How to Become a Life Coach?

Life coaching is a fairly new career but is fast growing in today’s fast-paced lifestyle and business world. Life coaches are professionally trained individuals who act as guides for people that are confused about what to do with their lives and help them in setting goals and in personality growth and behavior modification. Pursuing a career as a life coach can be exciting and challenging at the same time.

Also Read: Understanding the Role of a Mentor in Education

What is Life Coaching?

Much like athletes require coaching, people may require the assistance of a life coach in their lives to drive them to achieve and be the best version of themselves possible. Defined as a person that helps people achieve their personal or professional goals and maximize their full potential. It can be useful in a number of situations in life, it can help people struggling to make a change or during major transitions in their life. They help people to identify their goals, hold them accountable and motivate them to achieve those goals by suggesting different actions necessary to take control of future plans. They are like a supportive friend and trusted advisors. It helps people to have a direction in life and allows them to become self-aware and work on their progress. 

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History of Life Coaching

Life coaching is a concept that can be dated back to the 1980s. It began with an American financial planner called Thomas Leonard when he realized that his clients apart from asking for financial advice and investment tips, needed more personal and day-to-day guidance in their lives.

Who Should Consider Working With a Life Coach?

Anyone who has a need for more personalized guidance and wants to make more of their life should consider working with a life coach. Actors, business leaders, entrepreneurs, executives, managers, small business owners, start-up pioneers, and budding employees hire life coaching professionals who are proficient in their respective fields and can guide them personally and professionally.

Roles and Responsibilities of Life Coach

• Helping people identify their passions, skills, talents, and unique abilities
• They help clients set or or refocus their goals
• Encouraging and motivating their clients see how they can get ahead
• Holding clients accountable for their inaction in a non-judgemental way.
• Appreciating the client when they meet their goal.
• Communicating regularly and honestly with the client
• Use questioning and conversation to understand the client better. Asking the right questions helps to uncover the individual’s goals, motivations, and obstacles and effective communications help to build a relationship with the client.
• Developing strategies and plans for each client and keeping track of their progress.
• Challenging clients to be better and act as their support system.
• Keeping professional and personal life separate to help the clients

Essential Qualities in Life Coach

1. Great listening skills and Effective Communication
2. Facilitating a client’s self-awareness about their behaviors, thoughts, emotions, and beliefs.
3. Language mirroring, which means using the same language used by the client, helps to connect with the client faster. 
4. Non-opinionated and help clients take actions instead of telling them what to do.
5. Must be patient and empathetic towards their clients.
6. Good Questioning Skills is useful in helping their client’s explore their issues
7. Non-verbal listening techniques like eye contact, facial expressions showing that you are present and  and focused, body language, being silent whenever required.
8. Being observant and honest.
9. Must have a positive attitude and be challenging and motivating to help improve the client’s lifestyle.
10. Maintaining confidentiality is important

Different Types of Life Coaches 

• Executive (Leadership) Coaching
• Business/Small Business Coaching
• Finance Coaching
• Spiritual Coaching
• Health and wellness coaching
• Relationship and Family Coaching
• Career/Academic coaching
• Emotional Intelligence Coaching
• Personal Development Coaches
• Mindfulness Coaching
• Work Life Balance Coach
• Life Transition Coaches

Difference Between a Life Coach and a Therapist

Here is the difference between Life Coaches and Therapists:

Therapists

• Treat mental health and disorders
• Possess a degree and are licensed in a related field
• Adhere to ethical codes

Life Coaches

• Life coaches can help with personal and professional problems
• Do not need any formal qualifications or academic training
• Not required to follow health privacy laws

What a Life Coach Can Do for You?

Here are some benefits of having a Life Coach:

• Life coaches identifying and setting goals and ambitions for their clients
• Help in curating a professional and personal plan
• Identify and set financial and moral fulfilment plan for their clients
• Goals for financial independence
• Help in setting and obtaining work/life balance
• Strive for better communication
• Create powerful connections professionally and personally

Impact & Benefits of Life Coaches

Life coaches enhance life and help you maximize your potential as an employer, employee or freelancer. If you wish to do more in your day and work best with guidance and a curated plan then getting a life coach can help you advance in your life. Here are some impacts and benefits of a life coach:

• Goal setting
• A fresh perspective
• Balanced lifestyle
• Getting promotions
• Clarity in future plans
• Financial independence
• Skill strengthening

A Step-Wise Guide on How to Become a Life Coach

Life Coaching can be pursued without a degree or any specific qualifications. To become a life coach you must be fully committed and be sure about seeking it as a career. Although no education background is required, being certified as well as taking online courses in life coaching improves the job prospects and salary packages and helps you become acquainted with the techniques and procedures in life coaching.

Pursuing Online Life Coaching Courses and Getting Certified

Getting certified by credible authorities is the first step. These include ICF (International Coaching Federation) and EMCC (European Mentoring and Coaching Council). Both are highly reputable and offer certification courses that you can pursue. Search for an online course in life coaching in any field to want to specialise. This will help you become familiar with how to deal with clients, how to motivate them and make them aware of their own strengths and weaknesses. Completing an online course helps clients have trust in what you are doing.

Marketing your Skills

Once you are certified and have attended online courses about life coaching, you can start your career by marketing your skills. People will only reach you if you effectively market yourself as a life coach using social media, being a freelancer and posting about your availability on freelancing sites or you can start your small business. It is important to generate leads, work with clients and establish yourself as a life coach. You can also hire a digital marketing team that will help with the same.

Getting Employed

Without any real experience, people through social media may not be open to hiring you. So the logical step is to get employed as a life coach in any industry or schools, hospitals, companies, etc. You can also apply at life coaching companies. This way you would be able to gain experience which will allow you to independently land clients in the future.  

Career Scope and Country-Wise Salary for Life Coaching

The International Coaching Federation says the number of coaches estimated worldwide has grown by 33%, from 53,300 to 71,000, since 2015. Depending upon their specialisation, they can be employed at hospitals or medical practices, rehabilitation centres, residential care centres, insurance companies, schools, companies, private institutes, government agencies, coaching businesses, or they can be self-employed or independent contractors or freelancers and start their own small business. 

The average estimated salary of life coaches in India is Rs 12-50 lakhs per year, however, this depends on your experience and reach. Let’s examine the average salary around the world: 

Country	Average Annual Earning (Estimated)
USA	$34,000 to $96,000 (INR 2521525 – INR 7119600)
Canada	$34,000-$64,000 (INR 2521525 – INR 4746400)
UK	£35,000 to £80,000 (INR 35 lakhs- INR 80 lakhs )
Australia	Around $70,000 (INR 5191375)
New Zealand	$50,000 – $80,000 (INR 3723175 – INR 5933000)

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