What is a "life coach"?​
A life coach is someone who aims to help and empower others to make, meet and exceed personal and professional goals - including excelling in the workplace, becoming happy and fulfilled in the home, exploring the self and the world, and achieving ambitions.
By harnessing specialist techniques based on core psychological principals and natural intuition, life coaches provide clients with the tools to confidently face difficult situations, push past emotional barriers and eventually view life with fresh, hopeful and enlightened eyes.
Just as sports coaching enables athletes to hone themselves into the fastest, strongest, most tactical competitors in their disciplines, life coaching helps people from all professional and personal backgrounds improve their strengths and build upon their weaknesses to make the most of their lives.
A life coach will never try to be an 'agony aunt' - he or she will never attempt to dish out advice because, firstly - giving advice is just a way of imposing a personal view of the world onto another person (who may or may not share the same view) and, secondly - it is not a life coach's job to become personally involved in a client's life. Life coaching is about objectivity, structure and empowerment, not instruction or indoctrination.
At the heart of it all lies the idea that clients must be given the power to help themselves. Offering advice, opinions and judgements would undermine some of the basic principals behind life coaching, which include:
A) Subjectivity: we all have different perspectives of the world - no one perspective is 'right' or 'wrong', but some perspectives are restrictive and can stop a person becoming who they want to be.
B) Empowerment: it is within everyone's capability to adjust the limits of their own perspective. With the help of life coaching, anyone can learn to open their mind if they wish.
C) Guidance: there is a difference between an instructor and a guide. An instructor shows a person exactly what to do, whereas a guide provides the tools and support a person needs to do something for themselves. A life coach is a guide, not an instructor.
The term 'coaching' itself comes from the Anglo-Saxon word for 'carriage', which is a means of transporting something from one place to another. A life coach therefore, is an individual who guides another individual from where they are in life, to where they want to be in life.
Source: Life Coach Directory UK
What happens during a life coaching session?
During the session, your life coach will ask you about what you want to get out of life, what areas you're unhappy with and where you'd like to see yourself ending up. Although a life coach will work with you, it’s often up to you to challenge or reflect upon certain ideas to help you move forward with your life. You will never be forced to make any decisions you don't feel comfortable with and all sessions will be confidential, allowing you to explore your thoughts and feelings privately.
Life coaching is often seen as a partnership between you and your life coach, who will gently encourage you to explore how to make positive changes in your life. A life coach should also offer support and feedback to help you to stay focused on your goals.
Source: Life Coach Directory UK
01
02
03
Frequently Asked Questions
04
Who needs a life coach?
Everybody needs a life coach, even the life coach himself/herself. We are all human beings. We all need some kind of support at different stages of our lives. We all face life challenges and problems. Let me tell you some examples to explain that;
- If you need someone who can listen to you.
- If you need someone who can support you.
​- If you need someone who has some useful knowledge to guide you.
- If you need someone who doesn't judge you.
- If you need someone who can help you succeed.
- If you are facing problems or challenges and you need someone professional who can help you.
- If you want to clarify, set your goals and achieve them.
- If you feel stuck, in your personal life, career, or any other area in your life.
- If you feel lost and you want to find your way.
- If you want to change but you don't know how.
- If you are in a transition period in your life and you don't know what to do.
- If you want to take some important decisions in your life.
- If you want to change your limiting beliefs or habits.
- If you are successful and you want to be more successful.
- If you want to have more self-awareness.
- If you want to have better relationship with your significant other.
- If you want to enhance your communication skills.
- If you want to turn your dream into reality.
- If you want to take your career to a new different level.
Then you need a life coach. And those where just few examples to give you a better idea.
05
What is NLP?​
Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) is thought to be one of the most effective and accessible self-help methods to come from modern psychology. Many life coaches use NLP techniques to help 'reprogramme' clients' patterns of thinking and behaving.
NLP stands for Neuro-Linguistic Programming. 'Neuro', Latin for nerve, refers to the way we gather information from the outside world with our five senses. 'Linguistic', the study of language, refers to the way we make sense of that information by organising it into the structure of language. 'Programming' is a way of controlling something. In this case it refers to the way our interpretations of the world control our actions, choices and behaviours in day-to-day life. NLP teaches us that by changing how we make sense of the world, we can then adjust our behaviours and actions in order to make the most of ourselves and our lives.
By harnessing the power of language, NLP-trained life coaches can break down the mental barriers we all unknowingly create for ourselves over time and habit. NLP is considered by many to be one of the most useful and accessible tools to come from modern psychology. NLP can assist stress management, improve empathy and communication skills, resolve destructive relationship patterns and encourage clients to move out of their comfort zones towards fuller, happier, and infinitely more satisfying lives.
Source: Life Coach Directory UK
06
Is it important to have a certified life coach?​
Yes. A certified coach is well trained by an accredited international coaching institution. A certified coach works according to international standards, core competencies, and code of ethics.