What is a Life Coach?

"What is a life coach?" If you are even thinking about finding a life coach you need a good answer to that question. Life coaches are professionals who work with healthy people who want to improve their lives.

Helping you get from where you are, to where you want to be is how I define the job of a life coach. And it works! No wonder life coaching is such a rapidly growing profession, one of the hottest trends to hit the business world and personal development field.

Coaching specialties vary greatly so answers to the question, "what is a life coach?" are a bit different depending focus. Some coaching specialties include career coaching, executive coaching, leadership coaching, start-up ventures and entrepreneurial coaching, relationship coaching and health ans wellness coaching. Let me say it again, I think the role of a life coach is to get your from where you are, to where you want to be, regardless of the specialty area or niche.

Almost all life coaches agree, the coaching relationship is a holisticservice profession and works best when the whole person is the overarching concern. It is about helping you be at the helm of your life in every context of your life.

Life coaching helps in an in-depth way that crosses all the contexts of your life. For example stress management, goal setting, and dealing with life changes are important on the job and in retirement, in your personal life, your social life, and in public arenas. A life coach helps you, in just about any context, to do things like ...

• get unstuck, climb out of your box
• create healthy habits
• have more fun
• unleash your creativity
• improve your relationships
• connect to your life purpose and your inner passions
• develop your leadership potential
• identify and reach your goals

A life coach's expertise is in the process of helping you discover the answers you probably already have inside yourself. She has tools and strategies to help you to find resources in yourself, in your professional world, and in your community for the important answers you are looking for. She helps you when you might have the resources but you don't have them at your fingertips, or something is blocking you.

How Do You Know a 'Good' Life Coach
When You Find One?

Life coaching is a fantastic career that is growing by leaps and bounds. So if you ask "what is a life coach?" because you are in the process of finding a life coach, or you want to be one, make sure you know what makes for a "good" life coach.

A trusting partnership between you and the coach is key to success in a coaching relationship, so the definition of 'good coach' is going to be very personal. Your idea of a good coach will depend on the rapport the two of you establish over time. It will depend on who you are and what kind of help you are looking for.

The difference between coaching and other helping professions.Good coaches will explain that they do not operate the same way as consultants, therapists or counselors, or sports coaches. And while you will develop a close relationship with your coach, she is not the same as a friend.

A key difference between coaching and other helping professions is that the focus is on in the NOW ... and on moving forward toward well-formed outcomes. A good coach understands that you have those solutions because you are the expert in your own life ... the only expert.

Anyone can call themselves a coach. It is true that being good life coach does not require certification or credentials from an accredited Coach Training Program.

But a Life Coach whose passion is in "being" a coach will want to be the best she can be. She'll seek out a reputable coach training program. She'll be a life-long-learner, a seeker who wants to give herself knowledge and skills and tools beyond her natural (and excellent) intuition and listening skills.

What Do Coaches Do? If you are interested in what it is that coaches actually do in a coaching session visit this page.

Dealing with Change: For information about dealing with change visit the following pages on Positive Changes Coach ...



7 Tips for How to Deal With Change You can learn how to deal with change and consciously make positive life changes that bring you happiness and satisfaction back to

Smart Goal Setting One key to dealing with change is SMART goal setting. You can learn to set goals, achieve them, and lead a satisfied, productive life.

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