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For about a year now I have struggled to identify and develop ideas for online courses as part of The School of Reinvention. It’s crazy because I have been a teacher for over a decade. I have created and taught countless courses, lessons, and other materials. In my career, I have taught math, leadership, coaching, entrepreneurship, success habits, etc. So it was frustrating when I struggled to come up with a few online course ideas. Recently though, I broke through this challenge thanks to the help of an online course expert.

Getting Clear on my Problem

This story starts before I hired the online course expert to help me out.

After some reflection one day on a beach while on summer holiday, I discovered the reason I was struggling. In the past, I built workshops, courses, and talks for clients. They booked me to serve a specific audience and their challenge. However, this time I was building online courses for my own business and I was the client. The problem was that I wasn’t providing myself with a target or ideal client and a specific challenge to solve. When I sat down to create courses, my only focus was the topic of “reinvention.” This however, was too broad to sit down and create courses about. I needed a more narrow focus. Basically, I needed a target or ideal customer to serve.

Taking Massive Action

I decided to hire an expert to help me identify my ideal customer and ideas for online courses I could build. I wanted someone with deep expertise with online course creation. After binge listening to her podcast earlier in the year, I knew exactly who I wanted – Sarah Cordiner. Sarah is an online course expert with well over a decade of experience with online courses – before it was even cool. So I went to her booking page and found no appointments available!

I was upset because I knew she was the one who could help me. I followed up with messages via her contact form, her FB messenger, and an email address I found for her company. One of her team members replied and told me she updated her coaching availability for the next few months. The first session available was for 6 weeks out – ahh! I wanted a session now but I booked the first available session anyway.

A day after I booked the session, I was already anxiously awaiting the session date. However, I knew I couldn’t wait 6 weeks to make progress so I asked my wife, who has some coaching experience, if she would help me extract my ideal customer. After she finished her work that afternoon, we spent a few hours working on my challenge. She asked me a lot of questions and helped me dig deep on my ideas and values in order to arrive at an ideal customer! We even started mapping out some product ideas. All of a sudden, I had what I had been looking for – my own ideal customer to serve. I’ll share more about my ideal client in another post.

Over the next several weeks, I got to work on researching my ideal client and thinking about ideas for courses, programs, and other ways to help them.

Working with an Expert

Finally, it was time for my session with Sarah. For a minute, I wondered if I still even needed this session. But I quickly realized that yes, of course I still want this session with Sarah. I got on my call with her and proudly shared my massive breakthrough and progress since booking her 6 weeks prior. She was happy for me and quickly used my progress as the starting point for our session.

Sarah is incredible – she moves so quickly that you can’t even gather your objections or limiting self-beliefs fast enough to challenge her. I realized quickly that it was better to hit pause on my limiting beliefs and open my mind to what she was teaching me. So I just followed along and tried to keep up with her. Seriously, she moves FAST!

Just like a great expert does, she heard what wanted but knew what I really needed. I came for online course ideas, but after 2 sessions, I left with a new business model and a total built-out online academy for The School of Reinvention. These 1-on-1 sessions fast tracked me more than I had progressed in nearly a year.

What I Learned from This Experience

Massive Action Creates Momentum

Booking that session with her, even if it was still 6 weeks away, motivated me to begin working on finding my ideal client. It’s similar to something I shared in another article about generating motivation.

1. Get clear on the challenge (this was my break through after reflection on the beach).

2. Take action (booked my session with Sarah Cordiner).

3. Make progress right away (started working ahead of our session on finding my ideal client).

4. Unlock motivation and ride the momentum (enrolled in a book writing course to begin working on a book for this ideal client).

Don’t be Afraid to Write a Check for Speed

Best-selling author and entrepreneur, Dean Graziosi, always says – don’t be afraid to cut a check for speed. This thought inspired me to pursue booking a session with Sarah Cordiner. I knew she was the best person to help me and that I had to book time with her no matter what it cost. In fact, before booking her, waiting had already cost me about a year of progress, helping people, and business income. Doing it on my own didn’t get me very far. But why do it solo when there are people, courses, and programs out there that can help us. This investment in speed accelerated my progress significantly.

Experts Know What You Really Need

Imagine if you could learn the 20% of any skill that gets you 80% of the result? When you are willing to hire an expert to show you how to do something, that’s exactly what you get. Sarah couldn’t teach me everything she knows, but she focused on the 20% that would help me unlock massive progress right now. It’s funny, I went to her for online course ideas and I walked away with an entirely new business model. Thanks to her, I am going to launch The School of Reinvention Academy in a couple of weeks. I have already published the page here. Sarah helped me build and publish the site in a 2 hour session! I’m still adding more content, but the main offering is ready for enrollment thanks to her help. ?

Don’t Get Stuck in Your Own Head

After working with Sarah, I realized I was overthinking which online courses to build. Sarah showed me it was a lot less challenging than I was making it out to be in my head. While that doesn’t mean it is easy, she helped me focus on the right things so that I can continue to move forward.

I Should Have Done This Sooner

After my sessions with her, I couldn’t help but think I should have hired her earlier. I would have been so much farther along this journey by now. That said, I’m not going to hold any regrets about my delay. Instead, I will think about where else I can cut a check for speed sooner rather than later. Mistakes happen, just don’t let them happen again.

How Can You Apply These Lessons Today?

Identify one thing you have found yourself stuck on for several months.

Have you been considering a career-related move of some kind? Have you been thinking about getting involved with or starting some sort of initiative? Maybe there’s a skill you want to learn that you have been making more complicated in your own head. What is that one thing?

Ask your network or search online for an expert.

It might be 1-on-1 coaching, a course, group coaching, consulting, etc. Whatever it is, if this is something you want, make the commitment. Financially, I found it was so worth it. I’ve spent money on things that did far less for me. This time, this was an investment in speeding up my progress.

Don’t Wait Another Minute, Start NOW**.**

Massive action drives momentum. Take advantage of the momentum from booking an expert or coach and get to work. If you are not sure where to start, focus on preparing for your session or course. Think about what brought you to this point, what you want out of the session(s), and write everything you would need in order to get your expert or coach caught up.

Open Up Your Mind to Learning.

Don’t think too much, just do. You may have come into the session with one set of wants or expectations, however, your expert or coach might realize you actually need something else. Let them be the expert and take you on the journey. The most important thing you can do is be clear with them about what you want out of these sessions. From there, they will help you.