Can I Become A Personal Life Coach?
It might surprise you to learn that not everyone has to be a doctor, work on Wall Street or be a lawyer to earn $100,000. A career that is gaining popularity is the professional life coach. According to Forbes, between 10 and 20 percent of these professional life coaches make six figure salaries. A personal life coach for development provides confidence and encouragement for struggling business owners and even writers. Life coaches build relationships with their clients to help them be more successful in business and in life.
Though no formal education is required, it would probably help to have a successful background in the area you will be coaching, such as selling, business management or the arts. The Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn’t even list them as a profession, but there is still a lot of growth potential for a trained life coach. There are online resources for training as a life coach, but the most important thing a coach brings to the table is their own experience, and an ability to share that experience with others to help them succeed.
One life coach summarized his business like this, “After creating and selling my own business, I wondered what to do with my life. I decided to turn my attention to sharing my knowledge with others so they could more easily achieve the success I attained through years of hard work. As a strategic coach, I want to help others to avoid all the pitfalls I encountered and help them accelerate their success, all the while keeping an eye on the balance in their lives.” Life coaches mentor others so they can be more successful, faster.
If you are thinking about becoming a life coach, think about these things:
- Do you like helping others? How well do you communicate your ideas? Communication and teaching are important aspects of coaching.
- What is your experience? Is it business, or the arts? Is it selling or writing? Here is where you will most likely be successful. – What are you interested in? Don’t do what you don’t love. How can you help others if you’re really not interested in what you will eventually teach them?
- Talk to a life coach and ask them what they do. How did they get started? What is their normal day like?
- Look into available seminars and education to learn more about what a life coach does, or to get the training to help you become a better coach. There are life coach accreditation courses you can take to help you reach your goals, but there really isn’t any life coaching schools. If you look around, you may find some online life coach courses you can take.
Whatever you decide, do your homework. A career as a life coach can only be entered if you love what you do and are dedicated to helping others. Good luck!
How To Become A Personal Life Coach
Life coaching is a tremendously important job which deals with the quality of life people experience through out their lives. Although life coach jobs are not governed by any state or educational body and does not require a degree a life coach has to have experience, understanding and the time to work with the person being coached. It is important for people who are thinking of becoming a life coach to first have a strong determination and self discipline.
A personal life coach should first self coach and reach a state of desired satisfaction in their own life before trying to seek life coaching jobs helping others. Although this sounds simple it will be the toughest case a life coach has because they are alone and have to face many trials, challenges, desires, bad habits, problematic people, personal feelings and the constant evil voice that usually leads one astray from what they have to do or gives them the feeling of needing to something undesirable in the long term.
In my personal experience waking up everyday in a positive manner and just staying positive no matter how difficult life gets or what problems it throws your way is the first big step in becoming a life coach and make no mistake it is perhaps one of the most difficult tasks in existence but for a life coach it is the one most necessary skill. This is because any person who comes to you for help will need the constant reassurance that one can make changes and two the coach has done it before with only a smile and determination. If a life coach that can not present a positive attitude at all times no matter how difficult the situation will convey a message false hope and failure to people seeking a way to improve their lives.
Research accredited life coaching schools and compare fees and what they offer. Check your local community college or continuing education school.
The next big step in becoming a life coach is experience because no matter how smart or nice a person is if they do not have the harsh experience of solving problems in life with no help other than a smile and determination they can not expect to coach another person to do something they have never done. However once these steps have been taken a life coach still needs some study such as professional communication because even if a coach has experience and a positive attitude if they can not communicate their ideas and wisdom, other people will not be able to communicate effectively leading to frustration and overall failure. Research the various life coaching schools available and find one that is right for you.
So a strong, professional and understanding method of communicating as well as exceptional listening skill are to be practiced and studied over a life time if one wants to be a life coach. After all most of the time the life coach has to listen carefully to the client and pick out weaknesses, key points, false points of view and stress of certain topics in order face them with the client and work them out, to change a caterpillar to a butterfly one could say. Overall once a coach has these skills it is just a matter of seeking out life coach jobs and helping people to make positive changes in their life.