Taking Action to Create Transformation

When most people sit down to create a transformational online course, they think it’s a simple matter of teaching a method or delivering information in a way that works for them. Creating a true transformational experience for your students, one that drives them to action, is a lot more complex than general teaching methodologies or instructional design techniques that you may already be familiar with. 

Transformation is a permanent change that encourages someone to step out of their comfort zone, challenge previous beliefs about themselves and the world, and take action on something that was once scary and overwhelming.

If you are a coach or a therapist, then you probably know how difficult it is to get your clients to take action. People come to you not for the lack of “how” to better their lives, but more often because they’re stuck in a cycle of low motivation, procrastination, and self-sabotage. You know all too well that the foundation for transforming your clients’ lives is mental, emotional, and even spiritual support. True transformation can only occur when your students take action on the methods you teach. 

You might be thinking that it’s not your place to hold your students accountable for taking action, and that your job is over once you’ve delivered the methods and strategies. You’re not entirely wrong – there are tons of courses that are informational or strategic, and there’s nothing wrong with them! They have their place and work great for committed action takers… 

But can you really call your course transformational if you’re not committed to student action? Can you really promise them results if you know that a majority of students will struggle to take action, and therefore be unlikely to see results?

Action is needed for transformation. If you aren’t interested in ensuring your students take action, then you aren’t creating a transformational experience. The kind of action I’m talking about needs to be both intentional and consistent for it to actually lead to transformation.

Transformational programs are a hero’s journey – they lead the student through challenges to ultimately become a new person altogether. The student who enters the program will not be the same as the person who finishes it, and as the transformation leader you are their mentor through the journey.  

The outcome of that journey is important, because it’s what your client desires, and why they signed up for your program to begin with. But it is the transformation, the journey to that outcome, that is the real gold. The transformation uplevels them to the self that is able to create that result, hold on to it, and even surpass it. 

The transformation that I’m talking about isn’t some distant end point that awaits your student in the future: It’s the internal change that needs to happen within them, from the moment they begin your program, and throughout every interaction point within. The journey itself can’t be measured, but if your program is created with transformation in mind and understands who your client is and wants to become, then it becomes a vessel that holds space for it to happen. In short, your program becomes the mentor in the hero’s journey.   

As coaches or therapists who are already doing transformational work one-on-one, I’m sure these concepts aren’t new to you. The challenge for most is translating this transformational work into the structure of a program. 

Courses and programs don’t afford you the same level of intimacy as coaching does, and that intimacy is what lets you understand your clients’ mindset, guide them to relevant answers, and offer new perspectives that bust their old limiting beliefs. The issue with programs is that if your students are stuck, you might not even know it! This is one of the main reasons why most transformational programs fail to get their students to take action and become the kind of new self that can create the results that they desire.

The good news is, that it IS possible to create an actionable, transformational program that drives your students to action in the same way as you’re able to do in 1:1 coaching. Creating a transformational program goes deeper than simply about adding mindset modules, or self-coaching exercises. It starts with the program design itself – aligning your program to your students actual needs, challenges and desires. It includes everything from the types of modules that you include, to how you structure your information and what supportive tools and activities you include – and what you don’t. 

A lot of people don’t realize that what you choose not to include in your program has to be just as intentional as what you do include. More information does not equal more value, and it certainly doesn’t make your course any more transformational.  In fact, there’s a point where it becomes impossible to take action if you include too much information, or it overwhelms your students and leaves them frozen in place. 

The transformation first strategy that I’m proposing may seem scary, especially if you haven’t thought about designing HOW you teach your course. It may seem easier to just focus on the information or strategy in your course, but ask yourself: Do you want to be a transformational thought leader that changes people’s lives, or are you content with being a struggling strategist that’s stuck competing at the level of information alone, in a market that’s becoming increasingly oversaturated? 

We live in the age of Google that is saturated with information on every subject, and in the age of the pyramid market of strategists that become overnight gurus after learning a new strategy from their coach, and sooner or later becomes outdated once again. When you are a thought leader that knows how to create change, you become intrinsically valuable in your market and your ability to create real transformation becomes your IP. 

So who do you want to be?

Becoming a transformational program creator means transforming the lives of more students, not just those super action takers. Most importantly, what it means for your business is more referrals and clients that continue working with you again and again! Imagine the impact on your business if a fully satisfied client whose life you have transformed becomes your super fan, and refers to you 10 friends and buys at least 2 more programs from you? The more satisfied students you graduate, the more it will grow your business organically! I love this strategy and as it increases ROI on all marketing efforts.