What is a Life Coach- Do I need one?

Feb 13
10:22

2012

Angelica Olstad

Angelica Olstad

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A history on life coaching and a guide to finding the right life coach for you.

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What is a Life Coach – Do I Need One?

With the changing economy and boom of startups,What is a Life Coach- Do I need one? Articles freelance work, and creative career paths there are a lot of changes that individuals face both on a personal and a professional level. More and more people are finding that they are struggling with balancing work life and home life whether it’s raising a family, dealing with interpersonal relationships, dating, or friendships. The 21st century is marked with a significant amount of change and is continuing to change faster than most people can keep up with. As a result anxiety, depression, and dependency on medication are at an all time high. Since the nature of this world doesn’t look like it’s letting up any time soon the role of a life coach has been created to help individuals cope, manage goals, and thrive in today’s highly competitive world.

The role of the coach has been around since the late 1800s. People most often can associate the word ‘coach’ with organized sports such as basketball or football. These coaches have been used over the years to help with mental visualizations, designing gaming tactical solutions, and if done well, lead their team to success. In 1974 W. T. Gallwey entitled “The Inner Game of Tennis.” Many viewed this book as an insight into the mental tactics of tennis and began applying these principles to the real world. This booked marked a major transition from the sports coaching model of control into developing a fine tuned personal coaching method. Specifically Thomas Leonard was the foremost champion of developing a systematic approach to regulating, teaching, and spreading the word of personal coaching.

Now, personal coaching has catapulted into a growing industry with somewhere between 30,000 to 80,000 life coaches. There are no rules, laws, or regulations with life coaching and therefore one should be careful when selecting a life coach. Make sure that a life coach has proper credentials such as LMSW or has a diploma from a respected curriculum.

How can a life coach help me?

A life coach can help with visualizing goals and realizing small details that are often overlooked in any type of venture. Whether your desires are to organize your closet, finally make that scrap book, entertain for a party of 20, or finally start your business venture a life coach can help. The purpose of the life coach is to question and challenge the coachee to find a solution within themselves based on their values, desires, and needs.

Life coaches can be divided in various categories. There are different life coaches for different individuals such as business coaching, personal coaching, executive coaching, and relationship coaching.

It is important to stress that a life coach is not a therapist or a psychologist. In most cases life coaching is designed for people who are not sick and are in a situation to move forward.

How do I find a life coach?

There are many resources online to help find life coaches. Using an online directory is an excellent beginning. Make sure that you set up a preliminary session first to get a good feel for your life coach.