"Thinking outside the box" is a valuable trait for coaches. 

Not all clients will be the same.  They won't have the same needs, the same strengths, the same weaknesses, or the same goals. 

And there are a ton of different ways to build a successful coaching business, too. 

But we often get trapped in limited thinking, and refuse to expand our thoughts to include things that are considered too "out there" ... 

Last weekend, my son told me that he wanted to do a project together. 

Oh-ho.  I'm not the handiest guy on the planet ... 

Ever see The Simpsons episode where Homer tried to make a birdhouse? Or the one where he butchered a soapbox derby racer called Li'l Lightnin"?

Think that x 10 ... 

So I asked him what he wanted to make together. He said: 

"A robot!" 

If I have trouble with birdhouses, good luck with robots.  But I asked him what ideas he had in mind. He pulled out his notebook with this drawings:

He did up sketches of his robot plans, with ideas like an iPad inside the head to talk, and a remote control car on the inside to give the robot movement. And he threw in some drawings on the outside of it, to dress it up some. 

The first thought in my 38 year old brain was to tell him how this wasn't workable (although it would probably work better than Blackberries - sorry but I gave up on them back in '09) 

I was going to tell him how the iPad wasn't workable for the voice, and how the robot car couldn't power something that size. The body was wood, but he wanted cardboard for the head - what if it rained?!? 

Then I stopped and thought about it.  I admire the imagination and ingenuiity of kids: 

- They think big

- They don't worry about the naysayers

- They don't doubt themselves and they have supreme confidence/ a can-do attitude with things like this. 

- You'll never hear them say "No one has done it this way before - it won't work!" 

To sum it up, they're creative. A heck of a lot more creative than we grown-ups. 

We can learn a thing or two from kids.

We shoot down our ideas before we even try them. We list 100 reasons why it won't work, instead of thinking about how it can work.

We sabotage our ideas before they get off the ground. 

Ever see The Astronaut Farmer with Kevin Costner? Coster plays a rancher who decides to build a rocket in his barn with the goal of travelling into space. Crazy? Maybe. But you have to admire his creativity. 

When working on your business, give yourself room to dream.

Get a little freaky and see what happens.

I'm looking for one more creative coach to join my group coaching program that starts next week. If you're ready to get crazy and think outside the box, check it out: 

Marc