Maybe you’ve been thinking about becoming a coach.

You want to help people. But there’s something holding you back.

“How can I help others when I’m still struggling with my own stuff?”

You need a technique that actually works. Not just theory. Not just positive thinking. Something you can experience yourself—something that creates real change in your own life—so you can authentically help others.

That’s what the root cause approach to change can give you. Below I explain how it works.

A doctor.

A mechanic.

A plumber.

At first, it seems like they have little in common.

The doctor works on the body. The mechanic works on your car. The plumber works on your… well… plumbing.

But there is one thing they have in common: all three of these professions diagnose a problem before they prescribe a solution.

A doctor diagnoses an illness before prescribing treatment. A mechanic finds out what’s wrong with a car before fixing it. A plumber discovers which pipe is blocked before unclogging it.

Yet when human beings (you and I) try to free ourselves from patterns of behavior that don’t work, we rarely deploy this root cause approach. Instead, we often grasp at whatever solutions are at hand.

We might try setting yet another goal or writing yet another detailed action plan. We might also try finding an accountability group, meditating, or journaling. All these things are valuable, and they all have their place. There are even times when using these strategies can help a person get unstuck.

When These Techniques Work

Sometimes these techniques do work. But only when they actually address the root cause of the issue.

For example, if you’re not taking action because you’re unclear on why that action matters, then journaling about your why can give you clarity. If the only thing stopping you from achieving a goal is lack of skills, then getting those skills will ensure your success.

But when you know what to do and how to do it, and you still can’t seem to move forward? That’s when something else is in the way.

When we ask clients to look inside at what’s stopping them, they first find emotions like fear or anger. Or self-judgments like feeling unworthy or not good enough.

When we look even deeper, we always find the same thing—a limiting belief. Usually several such beliefs.

The beliefs are the root cause preventing the person from changing.

Why This Matters for Aspiring Coaches

Maybe you’re thinking: “But I still haven’t solved my own problems. Who am I to help anyone when I can’t even help myself?”

Let me be clear about something.

You do need a technique that actually works. That’s what will give you the confidence to help others. When you find a method that works on you—when you experience real change—you’ll know you can help your clients do the same.

But here’s what happens to a lot of trained coaches.

They learn great coaching techniques. They get certified. They know their stuff.

And then they still don’t build successful practices.

Why? Because even after learning great coaching skills, they have beliefs getting in their way. Beliefs like “I need to be perfect before I can help others” or “What makes me good enough is having others think well of me.”

Those beliefs create fear. They create self-doubt. They create patterns like over-helping or hiding or waiting until you’re “ready.”

And here’s what you need to understand: You don’t need to be perfect to become a coach. You just need to have made progress.

When you use the root cause approach on yourself—when you eliminate the beliefs keeping you stuck—you’ll have made real progress. Not perfection. Progress.

And that’s what gives you the confidence to help others. Not because you have zero issues. But because you know this approach works. You’ve lived it.

How the Root Cause Approach Works in Practice

Let me tell you about Joseph, one of our training students.

Joseph wanted to build his coaching practice, but he kept running into the same problem. He’d get on discovery calls with potential clients, and he’d coach them extensively—for free. He’d give away everything. He’d help them so much during the sales conversation that by the end, they’d gotten value and wouldn’t sign up.

He knew he shouldn’t be doing this. He’d been trained in a sales process. But no matter how many times he told himself to follow the process, he couldn’t seem to stop over-helping.

That’s because the issue wasn’t that Joseph didn’t know better. The issue was that he had a belief driving that pattern.

The belief was: “What makes me good enough is having others think well of me.”

When Joseph identified and eliminated that belief, he could follow the sales process naturally. He didn’t have to force himself to stop coaching on discovery calls. He just… didn’t feel compelled to do it anymore.

And then he started signing up clients left and right.

This is what happens when you address the root cause. You don’t have to manage the behavior or try to control yourself. Once the belief is gone, you change naturally.

What You Really Need as an Aspiring Coach

Here’s what Joseph’s story shows us.

Having good coaching skills isn’t enough. Joseph had been trained in a sales process. He knew what to do. But he couldn’t follow through because a belief was in his way.

This is why so many trained coaches struggle to build successful practices. They have the skills. They know the techniques. But beliefs keep them stuck.

You need two things as an aspiring coach:

First, you need a technique that actually works. When you find a method that works on you—when you experience real change yourself—you’ll have the confidence that you can help others.

Second, you need to eliminate the beliefs that would stop you from using that technique. Beliefs like “I need to be perfect before I can help others” or “What makes me good enough is having others think well of me.”

And here’s the good news: You don’t need to be perfect. You just need to make progress.

When you use the root cause approach on yourself, you will make progress. You’ll eliminate beliefs that have been keeping you stuck. You’ll watch yourself change without forcing it.

And that’s when you’ll have genuine confidence—not because you’ve eliminated every single belief or solved every problem in your life, but because you know this approach works. You’ve experienced it yourself.

What Changes When You Eliminate Beliefs

We’ve seen this happen over and over with our clients.

In fact, we did a study with people who regularly spoke at Toastmasters but had a high level of fear when speaking in public—a fear of seven or higher on a scale of 1-10.

Those study participants who experienced the Lefkoe Method had their fear drop to 1.5. They had almost no fear.

Here’s what one participant said two years later:

“I used to feel when I was in front of people a general feeling of anxiety and fear—sweaty palms, sweaty brow. My voice would quiver, my stomach would tie up in knots. The way I feel now after doing The Lefkoe Method is I don’t feel the anxiety I did before… I just feel kind of an excitement.”

Those speakers didn’t have to psyche themselves up. They didn’t have to do relaxation exercises or positive affirmations before every speech.

The comfortable speaker within them could emerge naturally once their beliefs were eliminated.

That’s what happens for you too. And when you experience that shift in yourself, you’ll know—without a doubt—that you can guide others through the same transformation.

You Can Help People Make Significant Progress

Here’s what you need to understand as an aspiring coach: You’re not promising people that they’ll have zero issues in their lives after working with you.

That would be unrealistic.

What you can promise is that you’ll help them make significant progress on the most important issues in their lives.

And when you use the root cause approach on yourself, you will have made such progress yourself that you’ll be confident you can help others do the same.

You won’t be afraid of being seen as a fraud selling something that doesn’t work. Because you’ll know it works. You’ll have lived it.

What’s Waiting for You

You’re already on the waiting list for Lefkoe Method Training 1.

When you join the training, you’ll learn the exact process that helps clients eliminate their limiting beliefs in about 30 minutes.

And you’ll get to use it on yourself first.

You’ll eliminate beliefs like “I need to be perfect before I can help others.” You’ll get rid of beliefs about not being good enough or being an imposter.

And as those beliefs disappear, something natural will happen. You won’t have to force yourself to feel confident about coaching. You won’t have to fake it till you make it.

Your natural confidence will emerge. Just like that public speaker’s comfort emerged once his beliefs were gone.

Final Thoughts

The root cause approach to change works because it addresses the actual problem—the beliefs creating the struggle—rather than just trying to manage symptoms.

When a doctor diagnoses before treating, when a mechanic finds the actual problem before fixing it, they get lasting results.

You’re no different.

When you eliminate the beliefs keeping you stuck, you change naturally. You don’t have to push yourself to be different. You solve the problem at its roots.

And the best part? Once you experience this transformation in yourself, you’ll have the confidence to guide others through it too.

Not because you’re perfect. But because you know it works.

If you have questions before the training opens, email us at training@lefkoeinstitute.com. We’d love to hear from you.