It's summer of 2019 and you're lying on the beach with your family enjoying the sunshine and the downtime. It feels like forever since you have truly had a break.
Imagine... finally making the decision to do that thing you've been thinking about and pondering over for what feels like a decade...
Imagine... saying YES and listening to that tap on your shoulder to do something completely different, saying YES to you and becoming a coach...
Imagine... living your dream through helping others and making the difference you're meant to make as a successful coach...
It's a nice little picture to paint, isn't it? 🙂
If you've been thinking about how to become a life coach, and you want to turn your big dream into a successful reality, this guide is an epic resource to start.
Surprisingly, you don’t need a PhD or a Master’s degree to become a Life Coach.
Life coaching is not (yet) regulated, but there are some great study options out there in the Australasian and International markets.
Most life coaching institutes would require you to study social skills, how to communicate to others and to undertake a program that furthers these skills.
Social work, teaching, counselling and business consulting can all help you develop the skills you may need for becoming a Life Coach.
Just because you don’t need an advanced degree doesn’t mean you don’t have to work for it.
Having trained some of the best coaches in Australasia in the last 14 years, The Coaching Institute offers 4 core coaching programs with the recognition and high standards of the International Coach Guild (ICG) as well as the option to choose from Nationally Recognised Training:
Level I - Credentialed Practitioner of Coaching
Level II - Advanced Practitioner of Coaching
Level III - Master Practitioner of Coaching
Level IV - Accredited Professional Coach
For starters, coaching can be a pathway to your own business, giving you the flexibility and freedom to work where and when you like.
For people who want to work from home, and who want to work part-time, it provides true independence.
It provides the tools and resources to enable you to work on yourself, as you assist others with their goals. Each methodology we learn to help a client, we can apply to help ourselves, too.
Being a successful coach provides the opportunity to assist people who want to move forward in their lives. You don’t spend time talking about their problems, but rather, about ways to proactively create the results they want.
Coaching can then turn into speaking engagements, workshop presentations and group coaching. This allows you to leverage your time effectively.
As you build your skills and confidence, you can develop a personal development product and make that available through a website, providing an alternative source of income for you.
According to Joe Pane, Senior Coach & Head Trainer at TCI, coaching is not about solving problems; it is about changing the thinking that creates problems in the first place.
Life coaching is different from therapy; as a coach, you focus on what can be improved, what can change and how to achieve goals. Rather than focussing on problems, you offer your client a way to create a solution for the future.
Coaches get clients to make realistic, beneficial goals that could be achieved within the next 12 months or the next 5 years, it doesn’t matter, and work with them towards achieving those goals. They structure, with the client, their ideal future and then encourage to reach that ideal, and to overcome any obstacles.
When coaching your client, the first step is to get them to be self-aware of their situation and the barriers to their thinking. You are there to help them overcome this and create new resources to help them through situations.
A coach develops certain qualities that enable them to be effective with their clients. Some of the characteristics of an outstanding coach are:
For example, coaches must fulfill certain “core competencies”. Industry recognising body International Coach Guild (ICG) lists 15 competencies that a coach must fulfill and practise to gain recognition.
Congratulations! As someone who is curious about coaching, you now have a good idea of how to get started as a successful coach.
Next Step! Take the Which Course Is Right For Me Quiz to find out the best-fitted accredited coaching course for you.
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