==== ==== Discover the life coach secrets they really don't want you to know at http://tinyurl.com/Certified-Life-Coach ==== ====
What does a life coach do? There she was, looking for the best explanation for what she did. She was darn good at it and sincerely wanted to help. But it didn't seem like this guy was ready for change, or committed to either. People have a hard time accepting life coaching; it's understandable, the stakes are pretty high and, how exactly are you supposed to coach someone's life? While most would benefit from being coached - receiving help to achieve their goals, accomplish their life vision and improving their lives. We are all pretty bad at knowing what will work for us, what will make make us happy, what to do and how. We just don't spend that much time or pay enough attention to our lives. We're busy focusing on "important" things, like work, or the email we have to send. As John Lennon so eloquently stated, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." It's easier for us to accept being coached in the roles we play, as an executive or a business owner for example. Yet when it comes to our lives, we all tend to put up some walls. It's just too personal. Few of us would think of practicing with someone to learn life skills, such as listening to our intuition, defining what we want in life and following through on the promises we make to ourselves. Which is what a life coach does. Help you discover your unique purpose and live up to that vision. As Abraham Maslow puts it "...what human beings can be, they must be. They must be true to their own nature." Learning how to become a life coach is a journey into helping people understand themselves. Which is why this field of coaching has grown so much this decade; after all, who wouldn't want to learn how to improve their life? To be certified or not to be certified? That is the question....
There's no worldwide agreement of whether or not a coach needs to be certified; in fact, many coaching schools suggest that you start coaching as soon as you feel comfortable doing so. Personally, I felt awkward "coaching" someone when in my mind I was thinking that I had no idea what I was doing. You may be able to pull of coaching without training and practice, but would you want to be coached by someone who hasn't really gone through a learning process of key coaching skills? I'll assume that you don't. I also won't take for granted that you expect the best service, your clients will expect the best from you as well. In my opinion, it's less about whether you're certified or not and more about the learning and improvement of your ability as a coach. In how you're able to push yourself to acquire new knowledge, to help your clients succeed. Whether or not you seek to be certified is up to you, but you'll certainly need to learn the basic skills of coaching before you get started. Basic coaching skills Coaches help people enhance the quality of their lives. You're trained to listen, to observe and to customize your approach to your client's needs. The fundamental idea behind coaching, is to seek solutions and strategies from the person your coaching believing that they are naturally creative and resourceful. Your job is to provide support, to enhance the skills, resources, and creativity that everyone already has. In general, as a life coach you should develop these core skills:
The ability to create a safe environment that fosters trust and respect The ability to create a trusting relationship with clients, employing a style that is open, flexible and confident
Active listening and pro-active communication
Powerful questioning
Awareness and mindfulness
Planning and goal setting
Measurement and accountability These are basic tools that you'll use when you start coaching. They're the basis for most coaching school's curriculum. There's a more practical side to becoming a life coach, which you'll eventually recognize. And, the sooner the better. As with any other career, presumably you plan on receiving some form of payment for your services. If not, it's just a hobby so maybe this is not important to you. If this is true however, how do you go about building your coaching business? Turning knowledge into practice You may not have any clients, perhaps you may have a few or maybe even a lot. The issue is always the same, you need a way to get clients or else you're dead in the water. A lot of coaches don't realize that they should approach coaching as a business. And because of this, they end up chasing dreams and a receive a lot of heart-ache. There might be a little voice in your head right now, warning you to get away from coaching. If it's there, tell it to shut up. There's absolutely no reason why you shouldn't continue following your coaching dream. There are infinite reasons why you should; in fact, there's never been a better time than now, thanks to something that has changed the rules of making business. Perhaps you've heard of it, it's called the Internet. And it brings you one step closer to being able to live your passion - by sharing your talents, knowledge and story. Of course, you may not know how to do that just yet. But has that ever stopped you before? Even if you're completely ignorant and have no interest in learning how to get online, someone you know probably does. You can always ask for help and learn. It's important that you realize however, that although it's simple to make a website, there are some general rules that you have to follow in order to make it successful.
Things like:
Developing your content Understanding your audience
Choosing your online business model I go into detail into more of these in other articles, if you're planning on making a website you may like to go give them a read.
Wouldn't you love to find a treasure chest full of personal development ideas? Simple and effective strategies on personal coaching, self-help, life coaching, executive coaching and business coaching. Head down to www.what-is-coaching.com become a coach today.
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==== ==== Discover the life coach secrets they really don't want you to know at http://tinyurl.com/Certified-Life-Coach ==== ====