What is Life Coaching and How Does it Work?

"Twin Tulips" by Leila Knapp

“What is Life Coaching, and How Does It Work?”

Is there something you’ve wanted to be, do or have – something you’ve wanted for quite some time? Does it seem as though your goal is always just beyond your reach?

Do you want to make a change in your life, but feel uncertain about how to create such a change?

Enter, Life Coach.

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There are many different kinds of coaches that specialize in different areas of peoples' lives: There are leadership, sports, relationship, spirituality, health, and career transition coaches. A broad spectrum of coaches and coaching abilities exist, and choosing the right one for you is often, well, a matter of good fit.

Your coach is not going to be someone you go to as you would, say, a consultant or therapist. A consultant is someone you hire to show you the ropes of completing a certain task, i.e. setting up the organizational structure of your company or getting your books set up for your home and business. There a wide array of consultants who can advise you on just about any topic. But that's not a Life Coach.

Therapists, for example, help people resolve issues of the past that continue to plague them in their performance or happiness in the present. They are licensed professionals with years of training and must pass state board examinations prior to being able to practice openly with the general public.

In contrast, a Life Coach becomes certified by internationally recognized associations only after completing a certain number of training and professional, paid coaching hours. There are strict ethical guidelines to which they must adhere, and these have been established as the criteria an individual must meet in order to become certified as a life coach. A number of organizations provide excellent training and education to ensure that their certified coaches are some of the best in their field of expertise.

So a coach isn't a consultant, and a coach isn't a therapist. What, then, does a coach do?

She coaches you into seeing how you can live your best life, and she guides you through the process of identifying what it is that you want. Then she takes you through the changes that will be necessary for you to get to that new place. A good coach can help you to move your dreams beyond the thought stage, or the "some day I'll…" stage. If you haven't experienced coaching yet, ask yourself how far you’ve come without it. If you’re unsatisfied with your progress thus far, perhaps a life coach could give the extra push you need.

What is your vision for yourself?
Where do you see yourself living in the next year? Whom do you see yourself becoming? What do you see yourself doing and having in the next year?
Do you know what steps you'd like to take in getting there?

These are some of the questions a good Life Coach will ask you. A good coach never tells you what to do or gives you advice. A good coach knows that the highest and best answers for your life reside inside of you. She guides you into the right frame of mind so that you become aware of your own, spirit-filled answers that are always there waiting for you.

Even without a coach, you can accomplish these things with a certain amount of effort, diligence, persistence and the ability to act on clarity when you receive it. However, I believe the right coach can assist you to attain your best life in half the time and even less effort. That's how our lives were designed to be!

With the right 'guide on the side,' you are reminded weekly of what you say you want to do. Big goals are broken down into little goals, and the little goals are broken down into little steps. And day by day, week by week, you do what's needed and you do what's inspired. Sometimes getting to your goal means not doing certain things and letting them go, out of your life; they could be habits you no longer need, or tasks now given to others who would be more than happy to do them for you. With more liberated time, comes more freedom. With more freedom, comes more joy. With more joy comes, inevitably, more service to others.

The way I coach men is often completely different from the way I coach women. That's because the things that drive men are entirely different from the things that make women feel entirely fulfilled and satisfied. That's right, I said "fulfilled and satisfied." For her, knowing that she is all she can be, that those around her are taken care of, and that the beauty and grace that is inherent in her naturally is once and for all flowing again, is a mighty accomplishment in itself. (Not something you guys out there will be quite in-tune with, but we'll work on you next week!)

For now, bask in the knowing that if there is anything that you want to do, be or have, you can simply pick up the phone or log onto the internet, and find the right coach for you

Blessings Be,