10 lessons I’ve learned from teaching 100 personal development courses

A momentous thing is happening at Thompson Towers this Friday, March 1st 2024 (drum roll!! 🥁)…

We will be releasing the 100th COURSE of the Wellbeing Warriors Coaching Academy! That’s ONE HUNDRED DIFFERENT 30-Day personal development courses 😳, quite the milestone!

(Want to see a full list of all the courses? There are some that will really surprise you… you can see them by clicking here).

Waaaay back in 2015 (which seems like a lifetime ago!), I never dreamed that I would be putting together the 100th course. Most coaches will have put out maybe a handful of courses in that time… and the vast majority of coaching businesses do not even make it past the two-year mark, let alone the decade I have been honoured to be doing this work with y’all.

So, to celebrate this special occasion, here are the Top 10 LESSONS I have learned about human nature (and myself!) from teaching ONE HUNDRED 30-Day personal development courses.1. RESULTS CREATE A CYCLE OF MOTIVATION

Tangible results create momentum and motivation. Because I see this DAILY with all the comments and aha! moments, it keeps me focused on delivering more of what works for people. Because the members see the small actions they take paying off in terms of immediate impact and results in their life and health they keep doing it too. RESULTS create their own momentum.

You can see this in your own life when you start towards a goal or a project and start to see some quick wins (the word count on your novel, your jeans starting to fit better, etc). It’s EASIER to continue something when you experience it working.

2. LESS IS MORE

A big lesson I have learned through creating 100 different modules is that women really are BUSY. Throwing everything helpful at people just creates overwhelm and they don’t put stuff into practice. Less is truly more.

REFINING and CURATING the module resources each month on a particular topic, whether that is boundaries or ageing well or perfectionism is about giving my ladies the absolute CREAM OF THE CROP. They don’t need to know everything about that topic: they ONLY need to know the 1-3 easy-to-remember tools or principles that they can apply easily, will move the needle for them and that they will USE.

My work creating each month is as much about what I leave OUT as what I put IN. I have got better and better and better and elevating the content to be as simple to deliver, understand and apply as possible.

When I was a baby coach I made a MISTAKE and would try and give people everything but the kitchen sink! That was inexperience. That’s not what people need. Life is WAY too busy for that! These days I love giving a super-curated experience of everything they need and nothing that don’t. In fact, we redesigned the technology of the whole Academy on that principle a few years back – stripped it right back. I don’t want people faffing about looking for stuff and a whole heap of useful but irrelevant stuff they will never get to. The KEY to growth and progress is LESS IS MORE.

If you are struggling to get traction on something, consider if you are trying to do too much or reach too high. LESS IS MORE is often the principle you need to get things unstuck.

3. IMPLEMENTATION TRUMPS INFORMATION EVERY TIME

When it comes to wellbeing I kind of knew this at the beginning in Module 1 (way back in December 2015!) but I didn’t realise just HOW important until I started seeing WHY people were getting their wins and results. It was NOT about what they KNEW but it was down to what they put into PRACTICE.

People put WAY too much value on INFORMATION. Piles of self-help books half-read on the nightstand. Zillions of Instagram reels of shiny people being marvellous throwing out tid-bits watched. Newspaper articles underlined, but nothing actioned. Honestly…all that NOISE…it’s all POINTLESS.

If you don’t ACTION IT, it DOESN’T HELP YOU! It’s FAR better to KNOW ONE BRILLIANT PRINCIPLE and apply it consistently, than know more but put it into practice “one day when life is less full on”. That day NEVER comes. It’s what you do TODAY that counts. How your life, body, finances, relationships are a year from now is based on what you DO TODAY.

One of my biggest learnings in terms of seeing people TRULY improve their mental and physical health (not just wish about it) is that implementation trumps information every. Single. Time.

4. DON’T UNDERVALUE THE POWER OF COMMUNITY IN THE MODERN WORLD

This has been a big learning for me over the 100 modules. I didn’t realise just how powerful the members’ community would be. I thought the most valuable thing would be me and my cool info 😂, and sure, that is very valuable and the engine of the results people get. But the HEART of the results, oh my friends…that’s the COMMUNITY. I had no idea of the sheer power of having hundreds of women dispersed around the globe, diverse in every way possible, but having this incredible shared VALUE around personal growth, compassion, curiosity, open mindedness. 

Life is disconnected in 2024, The biggest relationship a lot of people have is with their PHONE. So much genuine connection, understanding, support, has evaporated in the modern world. Holding this safe space for the community to learn and share privately and in a judgement-free zone is a rare and beautiful thing. It is a place where people feel deeply understood, in a hyper-connected world that seems to offer less and less of that. 

How and where do you feel seen, heard, safe, deeply connected? I think it’s a vanishingly rare quality in 2024 and I am so glad it is at the heart of what we do 💛 

5. EMBRACE YOUR SUPERPOWER. 

So, the most fun thing about growing the Wellbeing Warriors Coaching Academy has been the sheer variety of wellbeing topics we have covered. When I started The Academy I always knew I wanted us to explore the topics that were important to wellbeing, but that no one else was really talking about… what I didn’t realise was just how fun that would be to do and to evolve. 

My gift, my superpower if you will, is taking COMPLEX TOPICS and boiling them down to one really simple tool or principles that people GET, REMEMBER and more importantly USE. 

People ask all the time: “How do you think of new ideas or what to cover?” and the reality is that’s the EASY bit. Wellbeing is SO broad, and constantly evolving, so there are always new facets of mental health, emotional wellbeing, physical improvement and spiritual growth to explore. 

Is there an aspect of your wellbeing (mental, physical, emotional or spiritual) you want to uplevel in 2024? (you can see the full list of 100 topics here).

6. YOU DO YOU

Everyone is different and people’s life stages are changing ALL THE TIME, so what works for someone doesn’t even necessarily apply the same to them a year later. 

Building tools and distilling core coaching principles that can be applied in different ways by different people in such radically different situations is THRILLING to me. 

That we have a commonality of wanting to be healthier and happier and so on, but that the execution is so individual. “You Do You” is a mantra we live by in The Academy that underpins not just the non-judgmental support but the permission we all sometimes need to step up and do life our own way. 

The way I create tools and principles that relate universally but can be applied in bespoke ways to each person’s particular situation and life stage, has evolved and improved over time.

It’s good advice for MANY situations that you may be wrestling with, especially if you are feeling the weight of a lot of “shoulds”. YOU DO YOU. No-one else knows what it is like to live in your body and your life but you.

7. WHAT YOU DO DAILY MATTERS. A LOT. 

Humans are reeeeeally good at putting stuff off (you probably know this!). We are also good at setting big intentions and not following through on them. What I have learned over the last 100 modules is WHAT CAN GET GONE QUICKLY IS WHAT GETS DONE. 

And what gets DONE DAILY is the most important of all. It’s those micro-habits that determine the fabric of our life.

When I first started the WW Academy those 100 modules ago, I did the implementation challenges as an afterthought really. They were kind of daily-ish, just when I was in the mood. But I realised very quickly that actually they were the MOST IMPORTANT PART of the whole freaking thing. That forming a TINY DAILY HABIT of doing one small thing for your mental or physical health by doing the daily challenge in the Academy was the CORNERSTONE of member’s progress. 

Since that light bulb moment all those years back, the challenges are scheduled to come out at 6am every day 365 days a year. And hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of women around the world start their day with a coffee and that 2-minute wellbeing challenge. It’s the ultimate mental health micro-habit. WHAT YOU DO DAILY MATTERS. Not what you intend to do daily, what you actually do.

8. LIVE LIFE COACHING CREATES SERIOUS RIPPLE EFFECTS

I added this to The Academy a few years back as a sort of trial and everyone loved it so much we have done it weekly ever since (click here for a 60 second teaser of our weekly live coaching sessions).

It’s my FAVOURITE part of the week! We call for questions in the Private Members Community on a Tuesday, where the Wellbeing Warrriors can ask a question about an issue they have in their own life and I answer them in a live video session on the Friday. I can tell you over the years we have had it all. From serious health issues, divorce, affairs, neurodiversity challenges, toxic workplaces, embezzling spouses, homes destroyed in natural disasters, mean sisters, financial explosions, you name it, we cover it. 

What is SO COOL about it is it helps the person with the problem, often in a totally life-transforming way, but equally cool is the fact that every single week other, members will get SO MUCH from it that they weren’t expecting.  It will give them answers to questions they didn’t even know they had. It shines a light on our own stuff we have been avoiding, sometimes for years. The coaching principles we use are so timeless and applicable to so many situations: sometimes watching a Coach Spot for someone else is the EXACT answer to a problem you have been silently wrestling with yourself for years. 

I absolutely LOVE doing these ❤️ The replays are all filed, so members can rewatch those coaching nuggets anytime they need them. 

9. IT TAKES A VILLAGE

I sure did not know THAT when I started 100 modules ago 😂. To start, it was just me, and my part-time VA Justine, who did 8 hours a week. We are now a team of 7 talented professionals scattered around the globe!

Technology has changed, of course, so the level we offer is SO elevated compared to where we started. I’ve invested SO much in making The WW Coaching Academy the best on the planet. It’s elegant. Easy to use. Has the library of all back courses to dip into at will. The level and breadth of the service the members get is second to none, and I am so grateful to the amazing team of talented and dedicated humans I work with. 

AND FINALLY…10. CONSISTENCY TRUMPS QUANTITY EVERY TIME

When it comes to business, it is the same as when it comes to our wellbeing: CONSISTENCY TRUMPS QUANTITY VERY TIME.

Why has my coaching business endured where the other 90% have fallen by the wayside over the last decade? Because of consistency. Consistency is what creates TRUST.

6am on the 1st of the month, every month, no matter what: a brand new module of personal growth lands in the members inboxes. It’s the same discipline that has meant that Wellbeing Wednesday is in your inbox at 6am every Wednesday morning and has been for over… oooo…13 years now. 

I believe in what I do. I see how it works, so I show up for YOU with quality and consistency.

You show up for ME to read, to think, to learn, to be a part of the magic. THANK YOU!

This is the same for any significant result we are trying to achieve in our life or health. What we SHOW UP FOR CONSISTENTLY is what will be successful.

It’s a great question to pause and ask ourselves: What am I consistently showing up for? I might be Instagram scrolling marathons… or gossip sessions with colleagues. Or it might be showing up for ourselves three times a week at the gym, or in our 2-minute daily coaching challenge in the WW Academy. Obviously, the outcomes are really different here… and that’s why it’s so powerful to be honest with ourselves about who we are showing up for consistently and why. 

So that’s it, {first_name}! The final part in my series on the 10 biggest lessons I have learned from 100 courses in the Wellbeing Warriors Coaching Academy.

To honour the longevity of our 100 courses in the Wellbeing Warriors Coaching Academy, this March we will be exploring and upleveling our personal levels of resilience in a structured 30-Day course of tools and resources on RESILIENCE BRILLIANCE. As a Member, you will be learning how to boost your resilience in a focused and deliberate way, so you know you have strength in reserve for when the inevitable storms of life come your way. You will be learning tools and principles over 30 days that will last a lifetime.  

Would you like to join us for 30 days of RESILIENCE BRILLIANCE? CLICK HERE to join today. You can join for the month (NGBP £39 – click here; or NZ $87 – click here) or go all in and join for a year of upleveling every aspect of your wellbeing (GB £449 click here; or NZ $997 – click here).

If you don’t know, this is how The Coaching Academy works:

📆 I release a BRAND NEW COURSE of personal growth every month on the 1st of the month at 6am NZT. Monday 1st March will be our 100th COURSE and the topic will be RESILIENCE BRILLIANCE.

👩‍🎓Each month, we work through the course together in our Private Members Community, with a suite of bespoke themed resources and in-depth tutorials in the Members Hub. PLUS the integral 30-Days of 2-minute daily implementation challenges, and added tools, including bespoke guided meditations, screensavers, workbooks and even a colouring page. It’s a guided 30-Day mini-course – it will challenge you – and it will change you!

👩‍🏫 As well as group and bite-sized self-learning, the Academy offers WEEKLY live coaching sessions with me, in the form of a weekly coach spot (our members-only snappy Q & A session ON LIFE DILEMMAS!) as well as a monthly Q & A on the month’s topic.

I create and teach every course live, monthly (yes, all 100 of them!), so that each of the tools and modules you learn integrate and layer beautifully on top of one another for a seamless learning experience. Each module also stands alone as a complete 30-day transformational course you can dive into at will in our indexed and searchable Wellbeing Warriors Members Hub.

We start Course 100 on Friday. Think how you might be feeling today if you’d joined for Course 1? Think how different you could be feeling by Course 200?! 

Now is the time. Click here for all the deets and to join.