Guest Article by Chris Gaddis

Let me tell you a story

I was 21 years old, a senior in college, and had just purchased my first rental property. I came out of college wanting to take on the world. In the next 2 years I purchase an additional 3 properties, got my securities licenses, became a financial advisor, got my MBA, started 3 businesses, and joined a number of organizations and boards; among other things.  I was off to a good start, but there was one problem: I had no definite plan.

A couple years into this I was overwhelmed and lacked direction. I had experience and education, but where was I going? It was at this time I decided to hire a coach. I hired a coach from a very popular coaching firm. I paid about $4,500 up front. This equated to 10 one-on-one phone calls and a couple conference calls and their materials. They entice you with all of these successful coaches they employ, but you can’t get assigned to one of them. I got stuck with some guy who basically just spoke from a script.

Within 3 weeks this person was fired and I was transferred to a new coach. Three weeks wasted. I remember I was very tentative about spending this money upfront, but I was given so many assurances and guarantees they made me feel comfortable. It was the hard sell for sure. So we complete the ten week course and nothing came out of it. It was an utter disappointment. It was all canned jargon that meant nothing to me. Still one problem, I was right where I started.

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