What is Life Coaching?
A Life Coach is someone who works with an individual to help them identify and accomplish their own personal and professional goals faster and more efficiently than they could do on their own. Rather like a sports coach, a Life Coach can help you improve your performance and get better results in a wide variety of areas of your life.
I believe that every one of us has the potential to improve our lives if we want to. We all strive to achieve contentment in our lives. Life Coaching is an holistic process, considering all aspects of your life and situation, only by seeing the whole picture can you begin to improve your life in a long lasting way.
Life Coaching Methods
My Life Coaching sessions take the form of conversations and life coaching techniques (including NLP, Neuro Linguistic Programming) including identifying goals, learning new ways of thinking and approaching situations and confidence building. Coaching begins by identifying where you are now, where you want to be and how to get there. Then by providing ongoing support and motivation, I can help you to continue to enhance your life. Examples of goals might be becoming more organised or getting fit.
Some people have a few Life Coaching sessions to address a couple of specific issues, some have a block of several sessions and some have a block and then ongoing more infrequent sessions to keep them motivated and to review their situation. The number of sessions is up to you.
Who is the expert on you?
Unlike a sports coach, as a Life Coach, I believe that you are the expert on you. No other person knows you like you do, no one else has experienced what you have in your life and no one else can truly understand what you want out of life. No-one else can “fix” you like you can fix yourself. Imagine you are a car mechanic, you have made a car from scratch and now it needs mending. Would you take it to a stranger who has never seen a car like this before, or would you fix it yourself? It is vital that you set your own goals and actions, only then will you be motivated to achieve your goals.
Then why see a Life Coach?
Often we do hold the answers to our own problems but we are too close to see them. How many times have you lost something only to find it’s right in front of you?
Today there is a need for many people to receive support from someone outside their family, friends and workplace. It is very freeing to be listened to, without the listener offering their own stories and solutions. Life Coaching offers the opportunity to work with a Coach who does not judge you or have their own agenda and to discuss issues in an environment of absolute confidentiality. Life Coaching relies on absolute commitment from You (to take responsibility for changing your life) and from the Coach, to guide and support you on your way. As a Life Coach I can help you set goals which are realistic and achievable and which you can proud of, when you have achieved them.
What type of issues can be addressed in Life Coaching?
Examples of the type of issues that might be covered in Life Coaching sessions include:
- Identifying the things that are important to you and what you are good at
- Identifying the things you want to achieve, set goals and plan actions to achieve your goals
- Personal development
- Becoming more content with your life
- Improving health, home and leisure
- Decision making
- Increasing self reliance and personal power
- Time management
- Prioritising
- Career changes
- Returning to work after a break
- Self awareness and self acceptance
- Stress management
- Communicating and managing relationships with others
Life coaching is not
- structured training
- therapy
- psychoanalysis
- psychotherapy
- counselling
- marriage counselling, although we can work on how to improve relationships in general
- It is also not a way of getting someone else to sort out your problems
- Life coaching can not help with specific financial advice or legal issue
The history of Life Coaching
Life Coaching developed in the 1980s in the USA, when a niche was recognised. Many people did not need psychiatry, psychotherapy or formal counselling but had more vague issues such as “inability to cope” or general disolussionment. A more active and dynamic approach was developed, whereby general life style issues and behaviours were addressed. The outcomes were a change in attitude, increased motivation, enthusiasm and a sense of personal power. Life Coaching came to Britain in the 1990s and has been growing in popularity, as the results of Life Coaching have become widely accepted.Life Coaching is increasingly in the news. In August 2006 it was reported in The Times, that Patricia Hewitt, the government minister was seeing a Life Coach
© 2004, 2005, 2006 Dr Leonaura Rhodes. Design by Andreas Viklund.