The story goes like this,” a tourist walking through a small town in Europe asks an older man, ‘Were there any great leaders born here?’ The man replies, ‘No, only babies.’”   Many people dream of being great, whether they think of greatness as being a world leader or a mom who takes care of her children,  people dream of greatness.  The problem is, many people “DREAM” of being great but never act on the dream.  Most of these people want greatness handed to them with no strings attached.  They have a skewed view of greatness.

What is the right view of greatness?

You must first realize that greatness is grown and not given.  You can not wake up “great” one morning unless you have put in a lot of time learning to be great before that morning.  I heard John Maxwell say, “What you are in ten years will be determined by what you are reading today.”  If you do nothing you will get exactly that.  Work is part of greatness.  If you want to be a great leader then you have to work toward that.  If you want to be a great parent, you have to work toward that.  If you want to be a great person, you have to work toward that.

Don’t confuse Greatness with Fame.

Many people in today’s American culture believe greatness is being on television or being famous.  The problem with that thinking is, being on T.V. does not make you great, and from what I have seen it usually makes you a jerk. From the local news guy or woman to the Hollywood star or starlet most people who are “famous” to us are great bu any means.  Don’t confuse politics with greatness either.  Think about it, how big of an ego do you need to believe you are better than anyone else in an entire state or nation for one job.  These guys fall all the time because their ego has to be continually fed.   Don’t get me wrong, we used to have great leaders and great news people and I am sure we still do.  The majority makes the great ones look bad and they all get lumped together.

Spend Time Working On Yourself

Make a habit of getting up daily and going to work on yourself.  Spend as much time as you possibly can every day reading books and listening to Cd’s or mp3′s from speakers that build up your life.  Change the way you think about life and the world.  If you hate everything or if you complain stop doing it.  Make a conscious effort stop the bad habit.  If you are a religious person spend time reading your holy books and learning from them.  I am a Christian and I spend time daily not just reading the bible and praying, but trying to practice what I have learned.

Work with a coach if you need a good swift kick in the rear a coach is great for the job. I offer coaching but if you need someone to run through a thought process you are having, feel free to contact me.

Just a few short years ago if someone told you they had a coach you would have probably thought they had a tennis or a golf coach they were working with to improve their game.  Now when someone says they have a coach more and more people realize that person is trying to grow as a person, and trying to become successful on their terms.

Professional life coaching has an enormous potential for growth.  As I mentioned in another post Why Not Become A Life Coach, there are thousands of areas in which you can become a coach.  If you look at each person in America, they need coaching for: personal development, finances, marriage, home schooling, decorating, career, leadership, starting a business, accomplishing goals, and any number of things you can think of.

Why Is Coaching So Popular?

In my opinion, life coaching is so popular first because, most people already know what they want to do.  People have goals but most people need some one to come along side them and help them fine tune the goals and act on them.  They also need an honest sounding board that may not be specifically tied to them like a close friend is.  Friends are great, they just think like you do so they may not have the best view of what is going on.

Second, most people don’t have a mentor they can go to.  I had a conversation last week with a friend about how we wished someone would have come along side us earlier in life to open our eyes to the opportunities that are in front of us now.  If everyone had a mentor there would be no need for coaches.  Coaches are available now to come along side us and help each person walk through the opportunities at hand.

Finally, coaching is so popular because technology has mad it possible.  Cell phones let us talk for unlimited minutes.  The internet lets us stay in constant communication do seminars at all times of the day and night.  But technology has also made it harder to find a good coach.  You need to talk to several coaches before you make a choice on hiring one.  Just because a coach charges a lot of money does not mean that coach is a good coach, it just means they charge a lot of money.  Find a coach you can connect with and feel comfortable with not one that is going to charge you a whole months paycheck to get the same results.

Coaches are everywhere, and the coaching profession is still growing.  If you want to become a coach, figure out what you are good at and get started Here.  If you are looking for a coach lets talk.

Do you like to help people succeed?  Is there an area you have a niche in?  Are you able to listen to what people say and honestly reflect that back to them?  Do you want to own your own business?  Then becoming a life coach may be right for you.

When I began exploring coaching in 2006 I knew I had a calling deep within me.  I graduated from Liberty University with a degree in religion and thought I was going to be the pastor of a church.  However, counseling is not my thing.  As a pastor, counseling is one of the main things I would be doing during the day.   I found that  I was to honest, and most people do not want you to be honest with them.  I like to work with people who want to accomplish goals, people who have vision, and want to lead others.  I can not work with people who just want me to tell them I love them and it will get better.  Because I know it won’t get better unless they do something to make it better.

What Is Your Back Ground?

I mentioned above about having a niche.  Everyone is an expert at something.   My father was a Caterpillar Tractor Mechanic.  He was payed more money than anyone I ever met for working on a tractor.  Why? Because that was his niche.  He worked on nothing else, and he was the best.  What Are You Good At?  You can be a coach in any field.  You can get started with a blog like I did then expand into coaching.  I’ll give you a web address if you want one, just fill out our contact form and let me know you want to set up a blog and I’ll get you started.

I Don’t Have A Degree.

So what like I said above, “Everyone is an expert at something.”  Can you cook, scrapbook, plan parties, help the grieving, or stay married for 15 years?  Do you paint, craft, mechanic, sell anything, or just love people?  Do you know a lot about beer, wine, spirits, food, pastries, or anything else? Do you see what I am getting at. You know something about something so you can be a coach.

Do you like to be stretched and challenged?

Many or maybe all of the sites that advertise coach training tell you that you need to be trained to be a life coach.  There is no rule that says you have to get formal training to be a coach.  They want to sell you the training so they can make money.  Instead, I suggest getting several books and reading them to help get started.

First is, Becoming a Professional Life Coach, This gives you a great start to learning the coaching profession.  Next is, “Four Steps to Building a Profitable Coaching Practice” by Deborah Brown-Volkman.  This was the first book I ever bought.  It will get you started in the art of building and marketing your business and most importantly choosing who you coach. Third is The Coaching Starter Kit: Everything You Need to Launch and Expand Your Coaching Practice
from Coachville.com.  While this book has a long name it has ideas, reports, documents, and even coaching contracts you can use to get started in your business.  Finally, if you need help asking question or ideas for developing documents  Total Life Coaching: 50+ Life Lessons, Skills, and Techniques to Enhance Your Practice…and Your Life again by Patrick Williams.  Yes it has another long name, but can be invaluable to help you get your practice started.

I hope this has given you a look at coaching and instilled the belief that you can become a coach. If you have question feel free to contact me from our about page.  Or if you are looking to start a coaching relationship fill out our coaching questionnaire for a free getting to know you session.

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Life Coaching is a process of helping a person see the whole picture of his or her  life from an aerial snapshot, so he or she can put the puzzle pieces together.

When I begin the coaching process with an individual I want them to know that I am not telling them what to do.  This is a process for healthy people who are just not able to put the entire puzzle of what they want to accomplish together by themselves.

I use the image of a puzzle because that is the best example.  You have an idea of where you are.  You know what you want to do. You just need someone from the outside to help you see where a couple of key pieces fit.  Then you can see where you are; ties in with where you want to be.

Life Coaching is a continuous in some cases, and a short-term in others.

Many coaches tell you that the coaching process has to go on for several months.  I have found time and again that this is not true for everyone.  If you just need to redo your resumé, then a month is long enough to do that and get started with job seeking.  If you want to completely change the direction of your life and start a business then you may need six months to get that started and running.

Each person is different, and I take time to know each persons needs so we can develop a specified length that each of us will be happy with.

Life coaching is a process someone enters into to get things done.

If you are looking to fix your hatred toward you parents,  you need counseling, not coaching.  If you are looking to develop a plan to double your sales over the next six months, you need a coach.

Whether you are developing a vision for your business, or goals for your team, coaching can help you accomplish each task.

Life coaching is not counseling, mentoring, or consulting.

While at any given time a coach may use one or more of these professions methods it is completely different from each of these.  Counseling helps you get over your past coaching helps you accomplish your future.

A mentor comes along side and takes you under his or her wing.  A mentor shows you how to succeed in what he or she does.  A coach comes along side you, but the relationship is not about what the coach des, but what you want to accomplish.

A consultant swoops in and tells you each thing that needs to be fixed and gives you a process he or she thinks will help you.  A coach helps you decide what needs to be done and develop your own plan to grow your business, accomplish your goals, or build your team.

It Is Up To You

You have to decide where you are and what you want to accomplish in life.  If you need healing then a pastor or counselor may be your key.  If you are in sales and want to get better perhaps a mentor can guide you to where you want to go.  If you are a business owner a consultant may be able to come in asses your situation and give you several thing to do to that will help you grow.

If you are looking for someone to come along side you and be straight with you.  If you are looking for another set of eyes to help you see outside your box.  If you are looking to accomplish several specific goals in the next few months.  Life coaching is right for you.

If you want to talk about coaching then use our contact form and get some questions answered. If you are closer to making a decision about getting a coach then fill out our coaching sign-up form and get a free coaching session to determine if we are the fit for you.

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