Dear Coach: Just What Exactly Does a Life Coach Do?

[Rev. Dr. Christina Winsey]

Dear Coach:
I have heard so much about Life coaching and yet I don’t really know what it is. It seems a term that is going around everywhere, and I even have some friends who have hired a life coach. Can you explain what a life coach does?

I’m not so sure whether I really need a coach. Also, there seem to be different types of coaches and I don’t really understand.

Wondering


Dear “Wondering:”
Thanks for this valuable question. I do believe there is a great deal of confusion out there about just what coaching is. Coaches all have varied backgrounds. Many coaches were very accomplished in another profession of some kind before coming to coaching as a second or even third career choice. Then he or she invested time and money into becoming a trained coach.

While there are different kinds of coaches (life coach, health coach, executive coach, business coach, career coach relationship coach, etc.) the basic premise of just what a coach does remains the same. Here I will talk more about life coaching. The fact is, however, that whatever the major goal a client has, there are certain basic principles of coaching that hold true.

Often, life coaching clients desire to reinvent their lives and design it to their needs, wants and dreams. For many, they have reached mid-life, or are making a career change. But life coaches are very skilled at assisting clients of all ages because the premise is always the same: support of the client's goals. If the goal is to figure out just what your goals are, life coaching can help. If the goal is to double your income, life coaching can help. If the goals is that you don't even know what makes you happy, life coaching can help.

Some life coaches do a full personality profile. For instance, if a client is trying to decide just what direction they want to go with the next 10, 20 or 30 years of their life, that's no small decision. Step one is to get to know yourself in greater depth (not from a therapeutic standpoint - therapists do that). Life coaches do assessments like the Myers Briggs, Kolbe and other assessments that assist the client in having a far greater understanding of him or herself. In turn he or she can make better decisions about directions and "next steps."

Each individual has their own view of the world. This encompasses who you are: your upbringing, culture, religion, ancestry, belief system education, status, family, home environment, and all other experiences that you have been exposed to. Your personal world view shapes who you are at this moment, but it does NOT have to define you, and you are NOT limited by it. There are ways to “think outside of the Box” and create new and boundless opportunities for you.

When you partner with a coach who is neutral (non-judgmental), supportive, committed to your future, and who listens without an agenda of her own, you experience a safe environment in which to strategize, dream and plan. Together you build a trusting relationship that fully supports you.

Your coach holds you accountable to follow-through so that you actualize your goals and dreams easier, quicker and with far less procrastination or resistance. Here are some ways in which a coach supports the client. A coach:

1. Keeps you laser focused to cut through the “story” and seeming limitations. This frees you up to recreate your world.
2. Assists you in finding your purpose in life
3. Empowers you to change and grow
4. Clarifies your commitments to your future – the future you design with the help of your coach.
5. Teaches you life balance principles and tools to honor body, mind and spirit. This frees your energies for creation and achievement.
6. Champions your achievement of breakthroughs that have not happened before. (Doing things differently to get different results).
7. Upholds your vision of what it is to be happy with your life


Through the coaching process you will clearly define what you want to accomplish in your life. Then you will declare and commit to your future. Commitment has many meanings to each person. When you are truly committed to creating a new paradigm (future for yourself) you get to make new choices that you didn’t know were available to you before.

Fear is one of the obstacles that you will learn to overcome. Change can be scary and that is why some people stay in situations that are not the best for them. With the support of the coaching process you will more easily transcend your fears as you obtain your goals through the support a coaching partnership affords you.

Through coaching you become even more self-sufficient, not dependent. You will create change by putting practices (exercises that will enable you to change) into action. The possibilities you dream will become your reality and you will invent an entirely new future than the one your previous world view had limited you to before.

To summarize, here’s what you can expect from coaching:
*Keep you clear and focused on your goals and direction.
*Strategize your actions so that you always know exactly what you need to do week in and week out to achieve your goals,
*Upgrade your skills so that you can carry out your plan with confidence and certainty. Having strong skills speeds up the process. In coaching you find out what skills will help you the most and work together to improve them.
*Optimize your environment so that there are fewer distractions and so that achieving your goals becomes effortless and finally
*Master your psychology to overcome any fears, doubts, limiting beliefs or insecurities that might be holding you back.

There is a wonderful piece written by Thomas Leonard, Father of coaching, as to what the key coaching principles are. I list most of them here:

1. Synergy causes better results, much more easily: coaching IS synergistic through its collaborate nature between coach and client
2. When people are fully heard and understood they move forward instantly: Without this, people generally slow down or even stop in life
3. Any situation can be optimized, turned around or improved: and with a coach it can happen much more quickly
4. Fewer problems occur when one has a strong personal foundation: rising above the muck of life is job #1 in coaching
5. Sometimes the client has the answer; sometimes the coach does: it really doesn’t matter where the answers come from
6. We humans operate at 1% or less of our potential: coaching increases this percentage
7. Success is a basic human right: success has nothing to do with deservedness, privilege or background
8. When the client properly defines success for him/herself, coaching accelerates: this knowledge naturally positions the client to be more successful with less effort
9. Most people don’t know what they truly want: a coach can help clients discover what they truly want – it’s a fairly simple process
10. What one puts up with, costs one dearly: tolerations consume energy, resources and the human spirit. In coaching clients identify “tolerations” and eliminate them to free up energy for their goals.
11. We are all Picassos-in-training: the world is waiting for everyone to discover, express and share their creativity

Coaching is a gift you give yourself – an investment that makes the difference between a life left to chance and a life you deliberately design. The choice is up to you always.

If you would like a free half-hour coaching consultation with Dr. Chris you can contact her at www.TheICanDoctor.com or email [e-mail] (941-914-2433)