What Is Life Coaching?
It is a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy - talking therapy, aimed at increasing human happiness, helping the client to find their most fulfilling path in life.
Through conversation, clients are helped to understand why they find themselves in their current situation and then to find strategies, motivations and focus to design and move towards new, better situations.
Different life coaches work in different ways, but pure life coaching is not mystical, it's down-to-earth. It's primarily cognitive - in that it's main tool is the client's own thinking mind. But it is also informed by the un-conscious and emotional components of the human psyche.
Life coaching differs from counselling in that it is primarily focused on the present and the future. It may be necessary to look back to find the route causes of some unhelpful thinking patterns, and then untie some knots, but then we come back to the "where are we now?" and the "where do we want to go?".
Bernice Johnson Reagon:
Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they're supposed to help you discover who you are.
Who is Life Coaching for?
You! It's for anyone who wants to improve some aspect of their life. You might want a new job or career, or promotion in the one you have. You might want to write your novel, or find your perfect partner, or find new self confidence, or get rid of a destructive habit. You might want to get more balance between your working or private lives. Maybe you want to start your own business, or find the focus necessary to pass important exams. You might just be unhappy without knowing why. Coaching can help you to unlock your true potential.
How does Life Coaching Work?
Sessions usually happen weekly, but they can run less frequently. Clients may have just one session, or they may work with their life coach for many months. Every case is unique, but as a rule of thumb, major change happens between session 4 and session 8.
So what happens in the session?
Well, again, every case is unique. Exactly what we do depends on the client, the issue being worked on, and where we are in the process, but here are some facts
The sessions are relaxed, friendly, fun and positive experiences
The sessions are completely confidential
Clients remain in charge at all times - you can set any boundaries you need
Life coaches do not tell clients what to do
Professional life coaches have a raft of techniques available to them. Through listening in special ways and by asking careful questions, coaches encourage clients to find understanding in their lives, and the answers they need
Many coaches use a branch of psychology called NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming). This provides a range of tools to help clients change their behavior and the underlying thinking which drives it. For example, anchoring helps you to call up useful mental states (like confident happiness) easily. Re framing allows you to take a situation you cannot change and see it in a radically different way.
The majority of successful people in the world have a life coach
"The mind is everything, what you think you become" Gautama Buddha