Life Coaching 101
A life coach is a wellness professional that works with a client, or a team of clients, to support them to make progress in all areas of their lives. This includes reaching their personal or professional goals, increased fulfilment, help with decision making and making healthier decisions regarding relationships and career paths. Further benefits include clearer life intentions, better self esteem and a happier and more meaningful existence . . . Sounds fabulous doesn’t it?!
There are common misunderstandings regarding life coaching and the purpose of a life coach that I address with each client before we start to work together. I am not here to give you advice on the direction of your life, how can I when I haven’t walked a day in your shoes. I am not here to answer your powerful questions for you, you have to do the work (that includes committing to the process, doing your homework and remaining hungry for positive change. Nor am I here to sit on an ivory tower as an shining example of what a perfect life looks like. Who needs that pressure?! Trust me, My life is not perfect and I make mistakes like everybody else.
What I am here to do, and what I have been trained to do, is to help you understand that you are more than qualified to choose your own path, you are more than capable of asking for what you need and you deserve to live a happy and fulfilled life in every area of your existence.
Good life coaches know that they are there to listen as a sounding board, hold up a mirror to your behaviours and gently guide you towards your massive potential. We are the supportive cheerleader that understands the essence of you and will listen with non judgement and in complete confidentiality. A life coach is not your friend and we are also not a family member, which means no matter how well intended from both of those sectors, we have zero agenda. The only agenda is what is best and feels right for you and you alone.
As a result of working with a life coach you should come away feeling as if you have tools to effect change and achieve your life goals. This in turn influences your self worth, self care and enables you to make better judgements about your life path. In fact, you should have a whole tool box of tools and if I’ve done my job properly you should continue to hear my dulcet tones banging on about self care and boundaries for the rest of your days (or at least, long after you no longer need coaching sessions, you butterfly you).
If you feel you are working with a coach who brings too much of themselves to the session then this is a red flag. If you feel that they are over stepping the boundaries of coach and client by being too familiar and creating a personal relationship with you this is a bad sign. If you feel they are sharing your personal information with anyone outside of the coaching session without your permission then absolutely run. Unfortunately as the coaching world is very much unregulated there are a lot of charlatans out there that use this relationship for personal gain or sadly need a lot of therapy themselves. This is not a networking exercise, it is a supportive one.
A good life coach also operates from an ethics not ego approach. By this I mean, we know which areas we are qualified in and which areas we are not. I have often refused to work with potential clients as I have quickly realised that the individual requires therapy rather than coaching. Coaching can work beautifully alongside therapy but should never be used in place of. Remember, a good rule of thumb is ‘coaching forwards, therapy past.’ This means that yes, I can help you achieve everything you want in the future, but no, I’m not qualified to explain why an event in your childhood has translated to the adult you are today.
Finally, I believe you are all creative, resourceful and whole. You are in no need of fixing and that you have everything it takes inside you already to design your own life and realise your true potential. I love my job as I get to see people at their very best, their most honest and most powerful. We all have a story, hopes and dreams and we all want to be loved and understood - my joy comes from helping you to get there.
If you are curious about the coaching process and would like to book in a chemistry coaching session to learn more then please get in touch by email or by clicking on the consultation button in my website.