Life coaching defined

Life coaching is a way of providing people with personal support that is committed to their success and development. The coach is someone who will make a difference in the client’s life by supporting them and by encouraging their personal and professional growth. The coach will work with the client to enhance their quality of life and to show ways in which they can achieve their goals.

Life coaching is not about being a therapist of counsellor, it is not about looking back into past experiences or emotional issues. Equally it is not a short-term measure to cope with crises.

Who can be life coached?

Life coaching is open to anyone, regardless of age, class, gender, educational background or cultural upbringing.

What does it involve?

The coach helps identify where the client is now, where they want to be and how to get there; and then keeps them on track until the achieve their goals. It is important that the life coach does not impose their own ideas on the client, life coaches do not tell people how to do things. The coaching role is to help people find their own way and keep them moving along that way, whether or not it is the way the coach would have chosen from themselves.

How does it work?

Life coaching can take place face-to-face, over the telephone or by MSN Messenger. The choice of media is up to the individual and your choice will be determined by your unique preference as an individual. The following provides you with an overview of each type of coaching situation:

Face-to Face

Face-to-face coaching, involves the coach and the client meeting in a mutually convenient place. This can be in a confidential area/room, or in a more informal setting such as a hotel café for example. The chosen environment is always the one that works best for the client. I offer face-to-face coaching within the Midlands area of the UK.

The benefits for face-to face coaching include being able to interact directly between Coach and client, and some people feel that meeting face-to-face enables them to get more involved in the process.

Telephone Coaching

Coaching by telephone has become an accepted and effective way of achieving great client results. Many life coaches coach across continents and time zones by using the telephone as their means of communicating with the client.

The benefits of telephone coaching include saved time from not having to travel and money saved also as the rate per session tends to be cheaper. The client is able to settle themselves in an environment that best suits them at an appropriate time in their normal routine; this can help relax the client and promote clear thinking during the life coaching session.

MSN Messenger Coaching

For the computer fan, the MSN messenger service is ideal. This involves using a real-time messenger service to undertake a conversation over the internet by typing replies to interactive messages/statements sent by either party.

This is great, if you want a record of your session as you can save the content to a word document enabling the client to reflect on the session at a later date.