As I began to embark on the journey of becoming a life coach, I often had to answer the common questions, “why would one hire a life coach?”
Not only did others ask me this, but I would also ask myself this question on a regular basis as I struggled to answer the question, “why would someone hire me as a life coach?”
Through my own process of identifying and navigating my “imposter syndrome,” I was able to answer the question to why someone would hire me as a life coach. The answer is this –
I have faced a great deal of adversity and rather than allowing it to define me, I found a way to flourish. I will not attempt to coach someone through something I am not willing to do or haven’t already done myself. I have a multitude of examples of when I faced my fears and followed my heart in a way that was authentic to me. I never choose the “easy” way, and I never allow my excuses to hold me down.
I believe everyone has the potential to change a situation they are not happy with and I have a strong desire to help those who feel “stuck,” as I know that feeling all too well. I understand the importance of stepping out of your comfort zone, and I often do things in my own life that are terrifying to me.
As I have experienced first hand, life is too short and now is the time to do the things that set your soul on fire. If you have been contemplating hiring a life coach, I strongly recommend you have a look at the list I have compiled as to why you should do so.
1. Clarity – My primary goal as a life coach is to help you build clarity. I know how difficult it can be to determine what it is that you “really” want in life and sometimes it takes a lot of digging deep and acknowledging some of the “outrageous” things that have been going on in your mind regarding goals. By the way, when I say outrageous, I mean things YOU think are too outrageous to ever accomplish because you are lacking the confidence to undertake them.
Clarity is essential to achieving goals because if you are not clear on what it is you want, it is impossible to set realistic goals.
2. For a sounding board – Life coaches can be your sounding board. If you decide to hire a life coach, be aware that not everyone has the ability to be an active listener.
Side note: You should be able to determine during a consultation, whether or not a coach is capable of actively listening rather than listening in order to respond. If you don’t know the difference between these two types of listening, I strongly recommend you have a look at Franklin Covey’s, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. If someone is claiming to be a coach, they better have active listening as one of their skills. One of my favorite quotes is the following:
“Listen, or your tongue will make you deaf.” – Native American Proverb
A coaching session is a lot like talk therapy; only it can’t be called therapy as there is a fine line between coaching and therapy. However, with that said; coaching is very much client-centered, and the role of the coach is to listen and then use what they have heard to properly guide their client through a process of change and development. This is done by designing a roadmap with the client, sharing perspective, and teaching strategies to overcome obstacles and fears that may be standing in the way of success. This involves determining the clients strengths and weaknesses and building off of that.
3. Empowerment – A life coach LOVES to empower their clients. More often than not a coach will have a client who has a moment or several moments of weakness, at which point the coach will use their enthusiasm and perspective to build their clients back up and remind them that they are capable of anything as long as they never give up.
The actual definition of empowerment in the dictionary is as follows:
-the process of becoming stronger and more confident, especially in controlling one’s life and claiming one’s rights.
4. Unbiased help – a life coach can offer assistance and encouragement through the decision making from an unbiased position. It can be so challenging to elicit help from close friends, family, or colleagues because their advice isn’t always impartial. Many times someone’s opinion is based on their own fears and may not reflect what is best for you. A life coach has no emotional connection to you and therefore can help you make decisions without being emotionally motivated.
A life coach’s job is to help you succeed and therefore they will focus all of their efforts on helping you do just that; unlike, for example, the colleague who you may be competing with.
5. Accountability – last but certainly not least a life coach is there to hold you accountable. When you don’t show up for yourself. If you don’t complete that task you had set to complete by Saturday, the life coach won’t say “well but at least you got to enjoy your night out with your friends on Friday.” The coach will hold you accountable and not accept any of your excuses (short of a natural disaster) as to why you failed to complete whatever it is you tasked yourself with.
Accountability is by far one of the most important reasons why someone should hire a life coach. It’s no different than going to the gym. I can speak from experience when I say that bailing on the gym is a lot harder to do when you know you have others there waiting for you.
When you set a goal, it is going to be a lot harder to bail on yourself when you know your life coach will be following up and holding you accountable for the decisions you make.
These are only a handful of reasons why YOU should hire a life coach if you are at a fork in the road and feeling stuck. DO NOT hire a life coach if you are in an unhealthy state and in need of therapy. Also, DO NOT hire a life coach if you are not ready to make a change. More often than not, someone is hiring a life coach because they want to change something and if you are not ready to accept that this process of change is going to be extremely uncomfortable, you are likely not in a place where hiring a life coach will be beneficial to you.
“Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.” – Albert Einstein-
When you continue to try the same thing over and over with no success, it may be time to bring in a new perspective; and that is precisely where a life coach fits in.
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