What do you think about life coaching?

Hi Diane

I work as a Life Coach and even though I know all the "tools" of coaching, it is not always easy to employ them for your own use. As susanc mentioned, a Life Coach may not do any more than an intelligent friend - however one of the benefits of a coach is that they are not personally involved in our lives and therefore have no vested interest in the outcome of any given scenario. Often when we ask family and friends for advice, the advice they give us is based on their experiences of us - what we have done in the past, what they think we're capable of, how our decisions will impact on them or others in the family or circle of friends. Friends and family can also just be sympathetic to our situation rather than offering assistance or they can even go so far as to belittle our goals and dreams. The other difference is that life coaching is not about giving advice, it is about asking the right questions to lead the coachee to make their own decisions and set their own path for the future. Empowering clients to work out who they want to be and where they want to go is just one of the roles of a Life Coach.

Another role is to challenge the coachee's limiting behaviours or characteristics, again something that a close friend or family member may be unable to do. I love my non coach friends dearly, but cannot think of one of them who would challenge why I hadn't made it to the gym this week as they are all in similar situations themselves - hard working, raising a family, etc and can therefore relate to all the excuses I come up with as to why I haven't been!

I have met many coaches who would not dream of selling themselves in the same way as a magic spot remover and who work with their clients (often in a pro bono set up) to create a future of possibility and direction.

All I would say is that it's a case of different strokes for different folks - life coaching works for some and not for others. If you're interested, give it a try, you'll soon find out if it's for you or not.

Best of luck.
Sharon

Diane P, this is a great subject and one I can relate to. I completed a one year Wellness Coaching program last year and throughout the course we had to learn methodologies to bring a client into a framework of preassessment, assessment, monitoring and evaluation. We were presented with many coaching templates to use with each client. Life coaching when done by a formally trained coach will reflect knowledge in many aspects of coaching techniques. In my case, to be effective we were told the coach had to allow the client to take responsibility to any desired changes. While my training focused on health and wellness, the coaching techinques should be comparable. Many people develop their own coaching skills, we see that in many sports, but when dealing with human emotions and psychological aspects of personality, behavior, etc, formal methodology training is more effective as it allows the coach to discern and choose the best coaching strategy. Hope this helps.

Dear Diane,

My opinion of "life coaching" is that I highly believe in the process. Think of all the friends and family. How close are they to you. Now think of a "life coach." Who's more likely to offer greater direction? I feel that the life coach will.

My life experiences sent me searching through and through my family and friends. It wasn't until I went searching for others that I found out more of who I am or what I am. I should say that an expert "life coach" would be a great connection for those who search for themselves.

Additional life experience includes acting and writing. In both cases, there is no “one” individual who can furnish their life's worth / work without the direction of others. Wouldn't a life coach present itself similar to a great reader, you know for your screenplay, or a great director, for your emotions and actions? Hmm...

Good topic Diane.

Thanks,

Anonymous Writer