A Life Coach is someone who will help you set goals for your life. A life coach helps you create a successful life – not as your therapist, friend, or a consultant – but as someone who can help you develop the goals you have and show you a plan to achieve them. A life coach is an expert and you should not just select a coach because they are a friend, family member, or someone you connected to via your friends. Selecting a life coaching is very important to coaching you to where you want to be in life.
A life coach can help you:
- Make a career change into something you will truly enjoy.
- Discover life balance so you can have a family, social life, and a career.
- Improve your health so you can enjoy a longer life.
- Transition from working into retirement without the feeling of loss that many lifetime workers feel.
- Examine your priorities and help you set goals higher than you may have accomplished on your own.
- Show you how to use tools and resources to get the most out of your plan.
Coaching is not therapy or counseling – coaching is action-oriented and focus on creating a life plan and the steps to achieve that plan. You may work with a coach if you’re an entrepreneur, a new manager, a new parent, a retiree, a business owner, or someone in transition.
Do I Need a Life Coach?
The first step in the process of seeking out a life coach is deciding if you need one and if you’re ready for one. Answer these questions to determine if a life coach is right for you:
- What situation is leading you to find a life coach?
- What do you love in your life right now? What will life coaching help you overcome?
- What are five things the life coach would want to know about you?
- What stresses do you have in life and what can a life coach help you eliminate or reduce?
- What makes right now the right time to hire a life coach?
- Are you willing to work hard to meet the goals and plan your life coach will create?
- How will you know you have the right coach?
- What do you really want from the relationship with a life coach?
- What is your biggest concern with hiring a life coach?
- Do you have a budget for your life coaching experience?
Finding a Life Coach
The most important thing for you for your life coaching experience is your relationship with and ability to be truthful with your life coach. If you cannot feel open to speak honestly with your life coach, you will not get what you should out of the relationship.
We recommend treating this hire as you would any other professional, you need to interview prospective life coaches, review their qualifications, and seek out references. This is important to finding the right fit for you.
These steps can help you find the right life coach:
- Seek professionals who are certified through an industry standard life coaching organization.
- Ask successful friends if they have recommended certified life coaches.
- Find a life coach through your church.
- Use a life coaching matching service.