Life coaching connects you with specialists that can help accelerate your personal development. Find out how a life coach can change your life today.
Do you ever feel like you’re taking two steps forward and three steps back? Does your life feel dull and unfulfilled due to a lack of progress and discovery? Are you constantly sinking into bad habits that you know you need to change, but lack the willpower to finally act on them?
These are some of the most common situations where a life coach can transform your life. In this informative piece, we’re going to be explaining what a life coach does, how they can help you and some common misunderstandings. By the end, you’ll have a much better understanding of how a life coach can help you transform your life and improve virtually every aspect of your life. If you feel ready, excited and interested to get going, why not complete this coachability questionnaire?
What does a life coach do exactly?
A life coach is typically caring, interested in others, is a good listener and is willing to have straight conversations, challenge and encourage you to make the necessary changes in your life. Whether it’s building a business, personal growth, career growth, developing confidence or getting rid of stress, these are all areas that a life coach can help with. But a life coach’s job description isn’t set in stone and these aren’t the only aspects they can help with.
In reality, a life coach is like the best friend that isn’t afraid to give you advice and help set you straight, and that you give permission for them to do this!. They’re passionate individuals that intend to help you grow by listening to you, encouraging you and challenging you in healthy ways.
Does life coaching work?
The success of life coaching will depend on the individual and their goals. Some people manage to completely transform their lives with life coaching, while others experience little difference.
The success is often down to the experience and knowledge of the life coach, but also the client’s willingness to listen to their coach and take their advice to heart. Chemistry in the relationship is an important factor too.
How can life coaching help me?
It depends! A life coach can help with many aspects of your life. The most common benefits of life coaching involve personal and career growth, managing stress and anxiety, finding goals in life and seeking an identity and purpose in life.
If you feel your problems stem from one of these areas, then it’s possible that a life coach can help you. Even if you’re unsure of the problem, speaking to a life coach and allowing them to analyse your life, your circumstances and your goals can help you transform your life for the better.
Is life coaching a con?
Life coaching is often misunderstood or misused, which can give it a reputation of being a con. There’s also a common problem with people claiming to be life coaches but having no legitimate credentials, experience or skills to back it up.
Reputable life coaches have plenty of happy clients who still keep in touch even after the coaching ends. Testimonials, reviews and word of mouth can help you learn more about a life coach’s reputation.
While there are plenty of legitimate life coaches that have transformed countless lives, there’s also a fair share of scammers that need to be avoided and probably have more work than they would admit doing on themselves!
The best way to make an informed decision is to engage with one, test them out and ask them challenging questions! You can complete this ‘coachabilty questionnaire’ to see if coaching is an option for you at this time.
What qualifications do life coaches have?
You don’t need formal qualifications to start life coaching in South Africa or anywhere else in the world. However, clients will typically look for life coaches that have formal or academic qualifications, like a Life Coaching diploma or even a degree in psychology.
Each life coach has their own individual qualifications, so it’s best to speak to the coach and question them instead.
How does life coaching work?
First, a life coach focuses on your personal goals and what you want to achieve. Once you’ve settled on a desired outcome, a life coach will help analyse your life and identify areas that could be improved or changed to help you achieve that goal. They’ll then use their expertise to motivate you and help you overcome challenges so you can reach those goals in your life.
By encouraging self-growth and self-development, a life coach unlocks the potential within you and helps boost your motivation. By evoking these powerful emotions, you’ll find clarity in your visions which will boost your productivity and help you reach the goals you’ve set.
What life coaching is not
People often mistake life coaching for counselling or therapy. This is a term reserved for diving into the past of a client or patient to help heal them from emotional or psychological issues. A life coach is simply not qualified to offer professional advice for these types of issues.
Life coaches also do not consider themselves as mentors or consultants. This is because life coaches do not explicitly give commands in an attempt to better someone’s life. Instead, it’s about empowering clients to make personal changes and find new pathways through life.
Why is life coaching effective?
Life coaching is generally a longer-term process that aims to analyse your life to discover the best ways to make positive changes. But instead of merely giving advice and leaving, life coaches tend to stay with their clients like knowledgeable friends. They stay around to ensure that you integrate positive changes into your life and will continue to motivate and push you to achieve your goals. People also use life coaches on a project-by-project basis to achieve particular short-term outcomes.
One of the key aspects of self-improvement is to simply have someone who is willing to listen to you. A life coach is there to listen to you and has the intent to help you grow. Their holistic approach to improving your life will give you a different perspective on how to optimise your time and aim for new heights.
Research has shown that learning retention and results have far more ‘stickability’ if helpful and incisive questions are asked, rather than ‘advice given.’
How much does life coaching cost?
Different coaches bill in different ways. Mostly, coaching is sold on an hourly basis and you should expect to pay somewhere between R1,000 to R5,000. A good coach will help you highlight your outcomes to put that kind of price in perspective.
However, the prices for a session can vary greatly depending on the services you’re looking for. Some people find that multiple life coaching sessions in a week can help them solve challenging issues, but they might decide to only check in once or twice a month with their coach once they’ve reached their goals.
Can a life coach help with anxiety?
An experienced life coach can certainly help with anxiety. However, it’s important to remember that a life coach is not a replacement for a therapist or a medical professional.
The approach a life coach takes can be slightly different when dealing with anxiety. In most cases, they’ll focus on identifying the immediate causes of anxiety and help you overcome it through encouragement, processes, tools and motivation.
Can life coaching help depression?
Much like anxiety, life coaching can help with depression as well. Again, it’s important to note a life coach isn’t a replacement for professional medical advice. Depression is a complex medical illness that may require prescription medications to help treat.
However, there are some lighter cases of temporary depression that can be solved through the encouragement of a life coach.
Why life coaching?
Life coaching provides many unique benefits that can help transform your life. Some of the most common reasons to work with a life coach include:
- Solidifying your identity or cultivating a completely new one.
- Identifying goals and prioritising them in your life.
- Seeking a source of support and comfort to encourage you.
- Having someone to listen to you and help balance your emotions.
One of the major benefits of life coaching online is the short sessions that can easily fit into your lifestyle. Unlike going to therapy or speaking to a doctor, you can communicate with your life coach over the internet from the comfort of your own home. For many people, this makes life coaching far more comfortable and potentially cheaper.
What can life coaching help with?
Most life coaches specialise in helping clients improve in the areas of:
- Assertiveness
- Building and developing self-awareness
- Confidence
- Interpersonal Communication
- Leadership
- Managing stress
- Mastering Life
- Personal Growth
- Productivity
- Professional Growth
- Public Speaking
- Resilience
- Self Discovery
- Self-actualisation
- Self-belief
- Self-discipline
- Time-management
However, this isn’t a comprehensive list of the things that a life coach can help with. An experienced life coach has no limits to what they can assist with as everything is ‘figureoutable’ these days with the help of Google and the coaches and your network.
They’ll listen to you carefully, research the topics that you’re struggling with and will be there to listen to you whenever you need a helping hand.
Why life coaching is important
Life coaching is important for many reasons, but it can often be summarised by having someone listen to you in your time of need. It’s not just the social interaction and encouragement that helps, but the idea of having a second opinion with an intent to help you grow. It’s all about having a different perspective and changing your way of thinking to unlock your potential.
What life coaching does for you
Life coaching helps you set goals, prioritise your life and establish a sense of identity and purpose. However, life coaching can go much deeper if you choose for it to. The experience changes completely depending on the life coach themselves and it’s important to discuss your expectations with your life coach.
Why life coaching works
Life coaching works because it’s all about having someone analyse your life and offer a different perspective to help you achieve your goals. When an analytical and or intuitive coach looks at your life, they can help identify areas that need to be improved, changed or removed to facilitate growth and positive transformation.
How long will I need to commit to working with a life coach?
People often speak with their life coach weekly to get a regular check-up. However, there are times when you might want to speak to your life coach every couple of days, especially if you’re facing challenging circumstances or want to make immediate transformations to reach your goals.
Thankfully, life coaching online with specialists allows you to control how much time you commit. You can choose to have short sessions that fit around your busy lifestyle, or you could consider setting time for longer sessions to cover more topics in a single day.
How do I find the right life coach?
Finding the right life coach is difficult. The key areas to check for are experience, expertise, reputation and ‘chemistry.’ Some life coaches specialise in different areas.
For example, some may have a heavy focus on career progression while others might be more suited for personal growth. It’s important for you to research different life coaches, speak with them about your expectations, and potentially contact their clients for a second opinion.
Do life coaches work on personal or professional goals?
Both. Life coaches understand that both personal and professional goals are important in life. There are certainly similarities between the two, including identifying where you want to be regarding your current position and challenging the roadblocks that are preventing you from reaching your goals.
What’s the difference between life coaching and therapy?
The biggest difference between life coaching and therapy is in the approach. Therapy tends to focus on the mental health and emotional wellbeing of a client, whereas life coaching is more focused on identifying and reaching for goals. Life coaches are not equipped or qualified to deal with mental health concerns, but they can help with some mental health issues that could be caused by external problems.
Ready to take the next step and see if this is the right time for you to receive coaching?
Fill out this insightful coachability questionnaire and Simon will be in touch.
My take on life coaching in one minute with some singing to illustrate!