much grace, and love, and compassion for ourselves as we go through this. As we think I’ve solved this only to find another layer to work through, be like of course your brain was like, “No, I think we’re good here.”

Of course it thinks that, it loves homeostasis, it loves what’s normal. So every time we find more layers, it means it’s like, “Oh man, I got to do more growth again?” And we’re like, yeah, but it’s okay because the more we do, the deeper we go, and the more fulfilling and enjoyable this life is.

And I want Confident Coaches Podcast, I want my two programs, Free To Paid Coach and Path To 100k to be fun and enjoyable, and to be about the journey along these paths and not just the destinations. I want it to be about the diversions that we’re going to take where we find the things that truly bring us joy, that truly make this the most fulfilling business that you can possibly lead.

So with this in mind I presented my current mastermind members with two challenges, one week apart. The first one was more of a framework. It was a $5,000 challenge, you know, let’s go make $5,000 in the next week. Let’s take everything that we’ve learned and go do the things that you know to do and go. It was a very go follow the framework kind of challenge.

And then the next week I swung the pendulum the opposite way and I asked them, all right, let’s look at a thought model where you’re running your business. But we’re going to come at it from the feeling line, and the feeling is free, freedom, freeing. And what would freedom feel like to you? What would be going on in your thought line? What would you be doing on your action line?

And one of them said, “I would just say fuck it.” And that’s actually what we started calling it, what would fuck it feel like? And so many rules, so many other people’s frameworks that they’ve been operating in that they didn’t even realize, they were like, “If I say fuck it, then I would really go do this, this, and this. But that’s against the rules. I’ve been told by these other business leaders and these other business coaches that this isn’t okay.”

And I want to be really clear, frameworks are not bad. They’re not a problem, they are proven systems that work. Almost any business coach or certification program is going to have a framework. Do this, not that. You know, this is the fastest way to achieve what you want to achieve. Because for that coach it was the fastest way and it was the best way, so that’s what they’re going to teach you.

These aren’t bad things. And for a brand newbie or for somebody who’s set their sights on a new goal, they might lean more on a framework. They might desire that, it can give you a bit of structure that you need to take those first steps. Again, nothing wrong with frameworks.

Some people can thrive following somebody else’s framework, like 100%. People can absolutely find their take within that framework, there’s very little deviation, they work the program over and over again and they have massive success.

And then there’s some people that find their version, they actually leave a lot of the framework behind, they don’t necessarily take everything with them. And they’re fine operating within the framework with a good level of freedom on the inside.

And then there’s some people that frameworks might be helpful at first or not at all, because eventually they start to just shut down. It’s like too barf-y, or it’s too much. It’s like our central nervous system is screaming, danger, danger, this does not work for me at all. Even if the framework doesn’t shut you down, it can become a slog of doing a bunch of shit that you hate. But you know it’s going to make you successful, so you do it anyway.

You aren’t really doing what you love, you’re doing a whole bunch of stuff that you really kind of hate. But hey, it works so you think that you should keep doing it. And you’re witnessing other people succeeding and enjoying it. So you’re tempted to convince yourself to just push on through and you unconsciously start to believe that this is the way and it’s the only way.

And given this deep coaching that I’ve been doing for myself this spring, I can see that I’ve fallen somewhere in between someone who could find her balance between the freedom and the framework, the fuck its and following the rules, right?

So this work, we do scrape the surface of it inside Free To Paid Coach. I just coached someone actually today who doesn’t really want to do consult calls, which is part of the steps inside Free To Paid Coach. And she asked for coaching on it in our weekly coaching call and I said great, don’t. Don’t do it. I taught her a practice so that she could figure out what she really wanted to do instead. And I said, great, go try it. Go run with it. Let’s see what happens.

And in Path To 100k we’re going to spend large parts of the live event that’s here in St. Louis finding your balance between the freedom and the framework, the fuck it or the following the rules. The live event, I’m not sure yet if it’s going to be two or three days. I’m literally planning it right now and at the time of this recording I’m not sure. We will know how long the live event is going to be by the time we open the doors for applications in June.

But in those days we’re going to determine where your comfort is. Does go do this this week right now shut you down? Does fuck it all, do whatever you want feel too loosey goosey? Where on that pendulum, or rather it’s more of a scale, do you find the most motivation? Where on that scale is going to drive you into the most action?

We’re going to figure that out for you when we get to that live event. And then through the rest of the six months of the mastermind really see, let you put all of that where you are on the scale between freedom and framework, where you are, we’re going to go see the action that you take over the course of six months together.

And I can tell you this, offering up framework and then freedom one week after the other, one person in the mastermind went and signed over $5,000 in one week using that framework challenge. It totally worked for her, but quite a few others said it shut them down. And then the fuck it challenge lit them up.

And then some people clearly felt that their answer was a mixture between the two of like they get the fuck it, but they also like the freedom also. And what I love and what you’re going to learn working with me is there is no one answer. Wherever you fall on this scale, wherever we find the balance between the two that works for you, there’s no one answer.

And of course, if we pull way out it’s so obvious that we think that there should be. This is the discomfort that you get coaching on week after week inside the mastermind as we figure out in that live event where you are on that scale between how much framework and how much fuck it is going to work for you. But the entire time, your brain is going to be fighting you that you need to pick one, and you need to follow one thing, and there is a one right answer.

And this is what we’re going to be coaching on week after week as your brain starts to revolt against you, as you start to get comfortable in one place and then it’s going to be like, “Oh no, we’re doing it wrong.” Whatever it is, no matter what you decide your brain is 100% going to tell you you’re wrong. That’s why we need the week to week group coaching, so that you can remember why you chose what you chose.

And if we do pull way out, it makes so much sense because patriarchy, hierarchical structures have taught us that there is only one way. Like literally since the dawn of time societies have been built around there is one way, it’s their way. It’s the only way and you better follow it or there’s going to be hell to pay.

Like in many cultures, we actually learned that our safety was on the line, like it meant literal death to those who did not choose to do life or business or whatever that one and only way. So that fear, that fear that we feel, that worry that we’re doing it wrong, that like I understand why I made these decisions and I felt really confident at that three day live event when I made that decision.

But then when I send you off into the wild to go build your business, to go sign those clients, to go create that six figures, your brain is going to 100% decide we made the wrong choice. We’re doing it wrong. There is a right way. I’m sure I didn’t choose the right way and I better go do exactly, exactly what Amy tells me to do and absolutely nothing else than what she tells me to do. But I don’t want to do what she tells me to do because I hate what she’s telling me to do.

And I’m like, of course that fear, it’s real. That fear is actually written into our DNA. That’s some serious epigenetics that’s going on there, past traumas of our ancestors built in. So of course you feel that way and that’s also why we want to work together.

This is why you want to work with me in this program, in either one of my programs. But if you’re ready to scale to six figures, this is why Path To 100k is the right program for you so that we can shine light onto that thinking, help you dismantle not only the frameworks of other people’s rules, but the frameworks, the structures of the patriarchal thinking that is in your brain right now.

And it’s in everybody’s brain because, hi, if you’re a human being on this earth, growing up in any kind of Western culture and any culture that’s out there, you got structures. We need to dismantle the ones that are not serving you, the ones that are stopping you in your tracks. Because here’s the thing, we can see there’s tons of ways.

There is no one way. In business you’re going to find business coaches that tell you to write a book to sell coaching, or to go do professional speaking, speaking from the stage is how you’re going to build this business. Or no, the way you’re going to build this business is a streamlined online funnel, that’s how you’re going to do it.

And then other people are like no, scrap all of that and go do traditional meet people face to face, that’s what you need to do. Somebody else is going to be like it’s all about reels, right? Here’s the thing, they all work. The too long don’t read of the entire Confident Coach’s Podcast is it all works. Combinations of all of that work.

I have a friend who has made millions of dollars as a life coach calendaring nothing, planning nothing, scrapping her plans and launching literally mysterious masterminds and selling it out. No Facebook ads, really basic simple sales pages. She’s taken every single rule, dismantled it, and thrown it out.

Then I’ve got other coaches who have made millions with curated online funnels, everything calendared to a tee, everything planned out months in advance. And then I got tons of friends everywhere in between and they are all successful because it all works, you just have to find the thing that’s going to light you on fire.

And that’s what we’re going to find here in the mastermind. Yeah, I’m going to give you a process. I’m going to share with you the process that I know worked for me, but you are 100% going to know how to figure out does this process work for me and would I do something differently? And here’s the process that I’m going to use to figure out what that is.

I want you to think about it, this is just like trying to lose weight. Like there is science, there’s actual science that supports multiple and conflicting ways to lose weight. There’s science that tells you eat six meals a day, there’s science that tells you that you should intermittent fast. There’s science that tells you that you should eliminate sugar and flour, there’s science that tells you that you want to eat starchy root vegetables and juices and sugars to keep you all fueled up.

What we don’t want to do is find a framework that might have scientific proof that it works, but you hate every minute of it. Like a barf club mentality that’s like I will never eat my favorite foods until I hit my goal. I mean, sure that might work, but where the heck is the joy in that right?

Or take what you’ve learned from others, be so connected with yourself and your knowing that you take what you learn from others, leave the rest on the table and do what you love. For some of you that may be more framework, for some of you that may be more freedom. In the Path To100k Mastermind I will help you find your balance between the two.

And there will be plenty of strategy coaching. There will be opportunities to say, okay, yeah, you go try this. Go try the webinar every single week. You go try this. But it’s going to be based on what you actually would love to do rather than hate to do.

And here’s my favorite thing about all of this, I know that you can recalibrate that balance between freedom and framework as you grow and learn and build more confidence. None of this is set in stone. That’s what I love the most about a confidence based business coaching, because we’re going to recalibrate at least every six months in that Path To 100k.

Okay, so here’s what I’m going to leave you today, I’m going to ask you this, what would freedom feel like to you? What would feel more free? What would feel more open? What would feel more exploratory for you? What would feel more untethered? Explore that and let’s see what you find because that’s what we’re going to do in Path To 100k Mastermind.

Doors open to the August round in June. You want to get on the wait list now, go to amylatta.com/mastermind. That way when the details drop, you will be able to be the first to apply. So until next week, let’s go get paid, coach.

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Thanks so much for listening to The Confident Coaches Podcast. I invite you to learn more. Come visit me at amylatta.com and until next week, let’s go do epic stuff.