If you’ve wondered about hiring a life coach but feel a little unsure as to what the purpose of a personal coach is, or how it can benefit you – have a read through my latest post to learn more!
What is the purpose of a life coach?
According to the website verywellmind life coaches “aid their clients in improving their relationships, careers, and day-to-day lives. Life coaches can help you clarify your goals, identify the obstacles holding you back, and then come up with strategies for overcoming each obstacle.” A professional coach will allow you to openly discuss your current situation, help you to evaluate where you wish to make changes and empower you to set actionable steps to make those changes happen.
What sort of people hire a life coach?
Life coaches work with people from all backgrounds and all ages. Many people will think about hiring a coach when they feel stuck in a particular area of their life. That may be their career, their relationships with others or within their personal development. They may want to create a change, but don’t have the clarity to know exactly what that is. It maybe they know that they feel unhappy with their life at the moment, but aren’t sure why? Or it can often be the case that people know what they need to change, but don’t feel they have the confidence or motivation to do it on their own. Hiring a coach can be a great option for anybody at any stage of life!
What kind of situations can a coach help with?
Career change, returning to work after a break, confidence building, embarking on a new habit/routine, managing addictions, creating better relationships, improving performance at work, increasing health and wellbeing, starting up a new idea, business or moving to a new area. These are all common times when someone may look to hire a life coach.
What’s the difference between a life coach and counsellor?
Coaching cannot take place unless there is a goal. Unlike counsellors and other therapists, coaches focus on the future and what changes can be made rather than focussing on looking at why things in the past happened or why we behave in a certain way.
“Unlike life coaches, therapists and other mental health professionals focus on healing, treating mental health conditions, and helping people work through trauma and other issues from their past. While working with a life coach may help you to deal with certain unresolved issues, life coaches cannot treat mood disorders, anxiety disorders, addiction, or any other mental health condition.” Verywellmind.com
A professional coach may refer you to other forms of therapy if they feel this is needed. Counselling and coaching can work well in combination. For example, a coach may ask, “Did you attend your counselling session last week? How did it benefit you and are there any actions you have agreed to do before the next session?” A coach can be great at holding you accountable and keeping you on track with your goals!
What can a life coach do for me?
Life Coaching can be life changing and transformational. A coach can empower you to clearly see where you are now and where you’d like to be in future. They can support you to create small, realistic steps to get there so that you feel motivated and energised rather than overwhelmed and likely to give up. Life coaches often specialise in solution focussed approaches and motivational methods to help you to fully engage with your goal and make it happen for yourself. Short and long-term goals are clarified. Focus is stronger and motivation is boosted when you have a positive life coach onboard.
If you’d like to try coaching for yourself, the best way is to talk with a few different coaches and see how it feels for you. I offer a free consultation which allows us both to check out if we are a good fit to work together. This also helps you discover if coaching is the best way forward, or if not, I can recommend some other alternatives you can try.