When I people I'm a life coach, I get one of two responses. A smile with lit up eyes and "I've been wanting to learn more about life coaching" OR a confused, I-should-probably-go-now look.
This is for the people with the second response…
"OK, what's a life coach?" you ask, feeling a little weird about asking.
Here's my simple answer:
Here's my longer answer: A life coach helps you discover and clarify what you want most from life and helps you create a plan to achieve your version of success. Then she reminds you of your intentions as life happens, distractions come up and you temporarily get off your success path. Gentle accountability over time is key to extraordinary results.
Reasons to hire a life coach:
Feeling stuck in a career,
Disappointed with health issues,
Overwhelmed with parenting dilemmas
Unconnected in personal relationships
Struggling at work
Unable to make a big decision
--any kind of a puzzle in your life, really.
Many coaches have a specialty. Mine is helping family businesses, coaches and other professionals find extraordinary success, both personally and professionally.
Life coaching is similar to other types of coaching—imagine you're hiring a trainer at the gym. They're going to ask what your goals are, assess where you are on your journey and provide some new tools. What they're doing to your muscles, life coaches are doing to your thoughts and feelings around your circumstances (your mind), but without bucket loads of sweat.
Did you know that we have about 50,000 thoughts a day and the vast majorityare repetitive, non-productive thoughts?
For instance: "I'm so stupid for eating that third slice of cake last night." "My sister always treats me like a baby." "I'll never get promoted at work." All non-productive and repetitive chatter that keeps us down. Sound familiar?
Many times we're unknowingly stuck in a negative feedback loop. Then we wonder why nothing ever changes. Ha!
A life coach can help you notice your patterns and replace the non-productive thoughts with other, more supportive (and truthful) thoughts.
Here's a metaphor I like to use.
As a coach, I'm like a lighthouse keeper.
My job is to keep the lighthouse in working order, shining brightly. My client is like a lighthouse in need of maintenance. The light has dulled—maybe it's internal (a thought like "I don't know who I am anymore") and the lens of the lighthouse needs to be polished and re-focused. Maybe it's external—it's really foggy with poor visibility (maybe you just got laid off and aren't sure what to do next).
I can help you notice where your light has dulled or where the fog has clouded your vision and offer tools to see things clearly, to change perspective, to try new ways of living intentionally.
The benefits are real! My clients brag about reducing their blood pressure from sky-high to normal, reaching wildly improbable goals like doubling their sales with their existing customer base or planning (and starting!) a 3-month backpacking trip to Europe at age 59, adding some self-care like going away for a girls weekend and letting a husband have the kids for a weekend, even if he isn't thrilled about it…