What a Professional Life-Coaching Career Looks Like
A life coach is trained to help people hone their skills, personality, and goals, and can give people the tools to really be successful in life. Maybe this means helping them get organized or changing certain patterns and ways of thinking. They might help someone work on fears of failure and accomplish their dreams. There are so many things that a life coach can do for someone. It is an incredibly rewarding career and on either side of the life-coach and client relationship, you should have a positive outcome.
Core Concepts
A life coach must have a specific mindset in order to fully help their clients. There needs to be motivation and a belief in the capacity for change, and this is required of the client as well. You both need to believe that change is possible for anyone who desires it and is willing to work at it. This assumes that people are growth-oriented and resourceful.
A crucial part of the process is the development of an increase in the client’s self-awareness. This means acknowledging strengths and weaknesses, and finding their values and hopes for the future, which helps in creating attainable goals. By clearly clarifying the underlying issues, you will discover what is really holding them back from their true potential.
Setting goals and becoming accountable for them is a major part of life coaching. Creating specific and measurable goals is the best way to achieve the results you want, and a life coach is integral in facilitating this.
Specific Roles and Responsibilities
When you decide to get your life coach certification, there are many exciting things to learn about the career. Some concepts that you will help clients with could include:
Creating a safe space. This includes allowing the client to be seen and heard. Asking questions and being an active listener is important for this.
Regaining focus. People can often get overwhelmed with many ideas or plans, or they can get distracted from their original vision or goal. Sometimes we have unforeseen circumstances come up in life. A coach can help narrow down ideas and give direction on the next steps towards achieving a goal or getting back on track.
Overcoming fears. This could include asking questions about current patterns, which can expose how their routines may be protecting them from taking certain risks to avoid underlying fears. A coach will also help clients learn how to navigate tough decisions.
Developing communication skills. Perhaps self-confidence is something that a client is working on. Working on actively communicating and learning how to ask for things, be assertive, or say no are important skills that can be developed.
Achieving goals. This is often the main objective when working with a life coach. Developing specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely goals and working on them together.
Taking Care of Yourself
When you are in a role or career where you are helping other people, it is important to always make sure to take the time to take care of yourself. This can be hard to remember when we get busy and enthralled in our work and the people we are helping, but there needs to be a balance. Working long hours and tackling a lot of questions all day will leave you drained, and naturally, you might not have the energy for your own well-being. You give a lot in these roles, and it is important to be able to remove yourself from the emotions and clients at the end of each day. By not taking care of yourself, you diminish your ability to provide care and support for others. It is even important to schedule your own therapy and support resources when necessary. By doing these things, you are more likely to succeed in your coaching career and business. If this has inspired you to consider a career in life coaching, learn more about a coaching certification course and apply today!
