Have you been thinking about working with a life coach? Good for you!

Working with a life coach can help you reach new levels in your life and your business. People choose to partner with life coaches for any number of reasons, whether they are feeling lost and unfulfilled and looking for direction, or navigating a big potential change in life (like a career or relationship transition), or have a big goal they want to go after, or really anything that motivates them to seek some outside help.

If you are considering working with a life coach, there are a few things you should know before beginning your search. Here’s an overview of what you should know and do to find the right life coach for you.

What is a Life Coach?

First thing’s first: what exactly is a “life coach”?

A life coach is a trained professional who helps others improve their quality of life and their happiness through coaching and mentorship sessions.

Life coaches are trained (usually through programs and certifications) to help their clients navigate any number of obstacles and limiting beliefs in their life to help them set and achieve goals, overcome self-doubt, and reach their highest potential.

Life coaches can have any number of specializations including:

• Confidence coaching
• Career coaching
• Business coaching
• Executive coaching

Or they can be a true generalist “life coaching,” assisting with all parts of life as they come together uniquely for each client.

It’s important to note that one thing a life coach is NOT is a counselor. Counselors (or therapists) go through a very different set of training and education requirements to be able to provide the services that they do. The biggest difference between coaches and counselors, according to the New Skills Academy of Coaching is that “Counseling emphasizes healing the past and releasing pain, while life coaching helps you focus on the future and motivates you to pursue your passion and dreams.”

How Can a Life Coach Help You

As mentioned before, a life coach can help you with any number of needs in your life. Here are some of the main ways that life coaches help their clients:

If you are feeling lost, sad or unfulfilled, without really knowing why…

…Then a life coach can help pinpoint the underlying reasons for your unhappiness and lack of fulfillment in life!

You have already heard me preach this from the rooftops, but if you want to live a happy and fulfilling life, then you need to tap into your passions, your purpose and your values. You need to ask yourself: “Who am I, and what do I want?” and then fiercely pursue your answers to those questions!

The most fulfilled and joyful people in the world are the ones who live their purpose every day. If you are seeking something similar, or just generally are feeling lost and like you need more clarity in your life, then a life coach can help you do that.

If you are feeling seriously overwhelmed, stressed, or burnt out…

…Then a life coach can help you pinpoint your stressors and sources of overwhelm, and help you come up with a plan for tackling them.

If you are looking to make a major change in your life…

…Then a life coach can help guide you and keep you on track towards making this change!

Whether it’s a change you KNOW you need to make (like getting a new job), or a feeling that you need some sort of change in your life, but you’re not sure what, a life coach can help you navigate this time of transition.

And once you realize that change or that goal, a life coach can help you develop a realistic action plan for achieving that goal, and then provide accountability and support along the way.

If you are seriously happy and excited about your current life situation…

…Then a life coach can help you capitalize on this momentum and continue growing and reaching your maximum potential!

Maybe you have something going on in your life that you are excited about – like a new job, a promotion at work, a new relationship, a new child, or ANY other number of things that make you happy. Any sort of change in life, whether it’s sad or, in this case, happy, can be an excellent catalyst for growth and improvement.

A life coach can help you continue to understand more of what you want in other areas of your life, and help you to create value-based goals for achieving and realizing your best life ever.

How to Find the Right Life Coach for You & Your Needs

Everyone is unique, and has their own set of needs, values, and preferences. What “works” for someone else when it comes to solving a problem or making a change may not also work for you.

The same can be said about life coaching. Although many life coaches will probably use similar principles and practices to help their clients, every life coach is different.

Questions to Ask to Find the Right Life Coach for You

The most important thing for you to prioritize as you begin talking with different potential life coaches is a sense of connection.

Do you feel like this life coach understands your needs and really listens to you when you speak?

Do you feel a sense of positivity and optimism from your initial conversations?

Are you excited about what they tell you, and the vision of potential they create for you and your future?

Do you “vibe” with them?

The same as you would with any new relationship, you need to be mindful of how your life coach makes you feel. Do they inspire you? Motivate you to be positive? Do you feel like you can truly learn from them?

At the same time, be mindful that working with a life coach is likely going to take you out of your comfort zone a bit. In fact, it should! That’s the only way you’re going to grow, and working with a life coach will help you do that. So if you’re anxious or uncomfortable in your initial talks with a life coach, but your sense of excitement and desire for change outweighs that nervousness, then chances are, you’ve found the right fit!

My Personal Life Coaching Approach

As a life coach, I consider my job to be: to help people get what they want in life. Whether it’s confronting a sense of unhappiness or lack of fulfillment in life, finding a new job, or navigating any sort of other life transition, my job is to help my clients gain clarity on what WILL make them happy in life, and equip them with action plans, motivation and mindset training, and accountability for achieving that.

For clients who are specifically looking for career-related coaching, I also support my clients with interview prep, and application material revisions and feedback (resumes, cover letters, LinkedIn profile optimization.)

In general, these are the promises that I make to my clients as to what they’ll receive from working with me:

• A fresh perspective – unbiased and non-judgemental input on areas you’re struggling with in life
• Clarity on who you are and what it is that you want in life – and an increase in confidence and self-esteem as a result
• Motivation and tools to help you take action, including a dedicated action plan
• Accountability for following through on meaningful goals (that we’ll set together)
• Identification of personal limiting beliefs and strategies for breaking through them to live your best life ever
• To make you feel like a million bucks – pedicures are for pampering your feet, massages are for restoring your body, coaching is for nurturing your soul

My goal of each and every session I have with my clients is to leave them feeling GREAT about themselves and the work they’ve done in our hour-long session.

And if you’re looking for something similar in your own life, then I encourage you to consider working with a life coach. In fact, I’d love to have a conversation with you about exactly what you’re looking for, and how I can help (whether it’s working with me, or pointing you in the direction of another resources that I think may be the best fit for your needs).

You can schedule a free Clarity Call with me right here – I look forward to meeting you!