What is Life Coaching and Where Should You Start

Life coaching is the process of helping people find out solutions to their existing problems, realize what they truly want and thus accomplish their goals.

A life coach provides guidance and lets his clients figure out where they are in life and compare it to where they want to be. That’s a professional who strives for success through empowering anyone that needs help.

Basically, you’ll be helping people who struggle with something in their life, who feel lost and confused, who haven’t found their passion and ultimate purpose, who are depressed.

It may be someone who’s after a career change but who has doubts and fears about it. Or a person who constantly sets objectives just to end up disappointed for not following through.

In need of life coaching are also people who have low self-esteem and suffer from social anxiety which prevents them from meeting new people and having meaningful relationships.

It’s also a service that can help those having health or money issues, who need an expert to tell them what to do exactly and to give them the motivation to start.

Life coaching is a life-changing business. If you become part of it, you’ll be living your destiny by inspiring others to take action and transform their lives.

There’s nothing as exciting as seeing someone turn their life around and the gratitude they send your way in the end.

By becoming a life coach and doing your best job you’re contributing to the world in more ways than you can imagine.

What Does a Life Coaching Session Look Like?

You just talk to your client. In the beginning, you get to know him and see what’s on his mind. You can do that in person, on the phone, via Skype, or even using email or social media every now and then.

It’s your job to make the other person feel comfortable and open up in front of you. That usually happens by asking the right questions, being authentic, reminding him that he matters and the ideal lifestyle is just around the corner, and – of course – saying all that with the right tone.

As a life coach, you won’t be pushing the person in front of you towards certain answers or making him take decisions about his life fast. No. You’ll be his friend and his mentor and as such will be encouraging him to find what he truly wants himself.

Then, you’ll brainstorm ideas on how to improve his life and get him closer to that vision together. You may be suggesting things, but never aggressively. Although when he feels hopeless, you’ll bring out the best in him by letting him see the potential and powers within.

Before anything else, you need to work on your client’s stress issues, anxiety, self-limiting beliefs and other barriers that are preventing him from making a mindset shift.

How to Know if A Career in Life Coaching is Right for You?

Some people are just born to give guidance, to inspire others, to bring back the hope and to unleash other people’s potential.

If that’s you, you will have felt the urge to do it, to help those around you, so many times throughout your life.

If your passion is coaching, then you’re a people person, outgoing, communicative, always looking to meet new individuals. What’s more, you love connecting on a deeper level, asking questions about people’s dreams and goals, and even giving them advice.

It gives you true pleasure and you want nothing in return. Whenever you actually make someone smile with your pep talk, or encourage someone to take action, or help somebody take a difficult decision, you feel energized and satisfied.

If you’ve experienced these, then your role in life is that of a coach.

Where Should You Start?

Start by finding the area of life you want to help people with. Is it health, career, confidence, parenting, happiness, relationships, social life, finding a purpose, or else?

What is it that you yourself are most passionate about? What do you consider most important and know enough about so that you can teach others how to do it?

Once you know your niche, get certified. Find a legitimate training program and dedicate it all your energy and focus for some time.

During that period, practice with family, friends and eventually acquaintances. The point is to feel comfortable giving professional advice, to see what works, to get better at making them feel comfortable, and – most importantly – to get feedback. Your loved ones will tell you how you made them feel and what they didn’t like about your approach. And that information will help you make changes.

From then on, you’re free to start practicing.

You can do it for free first while building your portfolio. There’s a lot of competition out there so you’ll need to stand out.

Build a website, start blogging on it and give self-help advice. Let those you coached for free give you testimonials and refer you to friends of theirs. Share their stories on your site too.

It takes time to build a name for yourself. But if you give it all your time and efforts, if you do it with passion and genuinely want to help others, you will become a successful life coach.