Life is tough. It can sometimes feel like you’re in a boxing match. You throw some good punches, duck and weave to avoid some blows, but every now and then you’re bound to take a few hits. As soon as you get through one round and catch your breathe, the bell rings and it’s time to fight again. In a boxing match, each fighter has a coach that provides constructive criticism, motivation, and whatever else is necessary to secure a win. The coaches role is to push the boxer to perform at his best. In fact, one of the most impactful things an average fighter can do to become a champion fighter, is to secure a champion coach. This analogy begs the question, if life can resemble a boxing match, shouldn’t everyone have a coach?
What Is Life Coaching?
Life coaching is a form of counseling that is geared towards helping people achieve their goals in very specific areas of their lives. Life coaching differs from traditional talk therapy in that coaching focuses on forging new life paths to achieve specific goals, whereas therapy often looks into deeper emotional resolutions to past problems in order to move forward. Life coaching caters to people who do not suffer from severe mental illness. In fact, most coaching clients are high functioning individuals who face certain barriers that are keeping them from achieving their full potential in their personal and/or professional lives.
Coaches Provide:
Guidance: Sometimes we’re too close to our own problems to see a solution. Life coaches provide a much needed 3rd party perspective. They provide the tools and support for someone to broaden their perspective and open their mind, hence enabling them to reach their goals.
Empowerment: Every person is capable of more than they know. Negative self talk and fear often prevent people from going after what they truly want in life. A coach can help an individual realize their own self-worth, and provide the empowerment and inspiration needed for them to pursue what’s important.
Improvement: Life is a journey that is progressive in nature. We often have an image of the person we ideally want to become, but bad habits and other undesirable personality traits can keep us from becoming that person. A coach can help you defeat whatever is holding you back. Coaching sessions become a forum for you to sharpen your skills and map out a solid plan you’ll be held accountable for executing on.
Life Coaching Can Help
Life coaching can help with virtually any aspect of someone’s life, whether it is in their personal or professional life. Some common reasons people seek the help of a life coach is to:
Manage Stress, Anxiety, or Sadness
Control Anger
Improve Social & Communication Skills
Practice Assertiveness
Prevent Burnout
Improve Finances
Achieve Specific Personal/Professional Goals
Improve Work/Life Balance
Secure a job/promotion
Improve Relationships
Conquer Bad Habits
Start/Grow a Business
and more…
Life Coaching: What to Expect
The first life coaching session will look to gain an overall perspective of someone's life, before identifying which area they seek to improve or are currently unhappy with.
The life coach and client will agree on goals will be broken down into more achievable objectives.
It is then down to the individual to go away with the techniques they have been taught and work on what has been agreed upon.
The real transformation should happen between sessions. It is during this time that the individual must possess the drive and focus to want to change. This change will be facilitated by the life coach who during the sessions will change how someone looks at both themselves and the rest of the world and in time a more positive thought process will be developed. It is the alteration of their thought process combined with the desire to change that will ultimately allow the individual to achieve their goals.