Interview with Life Coach magazine
This article was first published in Life Coach Magazine, May 2022.
Lindsey Roberts is the founder of Goal Digger Coaching in London. We hope you enjoy this interview!
Coaching Focus: I believe feeling overwhelmed and on the way to burnout has been the norm for too long for too many people. I help my clients get to the crux of what’s causing it so they go from feeling frazzled and overwhelmed to energised, in control, and doing what’s important to them.
Location: London, UK
Connect: You can find Lindsey online at her website, as well as on Instagram and LinkedIn.
Tell us about your journey as a coach.
For 12 years I worked in a corporate role, climbing up the career ladder. In 2019 I had a mental breakdown and decided it was time for a change.
I began working with a psychologist, and we spent a lot of time looking at my values. Becoming a life coach felt like it was something that would align with my core values of community, connection, and creativity. I began training at the beginning of 2020 and started my business, Goal Digger Coaching, at the same time.
Originally my focus was to help more people set goals and get to where they wanted to be, but as my business evolved and I worked with more clients, I began to realise that I wanted to be able to provide the service that I wish I had had a couple of years before my breakdown.
I’m not saying it would have prevented it entirely, but if I’d felt empowered to deal with any obstacles that were in my way rather than ‘just powering through and getting on with it,’ things might have been different.
But then if they were different, would I be here writing this with my own coaching business? Perhaps not.
At the end of the day, life is so short. We spend so much time in our heads and feeling overwhelmed that we don’t move forward and take action. My coaching practice helps with that.
At the end of the day, life is so short. We spend so much time in our heads and feeling overwhelmed that we don’t move forward and take action. My coaching practice helps with that.
What courses or certifications have you done? Would you recommend them?
I completed a diploma with The Coaching Academy. Would recommend them 100%. The training is thorough and the testing is rigorous. It’s made me feel more than equipped to coach my clients.
What advice or perspective might you give to a new coach trying to get her first clients? Any advice they should ignore?
Don’t feel like you have to be on every social media platform! It can be so overwhelming.
To start, think about who you know that can help you get clients, rather than how you’re going to do it. Friends of friends? Work colleagues?
I also charged from the very beginning of training, based on feedback I got from another peer who was further ahead in their training. I think it was £50 for 4 sessions. It made it feel more real and the clients knew that I was in training, but because they had paid for it, they were also more committed.
What are your thoughts on “choosing a niche” as a coach?
I think to start with there is a lot of pressure to niche—and that can make it feel quite difficult to move forward.
My advice would be to just start talking about the problems that you can help solve and the solution that you offer. The benefits of coaching are broad! It might be that once you get comfortable talking about your coaching business in general terms, it will be easier to niche down, but don’t let it stop you from getting started!
What books have significantly influenced your life? What are your key takeaways from these books?
Rules for Renegades by Christine Comaford – This was the book that started my ‘self-development journey’ and made me leave my current job and move to London to start a new life!
Solve For Happy by Mo Gawdat – This book really made me rethink what happiness is—and to consider the happiness equation. Such a great read!
If you received an extra $10,000 to spend on your business, how would you spend it and why?
Does hiring a villa in Bali count as a business expense? I’d love to be able to work from a different country for a while whilst my business allows that freedom.
If that’s a no-go, then I’d invest it in hiring SEO experts and content writers to make sure that my content is targeting the right people and the messages are getting across!
What are some of your favourite affirmations or thoughts currently? Why?
‘What if I fall? Oh, my darling, what if you fly?’
‘If not me, then who? If not now, then when?’
Both make me think about taking action and moving forward. If you don’t try, you’ll never know.
When you feel overwhelmed, stressed, or have lost your focus or motivation, what do you do?
If I’m feeling super overwhelmed I’ll take an ‘hour by hour approach’ and literally plan out the next few hours ahead of me, rather than looking at the whole day.
I also try to use the Pomodoro technique—having 25 minutes of focus and a five-minute break feels doable if I have something I need to do but I don’t really want to!
It’s also super easy to get sucked into sitting at your desk all day, but stepping away for some fresh air can give you so much perspective!
Do you have any embarrassing (at the time) stories from your work as a coach? Or a time when putting yourself out there really paid off?
One of my core values is creativity. I get that value met a lot by making creative reels on Instagram and TikToks. Yes, it’s a bit of fun and it definitely puts me ‘out there,’ but that’s what people know me for a lot now, which I like!
It’s a fun conversation starter and I love connecting with people in that way. It also definitely doesn’t feel like work! I am now also the queen of lip-syncing! Haven’t mastered the dance moves yet.
If you could put a message on a huge billboard — getting a message out to millions — what would it say and why?
“It’s okay to say no if it doesn’t serve you”
We often get pulled into feeling like we have to do everything we’re asked to do, or if we say no to something we’ll upset the other person and let them down. But actually, we’re letting ourselves down by not staying true to who we are and saying yes to things that align with our values. Boundaries are beautiful!
