As a qualified Life Coach, I am often surprised when people ask me for all kinds of advice. Friends and family are the worst - they think that, because I am a trained Life Coach, that I automatically know how to help them make major life decisions. This is not what life coaching is all about. A life coach is someone who is trained to help people make their own decisions and make the best life choices based on the options available to them.
There are some who specialise in one life area such as career or relationships; however, I like to work with all areas of life. I believe that a person's life is better if all areas are balanced and I also believe that issues in one area can affect another. When I get a new client, the first thing I will do is to get them to fill in their personal details and a questionnaire based on what they want to achieve. I will then ask them to do certain tasks which will give me a good idea of where they are in their life and where they want to be. I can then put a plan together, in conjunction with my client, so that we can find the best ways to address any issues and formulate a plan, or goal, that the client can work towards.
Contrary to popular belief, life coaches are not allowed to give advice. In these times of compensation culture, it is partly down to avoiding the risk of being sued, but it is also because we want to encourage our client's to make the right decisions by themselves so that they can continue to do this independently in the future. Unlike counsellors or psychiatrists, a life coach's relationship with their client is likely to be a relatively short one, lasting a year at the most. I am not trained to 'cure' any underlying issues or trauma that a client may have. It is certainly not my job to deal with psychological problems or issues caused by abuse. These are best left to a qualified medical professional who is able to provide medication or other forms of treatment.
My job, as a life coach, is to motivate a person to achieve their goals. I like to use a variety of methods, from setting targets to utilising other tools such as NLP. A good life coach will help a client to stick to their goals and motivate them to keep going, when they feel like giving up. Sometimes people have things they want to achieve, but they lack the motivation to get started. If there is something you 'd like help with, or you are the sort of person who needs somebody to bounce ideas off, or to help you stick to a goal or decision, then you may want to consult a life coach. I am hoping to offer an online life coaching service, in the future but, for now, I suggest you look to see if there are any life coaches available for consultations in your local area. I'm sure you'll find it useful.
Love, Mochira X
