What Is Life Coaching? & Do I Need It?

By Amanda Da Silva, B.Hkin, B.Ed, and M.Ed

4-minute read

What would it be like if you could turn your adversities into your advantages?

That's precisely what life coaching can do for you.

Sometimes life can feel like we’re scaling a rock face with no ropes. But if you know you’re on the right path, it will be exciting not intimidating. That’s how coaching helps. | photo from unsplash

Life Coaching Could Be Anything

The tricky thing with the phrase life coach is that it could refer to almost anything.

A Life Coach could help you with any aspect of your life. And not all life coaches have the same process. In fact, every coach has an entirely different process. Moreover, there’s no regulatory body for life coaches. You don’t have to have a degree or credentials to call yourself a life coach.

So how can you know if your life coach is really going to help you?

First, look for a life coach that has achieved what you want to achieve. Then look for someone who specializes in the area you most want help with.

I specialize in helping women who are leaders or aspiring leaders live and lead from their heart.

My biggest focus is helping people live in alignment with their values so that they can grow, lead, and be fulfilled.

You can’t be a great leader if you’re not living your values and leading from the heart. You can’t inspire others if you aren’t living in alignment with your values.

I’ve been focused on leadership and personal growth since I was a teen, so this is my area of focus. But another life coach might be more focused on family or relationships, or overcoming personal difficulties, or even money and personal finance.

So my biggest tip if you’re looking for the right coach is to find someone who specializes in the area that you most want to work on.

Now, before we break down what the process of life coaching actually looks like, let’s dig into some backstory.

But first, some backstory.

I recently realized that I've been preparing as a Growth and Leadership Coach since I was a teen.

It all began when I volunteered in my junior high school years for a non-profit organization focused on teaching children with disabilities. My individualized approach to their needs was well-received by the students. But, I found this work to be a real blessing for me in return.

I enjoyed seeing the children's enthusiasm and joy as they learned.

They poured so much effort into learning how to do the essential life skills able-bodied people take for granted.

Later, I became a trained teacher. I learned in the process that using an individual approach with each person and helping them develop to their full potential was an area in which I thrived. This was the case in the classroom, the gym, and on the field as I coached athletes.

These skills served my students as they achieved better results and felt the joy of success.

It also gave me great satisfaction knowing I had helped another person achieve their unique greatness and feel joy in the process.

So, without realizing it, I've been acting as a Personal Growth Coach for the past 20 years of my life.

What EXACTLY is life coaching?

You might wonder how coaching differs from other forms of personal development that promote change and growth.

In addition to coaching, there's mentoring and consulting. So what's the difference?

A consultant is paid for their advice. That means the hired consultant does most of the talking. When you work with a mentor, you'll speak 50% of the time as you dialogue back and forth.

When you work with a coach, they actually speak very little.

The coach is trained to ask great questions to elicit information from you. A coach doesn't put a one-size-fits-all map of reality upon you.

As the client, YOU provide the information.

The International Coaching Federation (ICF) states, "Coaching is partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential."

In coaching, we work together in partnership as equals to help you look at things differently. Your thinking processes or mindset has gotten you to where you are now. So, if you want different results or even just to take your results to that next level, you need to change your thinking.

You find a coach because you want to be part of a creative process.

You want to find things that did not exist before that we can create together.

You'll get steps to follow and inspiration to make the change and do something different that'll help you reach your full potential and capabilities.

According to ACT (Association for Coaching), a life coach must facilitate the "enhancement of work performance, life experience, self-directed learning and personal growth of the coachee."

In other words, a life coach wants to help you get RESULTS!

A coach sets the framework and inspiration for YOU to do the work on yourself. A life coach will hold you accountable to your goals and aspirations. She will listen carefully to your concerns to help you come up with a strategy.

Do you really need life coaching?

Now that you have a glimpse of what life coaching is all about, is this something you need?

Going back to the initial question at the beginning of this blog, I ask this: how will you turn your adversities into your advantages?

How will you turn your adversities into your advantages?

Do you have the necessary success tools, strategies and resources to tackle any challenges you may be facing at this time? If you want a blueprint for success and a guide on the side, coaching is for you.

Doing it alone is totally fine.

But, working with a coach will speed up your growth process substantially.

Those fears you’re working through that are holding you back? You’ll be busting them!

The limiting beliefs that are stopping you from achieving your dreams? You’ll see them, honour them, and move through them.

Not taking the focused actions that will actually move the needle? You’ll identify right action and move towards it!

Imagine an Olympic athlete who didn't work with a coach.

Hard to imagine because it's not a thing. Every athlete who has ever gone on to be a top performer has worked with many skilled coaches who knew how to bring out the best in them. While the athlete is the one putting in the reps and harnessing their focus, the coach helps them see where they're off course.

Top actors have acting coaches.

Top business owners have business coaches.

Top speakers have speaking coaches.

Top leaders and entrepreneurs have life coaches.

To be a successful leader or entrepreneur, your life and work must be in alignment. You cannot inspire or lead others if you’re not living and leading from the heart.

Nobody wants to reach the end of a long life and find that they have a successful business or a thriving career, but have gone away from their values, lost friendships or spent their lives grinding instead of living.

If you’re not living in deep alignment with who you really are, your success will not be fulfilling.

A life coach is not that different from an athletic coach. They both are in charge of helping people get better results. No athlete would consider getting on the court or field or track without a coach behind them. Yet, in life, we go years grinding… — A life coach is not that different from an athletic coach. They both are in charge of helping people get better results. No athlete would consider getting on the court or field or track without a coach behind them. Yet, in life, we go years grinding away without a coach. Sometimes you just need a guide on the side to point you in a better direction so you can stop grinding and start thriving. | *photo from unsplash*

A life coach is no different from an Olympic coach who helps athletes up their game and win gold.

But in this case, the gold medal you'll win will be a life aligned with your values, mission, and vision i.e. a life that feels good and results that match your goals.

You'll be able to stop worrying whether you've gone off course. You'll know that you're on the right path, and you'll see and feel the results of taking small, powerful steps in the right direction.

Life coaching is for you if you are ready to create new possibilities and level up in your life.

If you’re a leader, an educator, or an entrepreneur, then coaching will help you reach that next level of professionalism and success while also loving and enjoying your life.

Because being successful shouldn’t mean grinding away and losing your joy.

You can reach your goals while loving your life.

My specialty is helping leaders and educators live and lead from the heart, so they can inspire others and live their dreams.

Does that sound like something you need?

Are You Ready to Make An Impact and Be a Better Leader?

If you have a big vision but find yourself getting off track or not seeing the results you’d hoped for, my group coaching program is for you. Join me this Fall.

You might be playing a smaller game than is necessary to achieve your biggest goals and dreams.

This is usually because your mindset hasn’t caught up to your goals and dreams. Or, you might have values that actually don’t align with your goals.

Maybe you need a total reset.

If you find that you’re busy working, but aren’t necessarily making the progress you’d love to see, then group coaching will help you get unstuck, so you can stop spinning your wheels and start making an impact.

Get prepared for the next stage in your life. Everything has changed. What’s your next step?

10 WEEK GROUP LIFE COACHING PROGRAM
5 Sessions | October 7th to December 2nd, 2020
Wednesdays at 7 p.m. PST via Zoom

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