Life coaches support their clients to help them set and achieve goals, overcome obstacles and guide them to make changes or shifts in their lives that will improve their levels of happiness and fulfillment. The coach works with the client, as a partner, a supporter, a cheerleader, and an accountability contact, to find the answers to creating the life the client seeks.
Anyone and everyone can use the services of a life coach. Entrepreneurs, professionals, musicians, writers, creative people, even the stay-at-home mom can all reach their goals with the help of a life coach. If there is a gap between where you are now and where you want to be, there is room for life coaching. Not only will your life coach help you close that gap, your life coach will help you discover and break through your self-limiting beliefs and challenge you to create the life you deserve.
Life coaches are not therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists or medical professionals. Those types of professionals work on past-based issues or traumas. If you start the process of life coaching, and have not resolved a past issue, then it is very likely you will be referred to work with a therapist to resolve the issue. It is very common for unresolved traumas to stop us from getting what we want in our lives. Life coaches focus on the present and the client’s goals for the future. They help people move forward and set personal and professional goals that will give them the life they really want.
Your health insurance does not cover life coaching, because coaching is not considered medical or psychological services. Think of your life coach as a professional consultant helping you make plans for your best life, and then guiding and supervising your follow through with those plans.
This obviously varies from person to person, and depends on the amount of work you’d like to accomplish. There are clients who feel they’ve received enough clarity after one or two sessions. There are others who have a long list of areas they’d like to work on, and can spend quite a long time with a life coach. Ultimately, the client determines how long their sessions should continue.
Most changes need time to take place in a person’s life, and if they need that ongoing support along the way, it would be reasonable to expect to spend about 3 months with your life coach. This also depends on whether you meet weekly, biweekly or monthly, or some other schedule.
Spending too much time with a life coach can cause some people to feel dependent on their coach to make any changes and decisions in their lives. The purpose of seeking the assistance of a life coach is to give you the tools of empowerment and confidence to find those answers within yourself. Much like a personal trainer works with someone who wants to develop a new fitness regimen, at some point, the client is able to work on these things independently, or only use a trainer occasionally.
Great question! A life coach doesn’t replace your friends or spiritual advisers. But they don’t have the pitfalls that can come along with those who know you personally, either. Many clients find life coaching to be substantially more effective than talking to their friends or religious leaders because they feel they can be more honest, and speak freely without the worry of judgement, guilt or shame.
Those who you know personally in your life are often going to fall into two categories, 1) those who only listen and give support but don’t help, or 2) those who want to help so much that they give advice on what you should do.
The first one is the friend who listens and nods, lets you know they support whatever decision you make, and doesn’t dare give advice because they wouldn’t want to be responsible for the outcomes. This is a great friend to “vent” to about your problems. They make you feel heard and loved.
The second one is so passionate about seeing you happy that they already know how to fix your problems and they shower you with advice on what you need to do next because they know what’s best for you. This is also a great friend to go to when you really are looking for advice. They are helpers with kind hearts.
Life coaches don’t just listen without helping, but they also don’t just give you advice or tell you what you should do. They guide you, asking the right questions, to help YOU find the answers within yourself. A client is much more likely to make the changes they realize are going to make the most sense for them, than the ones someone else tells them to do.
This sounds complex, but it’s really very simple. It’s not necessarily about price (although it helps to seek out those that are within your budget for maximum benefit) and it’s not just about their credentials or specialty areas.
The life coach you choose should be the one who you just feel a good connection with. It’s just like the old saying, “when you know, you know.” This person will be someone you feel comfortable opening up to, talking to, being honest with, and you feel you get the same from them in return. You like and appreciate their coaching style, and most importantly, at the end of a session, you feel better about yourself and your future.
Sometimes it does take a few sessions before you really know whether you have a great rapport with your coach, and if you’re getting positive results. But being open with your coach about your needs and expectations is crucial, and a good coach is going to focus on whether those needs and expectations are being met at each session. Until you’ve had enough time to really determine if your coach is right for you, just trust your intuition, and see if the coach offers an introductory session to determine if it’s a good fit. Many offer these shorter sessions at no charge.
Informational services such as group workshops and online classes have a money-back guarantee, each of which will be described in that particular event’s Terms of Service.
One-on-one coaching is different. It’s a partnership that requires both of us to put in the time and work promised in the Terms of Service. I offer an Initial Introductory Session at no cost to ensure that you are happy with my style of coaching and feel I will be a good fit. I guarantee our first session will give you answers and you will begin feeling empowered from the very beginning. I cannot make any guarantees other than to deliver the coaching services purchased as described in the Terms of Services / Client Agreement.
What I can offer you is a promise. I promise to do my part as your coach to provide you with support, encouragement, accountability, and guidance for the entirety of our working relationship. I will make it my mission to help you succeed, as your success is my success as your trusted partner in the process.
All clients are required to sign an agreement that outlines the responsibilities of both Coach and Client, as well as acknowledging receipt of the company’s policies.
However, you are not required to sign a contract for services that locks you in to any specific time frame or pricing structure.
You will find the current Life Coaching Services Agreement here.
Absolutely!
That’s up to you! We offer sessions via phone call, Skype, Zoom or in-person in our Orlando, Florida office location. If you have another method you’d like to use, just let us know and we will do our best to accommodate your request.
Sometimes. We utilize several worksheets and assignments to assist in the coaching process. These assignments usually serve a purpose of either meeting your goals established during and in-between sessions, or they’re meant to keep your Coach up to date on your progress. When your Coach knows where you are with your Action Plans in between sessions, it allows us to give you the support you need, and it also maximizes your paid session time, as your Coach is already up to speed on what you’ve accomplished and where you may have struggled. This allows the bulk of your session to be focused on working through any setbacks and planning your next goals to accomplish, rather than spending precious time on filling in your coach on your progress.
Most of these items are assigned through our Online Client Portal. Typically, worksheets or assignments in the Client Portal should only take you from 5-15 minutes per week. You will never be penalized for not completing an assigned task, however, it may hinder your progress from being as successful as possible!