What is a life coach?
“A life coach is a person employed to help people attain their goals in life”, this quote is a simple summary of what a life coach is.
Life coaches support their clients in improving their relationships, careers, and day-to-day lives, in order to unlock their inner potential.
What a life coach does and what does not
A life coach helps you clarify your goals, identify the obstacles holding you back, and create strategies for overcoming each obstacle. As simple as that.
By empowering your skills and strengths, life coaches provide the support you need to achieve long-lasting change.
However, a life coach is not there to provide all the answers or do the work, but to show you the way to find your own answers or the best way to accomplish your own work.
Sounds interesting, right? Who should consider working with a life coach?
Many people seek out life coaches for guidance in navigating a significant life change, such as taking on a new career or working on relationship issues.
Although someone can seek a life coach for big goals, most of the times people turn to life coaches simply for help in building a happier, more meaningful life.
There are a number of indications that working with a life coach could be helpful for you.
These signs include:
Lack of fulfillment in social life
Frequent irritability
High levels of stress
High levels of anxiety
Inability to break bad habits
Persistent feeling of dissatisfaction at work
Sense of blocked creativity
Lack of clarity
In the last years, life coaches gained a considerable presence in the mainstream.
As a consequence, a huge number of creatives, executives, entrepreneurs, and performers are now teaming up with life coaches to attain success in their professional and personal lives.
A life coach can do for you
The benefits of working with a life coach are innumerable.
Below are some of the positive outcomes that a coachee could reach with a life coaching program:
Better work/life balance
Elimination of long-held fears and anxieties
Enhanced creativity
Greater financial security
Improved communication skills
More satisfying work life
Stronger relationships with friends and family
A resonate quote: “Life coach is a facilitator that will help to find your own answers.”
Other reasons why people seek help in life coaches is to work through obstacles that may interfere with finding a partner, or to identify their passion and shaping out their ideal career path.
Most of the common coaching programs are built on sessions that take place on a regular basis in a timeframe of several months. This help clients to be consistent and maintain the momentum, with a boost of motivation proved session after session.
After the first sessions, clients usually are able to reach awareness and accountability, two of the main benefits of working with a life coach.
In the eventual case clients can feel stuck or have a lack of effort/motivation, here comes the ability of a skilled life coach to support them to come back on the main path, and find back the essential balance.
Tops & Tips
You can find your own way to meet your life coach by simply asking how they conduct their sessions. Life coaches can meet clients in person or have sessions online, on platforms like Zoom or Skype. It’s up to you what you’re looking for.
An important thing to keep in mind is that you are the one that decides which kind of topics you want to bring up in a session. Usually, by the end of a session you should feel empowered. That’s why is crucial to find the best coach for you, based on the coaching style or method.
However, there are important pin points that is better to clarify:
It will not happen in a moment.
You should not expect immediate and fast results. A life coach is able to support you in creating plans, investigate issues, and work towards achieving your goals, but it is essential to remember that these things take time and patience.
It is recommendable to set short and long-term goals that will let you feel more focused
There are many niches out there, it is important that you find the best for you.
Every life coach has a different approach, techniques, and style. Spend a bit of time to find what you’re looking for, based on your personality and attitude.
A life coach is not able to address serious mental health issues.
Life coaches can offer advice that can improve your well-being, but they are not formed to provide mental health treatment.
If you think you’re dealing with a mental health condition such as depression or anxiety, you should talk to your doctor or therapist to discuss your treatment options.
