Most sport or performance coaches don’t fail because they aren’t good at coaching.
They fail because of how they think about coaching.
Beliefs shape behaviors.
And if the beliefs you have about coaching, business, and success are wrong… you can grind away for years and still feel stuck.
I’ve worked with over 700 high-performers across my career, and the biggest problems are never in practical skills or talent.
They’re in limiting beliefs and myths fed to you by society or inner doubts.
I know, because I bought into these myths myself.
So if you’re a performance coach, sports psychologist, or mindset expert trying to grow your practice, read carefully — these are five of the biggest myths keeping you stuck (and what to do instead):
Myth 1. “If I just get better at coaching, my business will grow.”
This is the trap that kept me stuck for years.
I told myself:
“If I just become a better coach, success will take care of itself.”
So I went all in on mastering my craft:
📚 Reading every book.
📜 Getting more certifications.
🎯 Perfecting my skills.
I thought that if I became undeniably great, clients would naturally find me.
But that never happened.
Because the truth is — coaching ability and business success are two completely different skill sets.
And I had only mastered one of them.
That’s when I started noticing something frustrating…
I saw less experienced coaches charging double my rates, working with top clients, and taking weekends off.
…while I was still grinding away in back-to-back sessions, exhausted, and wondering what I was doing wrong.
At first, I thought:
“Maybe they’re just naturally better at selling themselves.”
But then I realized — they weren’t better at coaching.
They were just better at:
✅ Communicating their value so clients understood it immediately.
✅ Attracting premium clients without constantly chasing them.
✅ Positioning themselves as the go-to expert.
And that’s when it finally hit me:
Being a great coach isn’t enough if nobody knows about it.
You don’t get paid for how much you know — you get paid for how well you help clients see why they need you.
The shift?
Once I stopped hiding behind “getting better” and started learning how to actually grow my practice, everything changed.
Myth 2. “If I raise my rates, I’ll lose clients.”
You won’t lose clients — you’re already losing clients.
And worse? You’re keeping the wrong ones.
If you’re undercharging, you’re attracting the bargain hunters, the energy-drainers, and the clients who see you as “cheap help” instead of a trusted expert.
For years, I kept my rates low out of fear.
I told myself:
❌ Clients would leave.
❌ People would think I was greedy.
❌ I had to “earn” the right to charge more.
But here’s what actually happened when I finally raised my rates:
✅ My best clients stayed (because they valued my work).
✅ I started working with clients who actually respected my time.
✅ I felt more confident, more energized, and more in control.
And the ones who left?
🚫 They were the ones who constantly questioned my prices.
🚫 They were the ones rescheduling last minute (or ghosting entirely).
🚫 They were the ones treating my expertise like a cheap commodity.
Here’s what most coaches don’t realize —
Undercharging doesn’t just cost you money.
It makes it harder for high-value clients to take you seriously.
Because if YOU don’t believe your work is worth more…
Why should they?
So the real question isn’t:
The real question is:
"Am I willing to keep the wrong ones at the cost of my energy, confidence, and income?"
Myth 3. “I don’t need to market myself — word-of-mouth will bring me clients.”
I hear this one all the time.
“I don’t need to market myself, Alex. My work speaks for itself.”
I used to believe that too.
I thought if I just delivered great results, my clients would naturally tell their friends. I figured referrals would keep my practice growing without me having to “sell” myself.
And for a while… it worked.
Some months, I had plenty of referrals. Other months? A calendar drier than the Sahara.
That’s when I learned the brutal truth —
Referrals Are NOT a Business Strategy.
✅ They’re inconsistent (just because clients love your work doesn’t mean they’ll refer you).
✅ They’re unreliable (some clients refer constantly, others never do).
✅ And they leave you powerless, waiting on someone else’s timeline.
A real business doesn’t run on the dangerous drug known as “Hopeium”.
The best coaches don’t sit back and wait for clients...
They build systems that bring clients to them on demand:
✅ They know how to create demand for their services (so they never rely on “luck” to get clients).
✅ They know how to communicate their expertise (so clients instantly see why they need them).
✅ They know how to control their pipeline (instead of crossing their fingers and hoping someone sends them business).
If your coaching practice depends on word-of-mouth, you don’t have a business.
You have a waiting game.
And waiting isn’t a strategy you can afford to take.
Myth 4. “More certifications = more clients.”
This one took me years to unlearn.
For the longest time, I thought success meant stacking credentials like trophies — that every extra degree, certification, or course would somehow unlock a new level of business growth.
Sound familiar?
I see this all the time with coaches who are stuck:
❌ They tell themselves they just need one more certification before they’re “ready.”
❌ They feel like they can’t raise their rates until they’ve got more letters after their name.
❌ They assume the best-paid coaches must have the longest resumes.
But these are just misconceptions:
👉 Your ability to attract clients has almost NOTHING to do with your certifications.
I’ve worked with NBA and NFL teams, elite athletes, and top executives. And guess what?
Not ONCE has a client asked about my degrees before hiring me
Because at the end of the day, what they actually care about is:
✅ Can you solve their problem?
✅ Do they trust you to help them?
✅ Can you communicate your expertise clearly?
That’s it.
If degrees and certifications were the secret to success, every PhD in sports psychology would have a thriving six-figure practice.
But that’s NOT how it works.
The best-paid coaches aren’t the ones with the most credentials — they’re the ones who get the best results for their clients.
So, the real question isn’t:
“Do I need another certification?”
It’s:
“Do I know how to attract and serve the right clients NOW?”
And if you don’t? That’s what we teach inside the High Performance Circle.
Myth 5. “I need to work with everyone to make more money.”
For years, I said yes to every client who showed up.
Athletes, entrepreneurs, corporate executives — if they needed coaching, I took them.
I thought more clients = more success.
But instead of growth, I got:
⚠️ A calendar packed with random clients who all needed different things.
⚠️ Constantly switching gears and reinventing my approach.
⚠️ A reputation so broad that no one actually knew what I was the best at.
⚠️ Working harder than ever — but never feeling like I was moving forward.
Then I learned a simple truth that changed everything:
The best coaches aren’t generalists. They’re specialists.
✅ They focus on a specific type of client.
✅ They become the go-to expert in their niche.
✅ They attract high-level clients who pay for expertise — not just time.
Think about it — who earns more?
A general doctor… or a brain surgeon?
The more specialized you are, the more valuable you become.
If you’re trying to work with everyone, you’re actually making it harder to attract anyone at a high level.
So what now?
If any of these myths hit home, don’t beat yourself up — I believed them too.
And they cost me years of wasted effort, undercharging, and being overworked.
But here’s the thing — nothing changes until you make a decision.
Inside The High Performance Circle, we don’t just break these myths.
We replace them with a proven system to help you:
✅ Attract premium clients who see your expertise as an investment, not an expense.
✅ Position yourself as the go-to coach in your field (without wasting years trying to “figure it out”).
✅ Build a coaching practice that actually scales (without needing to take 7 generic business courses).
But this isn’t for everyone.
We only work with serious performance coaches who are ready to step up and take control of their practice.
If that’s you, reply to this email with “Let's go”
Let’s build something bigger than just a coaching business. Let’s build your legacy.
Talk soon,
Alex
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Send them this page here and they can find out everything they need to know.
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