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.

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.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Do You Need a Consultant, or a Business Coach? (myventurepad.com)
• Preparing for Being Mentored (christopherscottblog.typepad.com)

Related articles by Zemanta

• Start Your Work Day the Night Before for Better Productivity [Career] (lifehacker.com)
• You can always do less (37signals.com)

Personal success is a desired outcome for many people whether success is home schooling your children or making millions of dollars.  Personal success is about going out and doing something to get your desired result not complaining about it and hoping reading a blog or book will be the magic bullet to get your to your desired result.  I know two people who want to start their own business and they have gone to over 10 conferences in the last five years on setting goals and designing their lives but they refuse to actually do anything and spend every dime they get to eat out or buy some new thing.

As a coach I talk to people all the time  like this.  This was me for a long time, because it is just easier to complain about my miserable job than it is to just do something.  One day I just jumped.  I told my wife I was never going to get my practice started if I continued to flounder at my job.  We knuckled down for a couple of months and I did it.  That was two years ago this week.  I can’t tell you it has been easy or that every month is easy; but it sure is better waking up every morning looking at my two son’s and knowing that I am affecting them positively everyday than it was getting up looking at a road full of cars and doing something that I had hated for ten years.

Every person has a reason to be on this earth.  It is not the same for every one but you are here for a reason.  You have a certain set of talents that will help you do certain tasks.  Starting a business may not be for you, but there is something out there that you fit like a long-lost puzzle piece and you need to find what that is.  It takes effort to find what your are designed to do.  Lazy people won’t take the time or make the effort find their calling.  The reason is that lazy people want to complain so they are getting the best out of their job for themselves by complaining about it instead of changing it.  If you are like most people then stay at your job.  Stay and be miserable and complain about the boss and your coworkers that you just hate.

The good news is that, laziness is a curse that can be overcome.  Start finding the good in the job you have.  This will improve your view of life right off the bat.  Second start dreaming about what you love to do or what you wanted to do as a kid.  Look at the world differently by looking at the beauty in every day things. Turn off the TV.  Go for a walk whether its is in a park or just down the street.

Stop letting laziness control your life.  I know it’s hard to be a contributing member of society but how about giving it a shot.  Take care of the things that need to be taken care of, stop looking for the magic bullet and do something to advance your life

Related articles by Zemanta

• Paul Katz: No Complaining?! A Challenging Week 2 Of “Mental Muscle” Boot Camp (huffingtonpost.com)
• About Enrichment On Living By Learning (onlivingbylearning.com)