It sounds so enticing, right?
To quit your dead-end job and create a lifestyle that you want by making a difference on lives of others as a Life Coach. You wake up every morning, do a 3-second commute to your home office and start your day with a cuppa, glancing through a list of clients booked in throughout the day, feeling deeply fulfilled with what you get to call “work”.
Clients who are thankful for what you’re doing. Clients who are committed to their own success and to the process of coaching. Perhaps, in a couple years you even get to travel and coach on the go, from anywhere in the world, with the help of technology such as Skype. Soon enough, you create your own online course helping people apply actionable advice while you make passive income from this. A sweet win-win, isn’t it? Talk about a dream lifestyle!
But hold on a minute… can this be real?
You’re probably wondering: Does life coaching really work? Is it really possible to create a life on your terms while earning some good karma points as a life coach? Is it really possible to bring about a lasting change in lives of your clients? And if this is real, why isn’t everyone doing it?
After all, a life coach claims they can help you achieve what you want in life. Although this sounds great, there’s nothing wrong with a healthy dose of scepticism, especially if you yourself are looking to become a life coach.
A Closer Look at Life Coaching
Before anything, let me answer your question — yes, it is all possible and very much doable. In fact, as someone who has studied and practised coaching, I see so many coaches in my coaching community do this because they have consciously created this lifestyle for themselves.
That said, if you’re looking for an overnight success story, then you’ll be disappointed. The coaches I speak of have created a thriving business by staying committed to their passion and by showing up to serve their clients everyday.
The question, “Does life coaching really work?” comes from a frame that a life coach will tell you what to do and voila! You’re well set on your path to everlasting happiness, fulfilment and success.
Just as those three words are vague and hugely subjective (because of the 7 billion people in this world, each of us has a slightly different meaning of “happiness”), it’s ridiculous to “hand over” your tough stuff in life to a life coach hoping they will take care of it all for you.
So if that’s your frame, then no, it doesn’t work that way.
That said, life coaching does work. Here’s how.
What Does a Life Coach Really Do?
A life coach really has one job: To close the gap between where the client is right now and where they want to be.
This is very different from therapy, which is focused on the past. Life coaches focus on the client’s present and work with them to achieve a future goal. Coaching is about helping people discover their blind spots, especially (but not limited to) when they are stuck at a fork in the road by empowering them to think differently than they have all their lives. After all, the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result. It’s just not going to happen.
A life coach empowers you think in a resourceful way and then come to your own conclusions. They work based on a deeper assumption that the client already has everything they need in that moment. It’s now up to the client to tap into these resources, and the coach helps them navigate that by playing the role of a mentor, listener, challenger, brainstormer — whoever the client needs them to be in the moment.
A good life coach will not advise but always facilitate change. So… the question arises, do you have it in you to become a life coach? Is it a path well-suited to your current lifestyle and choices? And if yes, how can you get started?
A little while ago, I came across this fantastic resource by The Coaching Institute; they recently released this infographic and a 2,000+ words report in their beginner’s guide to getting started as a life coach.
It gives you all answers as a beginner on this path, including why become a coach, qualities of a good coach, difference between coaching and counselling, and how much can you make exactly as a coach (no one tells you that – I was pleasantly surprised to find that information!)
There’s a lot more covered in their original article, for now check out this infographic:
