Teaching Self-Help for a Living — How Do I Get There Without Losing my Mind or Money?

[Quest]

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some input on a career decision I’m currently navigating. I’m 31 years old, a certified personal trainer/group fitness instructor, and have been training clients for roughly 9 months. I currently earn about $45k/year and enjoy helping people, but my ultimate goal is to become a self-help teacher by building a YouTube channel and website. I actually already created both, but stepped away because I wasn’t making money.

Here’s where I am now: I see three main options and I’d love to hear your perspectives — including @Leo Gura if he happens to see this!

 

Option 1: Launch fitness biz - become a specialized niche trainer.

What it is: Niche personal training services for a specific demographic.

Pros:

Have some proof concept that the idea is viable.

Immediate business feasibility — I have the certifications, experience, and am going through additional courses to deepen my knowledge.

Mentorship from my uncle, who is a successful entrepreneur.

Target demographic tends to have disposable income, free time, and pressing pain points, making this a potentially viable business.

Potential to replace my current income and free up 2–3 days per week for self-help research and content creation. If I can get 10 clients, I can comfortably transition to a 4 day work week, using the other 3 days + off work hours to pursue my LP.

Cons:

It’s not my core passion; I’m not that excited about the business itself.

Risk of becoming financially successful but not aligned with my ultimate vision (golden handcuffs).

 

Option 2: Stay as a generic Trainer and Start Self-Help Now

What it is: Continue with my current role and immediately dedicate available time to building my self-help platform.

Pros:

Zero risk.

I start pursuing my passion immediately.

No distraction from building a new business.

Cons:

Low income (~$45k/year).

Client hours take up most of my time, making deep work on research and content challenging.

Progress might be slow; could take years before self-help becomes sustainable.

 

Option 3: Cash Out Portfolio & Go All-In on Self-Help

What it is: Liquidate multiple six-figure stock portfolio, live on a skeleton budget, and dedicate full time to learning, creating content, and growing my self-help platform.

Pros:

Immediate, full alignment with my passion.

Maximum personal growth and learning potential.

Cons:

Very high financial risk; I could burn through assets and compromise early retirement.

No guaranteed income.

YouTube growth and monetization are uncertain, and I have limited experience in this area. I am not currently skilled in YouTube growth, marketing funnels, or info-product monetization — so the learning curve is steep

 

Where I Stand Personally

Comfortable monthly income: ~$5k. If I can get 9-10 consistent private clients, I'm covered.

Passion: Synthesizing wisdom and teaching it — self-help is my clear priority.

Time horizon: 5 years to transition fully to self-help LP.

Discipline: Very high; I can self-regulate and dedicate focused time to learning and creation.

Ultimate goal: Creating a self-help platform that sustains me financially.

My Current Thinking: Hybrid Approach (option 1)

- Use niche fitness biz to generate a modest, sustainable income (~$5k/month) with limited hours.

- Dedicate 2–3 days/week + non-work hours to deep work on self-help content — reading, note-taking, synthesizing, contemplation, video creation.

- Over 3–5 years, gradually pivot to full-time self-help as the platform grows.

This way, I maintain financial security, gain practical business experience, and actively build my true passion without burning my portfolio.

 

I’d love to hear from the community:

- Would you approach this differently?

- Any pitfalls you see in the hybrid approach?

- How can I structure my deep work time to maximize speed and scope of learning? What skills are most fundamental? (i.e. contemplation, note taking, mind maps, etc.)

- If you’ve made a similar pivot, what did you learn?

 

Thanks so much for your insights!

Edited Sunday at 11:07 PM by Quest

[Spiral]

I would do a hybrid approach. Out of curiosity what type of self help are you interested in teaching? 
 

I guesstimate that you need to produce high quality content for about 2 years regularly before you start do see some results.

[Quest]

40 minutes ago, Spiral said:

I would do a hybrid approach. Out of curiosity what type of self help are you interested in teaching? 
 

I guesstimate that you need to produce high quality content for about 2 years regularly before you start do see some results.

For now, more standard stage orange stuff - finances, relationships, career/LP, health and fitness, as well as psychology. As I delve into deeper territory in my own growth, my teachings would evolve.

[Ishanga]

From my own research and trying it too, I teach Kung Fu as well as I have a Life Coaching thing set up but no clients in any of those areas right now, since I work full time and its sort of exhausting work mentally and physically, but have had clients in the past (covid stopped all martial arts coaching)...

With this sort of thing, from watching other Youtube creators and such, they have to build up a Brand, something that distinguishes You from everyone else in Your field, this takes time and consistency, Your creating vids and content on a consistent basis, giving away free stuff too, to build an audience and trust from the clients and popularity as word of mouth is great advertising..

So it takes time and effort with little coming back to You in rewards in the beginning stages, if You can support yourself for a couple of years then maybe You can replace Your income via this venture, but there are no guarantees, unless You go sketchy and lie about stuff and have no integrity, those types seem to do well more quickly, but you will feel empty afterwards going this route!

[Lyubov]

I would do a really deep dive on your belief system about your self worth and what you have to offer. There is an ocean within to tap into. I know it's not very practical advice, but to be honest with you these things are far more simpler than they appear at first. Largely because we create a lot of nuance around wanting to control things, or believing we are lacking in some way. Just get really deeply rooted in your innate value and true self. You will have plenty of energy from this to derive joy out of just sharing your life and your lessons, and with consistency you will grow an audience which you can then get to know and then identify ways in which you can serve them, the marketing will fall into place through consistency and building a relationship with your audience.Honest self reflection is key. You can do this along side your current hustle. I'm doing the same. 

Edited Thursday at 11:34 PM by Lyubov