I have been a Life Coach, professionally for over 30 years. It’s been my personality for my entire life. 🙂
And I totally understand the confusion about what a Life Coach does, especially since each Life Coach will be different, based on their personality and experience level.
That said, here are a few of the questions I receive the most often from people.
PS: Here are the extras I mention:
Private Coaching when you are ready for the ultimate, exclusive experience: Life Coaching with Laura
Hacking Happiness: A Life Coaching Quick Start: Just give me 5 days. Hacking Happiness
Check out the SIMPLY :: clean
the 14-day life reset
If you want to join me on my journey, whether you are in perimenopause or not, check out the reset I’ll be doing regularly each month.
READ: Life Coaching — FAQs
QUESTION #1: How do I know if I need a Life Coach?
Honestly? We all need Life Coaches at certain times during our lives.
Okay, so maybe a caveat is if you don’t really care if your life gets any better. And seriously, no judgment. I have heard “My life is good enough” many times in my life. (And I have never asked! It’s usually a comment people mention when I say I’m a Life Coach.)
We have tolerations in our lives and they can show up in a couple of ways:
BLIND SPOTS:
We all have “blind spots” in our lives, areas where we used to want to change it but we became accustomed to how we felt and forgot it annoyed us (even though it still does.)
Kind of like house blindness. You know that bit of clutter on your kitchen counter that drove you crazy initially? OR the crack in the paint above the door? OR the one burner on your stove that doesn’t work?
Those things annoy you initially and you plan to do something about them, but over time you get used to it and you “stop” seeing it.
I use quotes because you don’t really stop seeing it, it’s just in the back of your mind, not the forefront. You know it still bugged you because when you fix it, it feels amazing. You get that feeling of “ahhhh…”
When my husband and I got married, we lived in an apartment with window air conditioners. They were so noisy! It felt loud when we turned them on but after awhile we stopped noticing it. But when we turned it off… I still remember the relief and it was 25 years ago!
We have those same blind spots in our lives:
- Maybe you got a job out of college just to pay the bills. It wasn’t what you really wanted to do but you needed the paycheck. Then you got used to the paycheck and benefits and the promotions and 20 years down the line, you looked up and realized, “Hey, this isn’t what I wanted to be when I grew up!”
- Or maybe you gain 2 pounds a year. No big deal, but 20 years later, it’s an extra 40+ pounds.
- Or maybe you marry the person you are dating when you reach marrying age, only to realize years later they aren’t the person you really want to be with.
Everyone has these ares in our lives. Each of these comes from clients from my coaching practice.
We usually know they are there but it’s hard to look too closely because of the judgment. A good Life Coach helps you look at it with a softer heart so you can then make the changes you so desire.
LIMITING BELIEFS:
Tolerations also show up as limiting beliefs. It’s not just the things that we aren’t noticing, the aspects of our lives we unknowingly assume they will always be the way they are.
Limiting beliefs usually come from when we were young and we heard a message over and over again either because someone we respected modeled it for us or we were told.
We all have messages lodged in our programming that tell us we aren’t good enough, we don’t deserve better, we can’t do something. It might be around money, a career, relationships, how we care for ourselves.
Check out an area of your life that is not the way you want it to be, I guarantee there is a belief in their that is keeping you from stepping into the life you really want.
And it’s so hard to find them for yourself. A good Life Coach will help you uncover what isn’t the way you want it to be in your life…
QUESTION 2: When Do I Need a Life Coach?
Life coaching works best when there is a gap between where you are and where you want to be.
You don’t even need to know precisely where you want to be, you just know it isn’t where you are.
We are usually too close to the situation to be able to make the changes all by ourselves.
A coach can help you see what the next steps are.
Specifically, what can a Life Coach do?
- LC have tips to make things easier
- We have tips to make things easier.
- We help you see options
- We can help you find a better way
QUESTION #3: Specifically, What Can a Life Coach Do?
We are like interior decorators or personal organizers. We have tips & tricks for you that make it easier or better than you ever thought possible.
Yep, you could decorate your place by yourself or do all the organizing, but it is so much better when you get help from someone who has those special skills!
Add to that, we aren’t vested in the solution. We aren’t family or friends (although I am darned friendly!) so we aren’t tied to your final decision. We can be truly objective for you and help you see options that you can’t see for yourself.
QUESTION #4: How is Life Coaching Different from Therapy?
Finally, the most common question I receive. In a nutshell: therapy goes back into your life to see why you are where you are to heal the past. Life Coaching. moves forward and steps into action.
As Jack Canfield says, “So what… now what?”
If you are ready to take action and move forward, it’s a Life Coach you need!
AND some therapists make great coaches, meaning they help you move forward, too.
And, yes, I’ve had clients who are in therapy as they work with me. They process with their therapist and then come to me to help themselves take actions.
Final thoughts…
Coaching is for you if you are ready to move forward – really move forward – in your life.
You need to be open to taking action and experimenting with new ways of doing things.
IF you are ready to explore next steps with me, I have a couple of options:
Private Life Coaching:
For the ultimate, exclusive experience, check out private coaching with me. I usually have room for 2-3 new clients each month. You can learn more here.
hacking happiness:
Hacking happiness is my Life Coaching Quick Start course. Receive the first few steps for enjoying your life more. Learn more here.
Not ready to invest in yourself?
Totally understand! Grab this FREE ebook and watch for follow up emails and I’ll help you get started!
WATCH: Life Coaching — FAQs
And here is the video version! 🙂
I always share more personal stories in the video / podcast, in case you are wondering. The blog post is more to the point. I get chatty when I’m, well, chatting!
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