Do You Need A Life Coach?
What’s a professional sports team without an experienced leader behind the bench? Better yet, imagine an amateur hockey team without the same guidance. No matter what the level of play is, if you want to succeed you need a coach.
Should living life be any different?
What is a life coach?
Increased self-confidence, self esteem – A study by Grant of the University of Sydney, NSW, Australia found that life coaching also enhances a person’s mental health. Combined, these three aspects create a strongly positive mindset – an important key to success.
Better relationships – Life coaches help people gain clarity about their relationship “wants and needs” so they can build healthier relationships.
Improved communication skills – Effective communication reduces misunderstandings and shortens the time it takes to make others understand what you need or want.
Stronger interpersonal skills – From buying fruit to interviewing for a business loan, people skilled at interpersonal relations have the world as their resource.
Enhanced work performance – Life coaching can contribute to a better and more satisfying work experience.
Correct work/life balance – Very much an individual issue, it is often tricky arriving at the equilibrium that’s right for you.
Greater wellness – Being well is more than taking medicine. Life coaches work with their clients to create “do-able”, comprehensive plans.
Wider career opportunities – These include options that were too frightening, those “out of one’s reach”, and areas that were not even considered but now seem so obvious.
Effective organization and time management – People feel they control their lives rather than their lives controlling them.
Heightened team effectiveness - Life coaching is also about groups and teams. The same benefits that individuals can enjoy also apply to teams and groups.
A life coach is not a psychiatrist. He is someone who will help improve your personal and/or professional life by offering support and encouragement while suggesting new ways to achieve your goals. A life coach is more of a partnership than anything else. It is a support system with one goal in mind: improving your quality of life.
The idea of a life coach is nothing new. Walk into any dojo, whether it is for karate or meditation, and the concept of sensei and unsui are immediately instilled in the student’s mind. Very much like the ancient teachings, in life, there are always those who have walked the path before you and those who will walk the path after you. This is the principal ideology behind life coaching.
Certified help
A life coach will ideally have a substantial amount of experience and education in his own field, as well as the required coaching certifications. Certification assures that high standards are set while reinforcing professional coaching as a distinct and self-regulating profession.
Whether your coach is degreed, certified or not, be sure that he has a winning track record before pulling out your checkbook.
What does a life coach do?
Professional coaches, through a partnership with the client, are there to help produce positive results, whether in their professional or personal lives. They help people perform better and ultimately improve the quality of their lives.
In most cases, a life coach is required when the person is in a transition phase and needs support for any of the following reasons:
- Reassessing life goals and developing action plans
- Lack of balance between work and life
- Difficulty dealing with stressful situations
- Difficulty making life decisions
- Prioritizing projects and timelines
- Improving relationships
- Urgent situations involving high risks or challenges
- Identifying core strengths and maximizing their potential
- Simplifying life to reduce stress and increase productivity
- Help with time management
- Lack of control over life
Trained to listen, observe and customize an approach to the client’s needs, the coach will work to find solutions and strategies that will help the individual out of the rut they are in.
Why it works
Unlike other forms of self-help or therapy, life coaching offers a new look on basic human needs. Partnership, support and know-how are areas that distinguish life coaching from other therapies.
Partnership
Tiger Woods, at the top of his game, still works on improving his skills. For this, he relies on his coach to make sure he still has the edge. A similar bond exists between the life coach and the client.
Support
Individuals are better able to make big decisions when they have the support of friends, family, peers, or a life coach. With a life coach a client is more comfortable taking bigger strides to getting the job done and making the appropriate changes toward a better life.
Still not sure where you fit in? A cross examination of life coaching and therapy…
Know-how
It’s always best to pick a coach that has walked a similar line in life as you have. The coach will know how to help the client achieve his goal -- whether it is to make more money or simply to make better decisions.
Life coach vs. therapist
Life coaching and therapy are both based on support, trust and complete confidentiality. They also make equal use of listening skills and non-judgmental attitudes toward the client.
Some say that therapy deals with the past and handling emotional pain; whereas, coaching deals more with the near future and devising action plans toward a specific goal.
You can’t move toward the future without turning the page on the past. Attaining a life coach is recommended after unresolved matters are settled. Coaching may not be what you need if you have unresolved issues of the past. On the same token, if you need coaching you don't need to get therapy first.
A therapist often seeks insight and understanding of a person’s psyche rather than focusing on strategies and life plans. Coaches are not perceived as experts -- they are more or less a person with knowledge and skill, which they use to help clients achieve their goals. Coaches encourage and support the client while giving valuable advice to achieve specific life goals.
The major difference between a life coach and a therapist is the relationship between the client and the coach. The synergy between the two goes beyond what standard therapy offers. The sessions are not confined to the usual meeting rooms -- more and more people contact their coach by phone, e-mail or even meet for a quick drink.
Need a life coach?
Only you will know if you really need a life coach or not. The following list of questions may help you decide:
- Do you often feel overwhelmed from the daily tasks at hand?
- Do you feel like you’re living life unconsciously?
- Do you suffer from low self-esteem?
- Do you feel like everyone seems to have a master plan but you?
- Is there a lack of support in your life?
- Do you feel like the whole world is out to get you?
- Are you going through difficult times in life and need a helping hand?
- Do you have deadlines you just can’t deal with and don’t know how to cope?
Answering yes to any of the above questions doesn’t necessarily mean you need therapy, but might suggest that you could benefit from life coaching.
Is coaching right for you?
Before you frantically flip through the phone book for some help, step back and ask what exactly you wish to accomplish with a coach. Once you establish this, a life coach can strategize a winning plan to help you attain your goals.
Life coaching may not be the best option for you if you have a hard time digesting constructive criticism or you just don’t think you can devote the time and energy to make a change for the better. Due to the partnership approach of coaching, it is vital that the client be open and willing to the experience.
United we stand
Everyone, at some point in their life, will need someone to guide them through the mucky haze and back to safe grounds. In a world full of adversity and uncertain futures, it’s always comforting to know that there’s someone out there -- whether it’s a friend, a therapist or a coach -- to give us a helping hand.