“…Words are a form of action, capable of influencing change.”
—Ingrid Bengis

’m sorry, but I’m afraid I can’t afford to join now.”

I was on the phone with a young man who was going to be teaching a three-month course on how to build a coaching business. By some chance, he accepted my application I submitted a week prior, and we were now talking to see if I was really a fit for his course. It was one week before this call that I had learned what coaching was and discovered that it was exactly like the work I was doing at the Zen monastery. I thought, “I could do this. If I begin coaching, it could really make a difference in people’s lives.”

But rewind several months. I had just left the monastery. A middle-of-the-night insight woke me from my sleep and insisted that I continue offering the teachings. I was convinced. It didn’t make sense for me to forego everything I’d learned in my Zen training to do what I had done before it. I had some amazing tools and powerful skills under my belt to offer the world, and I didn’t want to waste them. On a Post-It note, I wrote, “I know how to turn on the enthusiasm switch inside of myself, and I know how to teach others to do that too.” I stuck it to my mirror so I could see it every day to remind me of my commitment.

The following morning, I sat outside on the porch at my parents’ house and Googled, “How to do what you love.” My online search produced some resources to start helping me earn money doing what I loved to do. I got on many mailing lists. I discovered an online business training site that used blogging as a means to earn revenue. So I got involved in that community. With them, I built my first website, wrote my first book, and created my first online course.

And then I got a newsletter in my inbox announcing that applications for an upcoming coach business training was coming up. That’s how I ended up on the phone with this young man.

The stumbling block we hit in our conversation was my lack of funds to pay for his course. We both wanted to make this work. He wanted me in his course because I was a fit for it, and I wanted to be in his course because I thought this was going to help me make a living doing what I love. When he told me how much his program cost, I could feel my energy drop. That was more than I had to my name. I knew because before the call I wrote the sum total of all the money I had and it was clearly a third short.

I told him my dilemma, but he was not shaken. He joyfully replied, “This isn’t a ‘no.’ This is just part of the obstacle course!”

My attention perked up. A change stirred inside of me. I suddenly felt my energy rise. Of course! It’s an obstacle course! There must be some way to make this happen!

We brainstormed options a bit, and I left the call with him full of renewed vigor. I was on my obstacle course!

He followed along with me during my setbacks and triumphs over the next few days. From bank conversations, to credit card companies, to borrowing requests, to selling possibilities. Ultimately I managed to find a way to pay for his program.

The biggest triumph for me, and the one I’ll never forget, was not that I got into his program and had incredible results because I was so invested in it. But that I had witnessed the power of coaching in action. I experienced the power of words and how a simple conversation shifted everything and created miracles where once there had been none.