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Who doesn’t like to receive something for free? It feels good to many people, however, when you invest in your well-being and personal growth—it comes at a price. Whether it’s the energy you spend on improving yourself or the financial cost to improve your life. You will only get so far with free advice or free resources. It’s when you invest in learning or pay for professional help, is when you have faster personal advancement in your life.
When I see people expecting to get free consulting or coaching, I have to catch myself from judging them. When they don’t have money to pay for these services, I understand why they are looking for free help. When I see people who are financially capable of hiring a coach or consultant etc., but ask for free help, it turns me off.
Let me explain my thoughts. The mental health professional who went to school to help people who are suffering with mental health issues or trauma, paid a price to obtain their training and education. The attorney who spent hundreds of hours learning their right to practice law, made sacrifices to learn their trade to help others. It all comes at a price—time, energy, sacrifice, and financial commitments.
Coaches and consultants also spend countless hours of their time and money. The cost of earning my coaching certification was around $18,000. My pets required a pet sitter when I had to go to Miami to attend three core classes. My college degrees add up to over $50,000. While the Air Force paid for them, I paid the prices of serving and missing many holidays with my family. Nothing is free.
While it is safe to say that many men and women who have invested in their training and degrees to help others—it’s not fair to expect them to offer free advice, consulting or coaching. These professionals saw the benefit of trading their energy, time, and money to devote their futures to helping mankind. I have talked to many professionals that become exasperated when someone sends them a friends request of Facebook or a connection on LinkedIn, only to ask for free help. Did these individuals develop a relationship or a bond with the person? Or did they assume they have the right to ask for free help?
My heart goes out to the person who really needs help and is financially struggling. There are excellent resources like United Way’s 411 program that offers many resources to help people. In some cases, a person may qualify for free legal guidance or other material goods through this program, http://www.211.org. There are other free services out there to help people in financial need.
However, when a person feels entitled or they try to devalue a professional’s time and services it is also a reflection of the person who should pay for other people’s services. I often wonder if the person asking for free services would want to work for free for others. Nearly every person I know wants to be respected—so do professional people who are out there serving others. I have given countless hours of my time for free in the past, but I have reserve my time, energy, and resources to be able to help more people. This comes at a cost.
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This post is republished on Medium.
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