10 Important Things I've Learned from 1,000 Coaches | EP. 100

100 episodes. 1,000 students. Six years mentoring health and fitness coaches. For the milestone 100th episode, Dr. Kasey Jo Orvidas is sharing the 10 things she couldn't have known without all of it.

In this episode, she covers:

• Why the coaches who care most are often the ones struggling most with client motivation and consistency
• The ceiling coaches unknowingly place on their own clients (and how it quietly limits outcomes)
• Why self-doubt is the real #1 thing holding coaches back, not skill gaps, not their niche, not their content
• How coaches with 20 years of experience still deal with imposter syndrome and what to do with it instead of fighting it
• The difference between taking your work seriously and taking it personally, and why it matters for burnout
• Why the most effective coaches rarely tell clients what to do
• What most certifications miss and why HMCC exists to fill that specific gap
• Why community might be the most underrated factor in coaching career growth
• The uncomfortable truth about coaches falling out of love with their work
• How mindset and behavior change skills end up changing more than your coaching
   

If you've ever wondered whether the struggles you're feeling as a coach mean something is wrong with you, this one is going to hit.

🎉 It's Episode 100! Leave a review on your podcast platform this week, screenshot it, and submit it at the giveaway link here to win a free seat to HMCC, two power hours with Kasey, or DIY products. You have one week.

Episodes Mentioned: 

• EP. 62: How to Overcome Impostor Syndrome: Mindset Shifts to Try

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Grab 5 Free Lessons in Mindset and Behavior Change Coaching [HMCC WAITLIST]

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Transcript

0:00

Self-doubt is actually the number one thing that holds coaches back beyond anything. Not skill gaps, not I don't know how to market, I don't know how to sell. Honestly, not even mindset and behavior change coaching skills, which is what I talk about all of the time, which is interesting, though, because it really is a mindset thing, but on the coach side of things. But yeah, it's not your program, it's not your price, it's not your niche, it's not your content. The number one thing that holds coaches back from being more successful that I have seen is in fact self-doubt. Hello my friends, and welcome back to not another Mindset show. I'm your host, Dr. Casey Joe. My goal with this podcast is to take the science of mindset and behavior change and distill it down into actionable takeaways for you. Together we're gonna unpack research around motivations, self-sabotage, willpower, and so much more, and we're going to take all of that and translate it into strategies you can immediately apply to your health. Fitness, relationships, business, marketing clients, all of the things. But just to be clear, it's not all serious and sciencey around here. We're gonna have a ton of fun too, and I'm so excited to share all of this with you. All right, let's go ahead and get into the episode. Welcome back to Not Another Mindset Show. today's episode is a special one. This is the 100th episode of Not Another Mindset Show, which effectively means what? I have talked to myself for probably about 80 hours cumulatively over the course of this podcast, since nearly every episode is a solo episode. But what's really cool is that we recently also hit over 1,000 students who have gone through the Health Mindset Coaching Certification, so, like, two really big, really big milestones. So I kind of went back and forth on what I wanted to do for this episode. Does it need to be something really special? And I kind of landed on something that was already something that I was thinking about. Knowing that we've been running the Health Mindset Coaching Certification since 2020, we've had over 1,000 students go through this, what have I learned? And also specifically because I recently, in fact, as I'm recording this episode, I'm not even done yet revamping, re-recording, updating, adding to the Health Mindset Coaching Certification. Like, quite literally, some of these modules are being torn apart and built back up. I have already spent, I think… What did my toggle say? I'm keeping track of my time. 85 hours making these updates, and I'm not even done yet. So for those of you who have not become a Health Mindset certified student yet, just know that when you do, hopefully this fall, fall, August 2026 is our next enrollment period, you're really in for a treat. So with that said, I've learned a lot, and I've actually really recognized how much I've learned when doing this update to the program itself, too. Just even thinking, like, wow, I so much better understand coaches and what they're struggling with and what they need in order to be successful that I didn't know when I was first recording the videos and developing the modules for the certification. And the same thing goes for the podcast. Like, I always would be curious, for those of you who are listening and would like to engage in some conversation with me one-on-one, reach out on Instagram. Let me know if you've seen any changes since the beginning of the show, if you've been here since the beginning. I would really love to know that, and if you've, yeah, seen any differences since then. And because it is the 100th episode, we are doing a really big giveaway. Like, extra extra big. Like, biggest we've ever done. If you leave a review on the show, five stars would be really lovely Leave a review on whatever podcast platform you're listening to, take a screenshot of your review, and put it into the 100th episode giveaway form that is linked in the show notes. You have between now, Monday, as this episode is coming out, and essentially one week to do this, okay? So you have one week to get your review in. And we are giving away a free seat, speaking of the certification, a free seat to the Health Mindset Coaching Certification. We're giving away two power hours with me, which is your opportunity to ask me any specific questions about your business, your mindset, your clients. We can get into all kinds of things. And we'll also be giving away some DIY products as well to a few more people. So lots of opportunities to win, and I'm gonna tell you right now, not a lot of people are willing to do this, leave a review, take a screenshot, put it into that form. And in that form, we are, full transparency, collecting a little bit of data on you just to better understand you, what topics you like from the episodes, any specific favorite episodes, things like that. But it sounds like not a very heavy lift, but I promise you, that is enough friction, that is enough effort, that not a ton of people are going to do it. I also don't have a huge podcast, okay? So your your chances of winning are actually quite high. So please do that. And also, obviously, it helps me a lot. It helps the business a lot. It helps the show a lot. I'm not sponsored. I'm not getting paid to sit here and chat with y'all. So the only way that we can keep this going is through reviews and the show getting noticed by other people. So really appreciate that, really appreciate you just being here, which is why we wanted to give back. So what I wanna talk about is 10 things that I would not have known without these numbers behind me, without six years of mentoring coaches in the certification, without going through 100 episodes of the podcast, without 1,000 students that I've worked with in the certification. So I have 10 things for you today. The first one, coaches who care the most are often the ones who struggle the most, which honestly is, like, kind of hard to see, because it's not the coaches that don't care that are struggling the most when it comes to their clients who struggle with motivation or consistency or self-sabotage, because the coaches who don't care, they just chalk it up to the problem of the client, and it can't be their fault. No way as the coach. But those who really care when they have clients who struggle with some of these, like, mindset barriers, the psychological part of everything, they have a really hard time with that. Because they really care and they just don't know how to help those people. So doing everything with your clients, like everything for them rather, is often feeling like the solution, like excessive hand-holding, and let me give you a step-by-step process and tell you exactly what you need to do, and that's how you're going to actually stick to all of this. But that actually just creates more dependency. And for those of you who sometimes feel like you have really needy clients, that could be why, that because you're leaning in and trying to give, give, solution, solution, let me tell you exactly what to do, that's actually backfiring. So the harder you carry them, the less they're actually, building the muscle to carry themselves. And I've seen that so often, so often over the years working with so many coaches. Number two, you can't coach someone past a ceiling that you've already placed on them yourselves. So what I mean by that is you thinking,"This client will never change. It doesn't matter what I do for them. I see the same pattern over and over again. It doesn't matter what solution, how we change the plan, we keep running into the same pattern." And you start to think, even if it's just a little voice in the back of your head, that this person's never going to be successful. What you believe about them will, whether you realize it or not, influence how you show up for that client. And if you want them to have a growth mindset and be willing to make changes and do things and try things and get uncomfortable, then you yourself as the coach have to feel the same way, too, meaning you have to believe that they are coachable. None of this, like, There's just some clients that are uncoachable. and That's just the way it has to be." If that's how you're thinking as a coach, you have a fixed mindset about those clients. But then you're asking them to have more of a growth mindset. Do you see what I'm getting at here? Okay, next one. Self-doubt is actually the number one thing that holds coaches back beyond anything. Not skill gaps, not I don't know how to market, I don't know how to sell. Honestly, not even mindset and behavior change coaching skills, which is what I talk about all of the time, which is interesting, though, because it really is a mindset thing, but on the coach side of things. But yeah, it's not your program, it's not your price, it's not your niche, it's not your content. The number one thing that holds coaches back from being more successful that I have seen is in fact self-doubt. Because building belief in yourself is always going to be the biggest driver for your success Closing sales calls, posting consistently, coaching through hard moments, that all requires self-belief, confidence in your own coaching. If you don't have that, it's gonna be really hard to do all of the other things.

Number four: 10:16

even coaches with 10 to 20 years of experience have imposter syndrome. Inside the Health Mindset Coaching Certification, we have people of literally every skill level, you name it, from people who have never worked with a client before to people who are registered dieticians and have 20 years of practice under their belt. I'm literally thinking about a specific student who is in our Spring 2026 class right now. And no one is immune from the feeling of,"Am I actually good enough? Am I actually good at this?" I think especially once you have had more experience, if you still feel like you're running into issues with clients that you feel like you don't know how to resolve, then it really becomes like," Oh my God, I've been doing this forever. How am I still having these issues? This is crazy." Um, but it's really cool when we have coaches who have been doing this for potentially decades and raise their hand and say, "Hey, I'm still willing to learn more and improve, even though I've been doing this for a long time." 'Cause a lot of other people would just say, "I have enough experience. I know how to coach people on their mindset simply because I've been doing this a long time." Which is fine. If that's you, then, yeah, do… I'm not here to convince you of anything, okay? You live your own life. But the goal I want you to know is not to just eliminate the feelings of, "Am I cut out for this? Am I good enough at this?" But instead, to leverage it, and I actually have a whole episode on imposter syndrome and talking about this idea of leveraging those feelings instead of letting them run you. So I'll make sure that that is linked in the show notes. But the truth is, the most experienced coaches in HMCC that I have seen, that I've had the pleasure to work with, are the ones who are most surprised by how much they get out of the program because of how much time they've already spent doing this themselves. But again, whether you're brand new or you've been doing this for decades, you're not getting taught how to actually coach. You're getting taught what to coach, not how. And even with years of experience, I'm not saying you don't know anything, okay? You've been around the block. You've been doing this a long time. You definitely get better with practice, but, like, how are you practicing? Like, do you actually know the science of motivation and self-sabotage and growth versus fixed mindset and how to apply that to your coaching? Or are you just making the assumption that you should know because you've been doing this forever? Number five, the best coaches take their work seriously, but not personally. What I mean by this, you will be the most successful, feel the best about your work, not be as likely to struggle with burnout and compassion fatigue if you take responsibility for your client results and don't make those results mean anything about you as a person. When clients struggle, the worst thing you can do is take it personally, and a lot of you listening, you guys are coaches who give a shit, okay? You're my people, and it can be really hard to not just, like, carry the emotions and the struggles of your clients because it feels like it reflects on you as a coach, as a person. But the reality is we want to reframe that and see it as like,"Okay, this person is struggling, like, let me at it. This is a welcome challenge. I wanna figure out what's actually going on beneath the surface for this client," rather than just immediately going to a place of, " Okay, this person I've been working with for six months is still running into these same barriers. This is really starting to make me feel bad about what I'm capable of as a coach." We need to do our best to not go there. We wanna take it seriously. We wanna take responsibility for our clients' results, but not let the results, good or bad, tell us about who we are, if that makes sense. Number six, the most effective coaches rarely tell clients what to do. I talk about this one all of the time, but man, does it not belong on this list. It is so important, and it's something that just keeps getting ingrained over and over again, because telling, prescribing, advice giving, that's not necessarily effective coaching practices. And unlearning this, kinda going back to those of you who have been coaching for a while, definitely takes some time because it's deeply ingrained for us to want to be like," Well, this person's paying me for a plan and for advice, and I'm the expert, and I just need to tell them the things, and I want to fix things for them, and I want them to do better." Yeah, I get it. But if you're giving solutions to clients that don't stick, it's time to change your communication strategies rather than changing the plan, rather than trying to blame the client. So if you're constantly providing solutions that don't work to your clients, I promise you, the answer is not a better or different solution. Number seven, most certifications, they teach you what to coach- But they're not teaching you how. And this isn't even certifications. We're talking, advanced degrees. Again, going back to my registered dieticians out there, people who have master's degrees in exercise science. It's all about the what are you coaching, not the how. And that part, how to help someone actually follow through, stick with it, and, like, I don't know, use all the knowledge that you actually have in- stead of spending all of your time just chasing clients down for check-ins, trying to get more than one-word answers, trying to help them be consistent, trying to convince them that this is something that they actually do want. That's not what you should be spending the majority of your time on. It should be actually leveraging all of the knowledge and the experience and the skills that you do have. But so many coaches come to me say this, that it just feels like they don't even get to use all the knowledge that they already have, because instead they're like, "This person didn't even check in again, so here we go. Just gonna go chase them down, and that's what I'm spending my time on today." And that's super frustrating. So really, I'm just, with this one, recognizing a super special part of the Health Mindset Coaching Certification because it's the only certification that actually helps you use your other certifications, and that's been a really cool realization, not something that I would've ever known at the beginning of HMCC. Number eight, surrounding yourself with coaches who never stop learning is a cheat code. So many coaches are solopreneurs. They work alone. They're on their computer at home, and the lack of community from other people who get it, who get what you're going through and get what you're doing, is really underrated as a problem. Fully have seen this. Like, you guys should see the WhatsApp group chat of our alumni group students and how it is going off, I'm not kidding, not exaggerating, every single day. Someone is sharing something about a client, someone sharing a business resource, someone supporting someone else, and, like, the way that these coaches show up for each other is so cool, and I constantly just hear about how, "Wow, I didn't realize how much I needed to be, like, quote-unquote, in a room with other coaches like me." So the kind of coaches in and, like, thinking about this group chat, too, like, they give just as much as they receive, and it's always… Like, it's 17 different people showing up for one coach's question sometimes. And that community alone has been a serious career game changer beyond everything else, and especially, again, being in a group of coaches who are like you, right? Who you're around determines your growth more than most people realize. Number nine, falling out of love with coaching is more common than anyone talks about. This one's also a little bit, like, ouchie because the most passionate coaches, I've seen them start to wonder if they even want to be coaches anymore. They love the work, they love exercise, and they love nutrition, and they love all the things that they can do for their clients, but they're really starting to feel defeated. Not because they stopped caring, but because no matter what they try, their clients just still can't stick with things. And I'm sure you can feel this too, like, just believing so much in the potential of your clients, but feel disappointed when that potential's not actually seen. And over time, that does erode your love for coaching in the first place. And at HMCC, I'm so proud to say that we have built a reputation for helping coaches fall back in love with coaching again, and I really think that that's been… This is number nine in the list, but I really think that that is the coolest thing that I've been able to bear witness to. Okay. I will say, oh, this one could make me cry. the thing that surprised me the most is how mindset and behavior change skills don't just upgrade your coaching, they change your life. Oh, no. No, Casey, hold it together. I didn't, I almost didn't include this one because it feels so cheesy, and me reading that, you're probably like,"Okay, like, way to, like, overdo this, talking about, like, how you're about to cry," but it's the most consistent thing that I've seen across 1,000 students, so I really couldn't leave it out. But it's not something that I ever expected when I created this program, when I started teaching broadly, like, outside of academia, right? Like, outside of my Psych 101 students when I was in my PhD program, that this stuff would change people's lives, their relationships, how they parent their kids, and just generally their own confidence and their outlook on life. Like, this is not… The, the words that I'm saying are not things that I'm making up. It's like, I can… The reason why I said I could start crying is 'cause I can literally picture my students saying this in, the testimonial videos that we've asked them to share or in the messages that they've given us, and it's literally brought me to my bathroom floor in tears because it's just insane. Okay. So, all of these lessons exist because of the coaches that I've gotten to work with. they are the inspiration for all of this. There's no way I could be doing anything that I'm doing, including sitting in front of this microphone and camera talking to you right now, if it wasn't for you, if it wasn't for, honestly, for the coaches who give a shit and really, no matter where they're at, want to upgrade their coaching, want to do the best by their clients, want to see their clients get better, faster results and stay in love with coaching and build this a sustainable business as long as possible. I'm so honored, literally so honored that these are the people that I get to work with. So thank you to all of you who have helped me shape this and helped me become better over the years. I was so hesitant to start a podcast show because of how much work is required. And I'm a guest on someone else's show already like three to four times per month on average. I was like, do I really need to do this? But it's been so fun. And it's been so awesome to see what you guys have said about the podcast and how it's helped you. And again, we're giving back. Make sure you leave a review this week. Okay. Submit it in the review form and you'll be entered to win some really cool giveaways. So thank you. I appreciate you. And I'll see you next week. And that's a wrap for today's episode of Not another Mindset show. If you enjoyed today's episode, don't forget to hit that subscribe button so you get notified of the next one. Because if you're anything like me, if the episodes aren't popping up for you automatically, you'll keep forgetting to come back to the show even if you really, really enjoyed it. So go ahead and hit that subscribe button and make it super easy for you and of course. If you wanna see more episodes just like this one, I'd love for you to let me know by leaving a review. I know, I know it's super annoying to do, but the few seconds that it takes means the world to me and also ensures that I can keep providing free education and value to you. And just to sweeten the deal, I am going to be picking a random reviewer every single month to receive a free workshop or product from me. If you're looking for more free resources or just wanna connect, hang out, chat a little bit, come find me on Instagram. I'm Coach Casey, Joe over there. That is where I hang out the most in the land of social media. Alright, my friends, that is all I have for you this time. I so appreciate you being here and love to see you prioritizing your growth. I'll see you next time.