When Coaching Becomes a Crutch (And You Don’t Even Realize It)

There’s a phase of business growth that doesn’t get talked about enough. It usually starts in a really empowering place.

You decide to invest in yourself.

In your business.

In your next level.

You hire a coach.

And suddenly, things start moving.

You’re making decisions faster.

You’re refining your messaging.

You’re creating new offers.

You’re showing up more boldly than you have before.

You’re being stretched and it’s exactly what you needed.

For many women, this is the first time they’ve ever had someone in their corner saying,

“Go. You’re ready.”

And that kind of support can be life-changing.

But there’s a quieter shift that can happen over time… and if you’re not paying attention, you’ll miss it.

Instead of asking yourself what feels right… you start asking what your coach would say.

Before you post, before you launch, before you decide, there’s a pause.

“Should I run this by them?”

“Is this aligned with what they taught?”

“Would they approve?”

I know this because I’ve lived it. I’ve had moments where I held back on sharing something that felt deeply true because I didn’t have external validation.

Moments where my coach’s voice was louder than my own.

There’s is nuance here -

The coaching wasn’t wrong.

The support wasn’t the problem.

But somewhere along the way, I had started outsourcing my knowing. My intuition.

My lived experience.

My understanding of my own business.

To someone who, no matter how brilliant, wasn’t inside my body.

Wasn’t living my life.

Wasn’t feeling what I was feeling in real time.

And this is where I see so many women get stuck.

They grow because of coaching…

but they don’t learn how to stand without it.

I’ve seen women leave long-term coaching containers - ones that expanded their business beautifully - and suddenly feel unsure of every move. So they look for the next place to land.

Another coach. Another group. Another space to ask:

“What should I do?”

I’ve watched it show up in smaller ways:

running decisions through friends, group chats, communities. Anything to avoid sitting with their own answer first.

Not because they’re incapable but because they’ve never been taught how to trust themselves. And of course they haven’t.

Most of us were raised to look outside ourselves for approval, direction, and validation.

So when we enter the coaching world, it can feel natural (almost comforting) to place that authority onto someone else.

Again. This isn’t about blaming coaches.

I deeply believe in mentorship.

I still invest in it myself.

But the way I relate to it now is completely different.

I don’t go into spaces looking to be told what to do.

I go into them to be reflected back to myself.

To have someone witness what I already feel but haven’t fully claimed.

To help me see my blind spots without overriding my truth.

Because real power in business and in life isn’t built on constant guidance.

It’s built on self-trust.

On being able to hear your own inner voice…

and move with it.

Even when it’s uncomfortable.

Even when it doesn’t make logical sense.

Even when no one has validated it yet.

That’s the work.

Not just building a business that looks good from the outside but becoming the woman who can lead herself from within.

So if you’re in a season where you feel stuck without input… where every decision feels like it needs a second opinion… I’d gently invite you to pause.

Before you ask anyone else...ask yourself.

And then listen.

That voice?

It might be quieter right now.

But it’s there.

And the more you choose it…

the stronger it becomes.

A Different Kind of Support

This is the foundation of the work I do.

Not giving you more answers.

Not handing you a strategy to follow.

But helping you come back into relationship with your own knowing.

So you can make decisions, create, and move forward

without needing constant validation.

Support that strengthens your voice, not replaces it.

If that’s what you’re craving… you’re not alone.

And you don’t have to keep building from uncertainty.

Let's work together