“What is a life coach” and “what does a life coach do”?
I get these types of questions about life coaching a lot. Being in the coaching industry in Malaysia for over a decade, I realized that there are many different definition to what a life coach does.
Typically, a life coach offers a wide range of coaching services and support, such as:
- Personal coaching (1-to-1 coaching)
- Motivational coaching
- Professional coaching
- Business coaching
- Spiritual coaching
- Mentorship
- Health coaching
- Fitness coaching
- Success coaching
And the list can go on and on and on, when it comes to life coaching.
Read this now
There are only two reasons why you are reading this article about life coaching. One, you are looking for the meaning of life coaching (example, you want to learn how to become a life coach) and two, you want to know if you should hire a life coach.
In this article, I’m going to list down both — which I sincerely hope you find this useful.
Part 1: What is a life coach?
Do you know that working with a life coach is able to help you to achieve greater success?
Most life coaches offer coaching and training aimed to take you to new heights. From mental to physical, life coaches are seek by individuals, corporations and even small communities/groups around the world.
Part 2: What does life coach do?
Life coaches work with their clients to help them achieve goals, overcome obstacles and make changes or shifts in their lives.
The coach works with the client, as a partner, knowing that the client has the answers to create the changes they seek.
Most of the time, life coaches are individuals that others look up to them, especially when it comes to accountability. A life coach often follows up with the client to ensure that the client is constantly achieve the goals and targets. For example, life coaches will plan and provide consultation sessions to layout the exact steps to accomplish specific goals.
Many life coaches incorporate personal experiences (past experiences) to help clients to achieve the desired outcome.
Summary of what a life coach does:
1.
A collaborative partner for creating a collaborative partner for creating change (or a guide for goal achievement and creating lasting change)
2.
A source of encouragement, accountability and support (that you can count on — physically, mentally and with complete privacy)
3.
A brainstorming partner for generating ideas and plans ideas and plans, and one that will never say your idea just won’t work out
Part 3: What life coaches don’t do?
In most countries, life coaching is a job or career that is not bounded by professional rules and regulations (such as the laws to keep doctors and lawyers do the right thing).
One of the most common thing that life coach doesn’t do is providing therapy.
Life coaching is not therapy. Coaches don’t work on past-based issues or traumas simply because they are not authorized and had relevant experiences to do so.
Almost all life coaching clients are healthy, successful or less successful people who might be a bit stuck or simply want to make a big change in their lives and want the support of their own personal coach to do so.
Part 4: Who makes a good life coach?
This is a tough question to answer ad the answer varies from person to person.
It is important to understand that no two life coaches are alike.
They have their own styles, training materials and past experiences that make them truly unique to individuals.
Call me “Reg”
Reginald is a life coach that uses his past experiences in the corporate industry to develop actionable strategies for corporations to take their business to new levels; increasing the bottom and top line, reduce turnovers and allowing employees to go beyond their comfort zones.
Part 5: Who should get a life coach?
The short answer to this: Everyone.
To be exact, anyone who wants changes, get more out of their lives and achieve the ultimate edge (tap into their fullest potentials) should get a life coach.
If you are determined to make changes in your life and you have no idea where to start, hiring a life coach is probably the best thing you can do (and that money can buy).
Part 6: What are life coaching techniques?
Most life coaches use NLP, along with other coaching techniques to enhance the performance of one self.
Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) is extremely popular in the self-help, therapy, sports, education, coaching, performance and corporate worlds where it is learnt through NLP coaching.
Neuro-Linguistic Programming is used in many, many more situations which are not therapeutic in nature. For example, top sportsmen and sportswomen use Neuro-Linguistic Programming techniques to enhance sporting performance, and businessmen and businesswomen do the same.
Neuro-Linguistic Programming has thus moved far beyond its original focus in the early 1970s to encompass a “general study of excellence”.
A presupposition is a belief that we pre-suppose or assume before working with clients. Below are the presuppositions used in NLP, which are excellent for use in life coaching.
- The map is not the territory
- Have respect for the other person’s model of the world
- Mind and body form a linked system
- If what you are doing isn’t working, do something else
- Choice is better than no choice
- We are always communicating
- The meaning of your communication is the response you get
- There is no failure, only feedback
- Behind every behavior there is a positive intention
- Anything can be accomplished if the task is broken down into small enough steps
While NLP coaching is very popular, there are also other life coaching techniques such as:
- Open-ended questions
- Guided meditation
- Guided visualizations
- Positive affirmations
- Shifts in perception
- Thought refocusing
- Gratitude and appreciation
- Evidence hunting
There is no two life coaches that use the same methods in coaching. Each life coach have their own methods which they are confident that it will make a chance in the life of their clients.
Part 8: What are the differences between individual life coaching and business coaching?
Excellent question!
Individual coaching is geared towards one-to-one training. This allows the life coach to pay his or her fullest attention to the client — from understanding the challenges to creating personalized solutions and guidance to help the client move forward in life.
Business coaching or executive coaching is more towards training employees of an organization. This involves from leadership to encouraging teamwork between one and another. It is important to understand that this form of coaching can be done either individually or in a group.
Part 7: Can life coaching help me?
The answer is “YES!”
And this is not because I’m a life coach myself. Life coaches are God send … seriously.
Some years back, I was working in the corporate industry with over $100,000 in earnings per annum. However, I wasn’t happy. As a matter of fact, I was not fulfilled. Money couldn’t buy me happiness as I wanted more. More specifically, I wanted to make a change in other’s life. I ended up attending the “Ultimate Edge” by Tony Robbins and many other coaching sessions by influential coaches around the world. That’s when the light bulb lights up in my head. I realized that while money can buy a lot of things, it certainly can’t buy me happiness. I wanted to be the change maker in the life of others and I decided to venture into business consulting. Until date, I had coached over 5,000 business owners and entrepreneurs around the world and I’m not stopping anytime soon.
Before you even get started with finding a life coach, you need to ask yourself these questions:
- What do I want to achieve with the life coach?
- How can a life coach helps me?
- What are the life coaching techniques that I am hoping for?
- How long do I want to work with a life coach?
- How much should I pay for a life coach?
Once you have these questions sorted out, you can proceed with the next step.
Part 9: Where to find life coach?
If you are looking for a life coach to help you in business and leadership, I’m at your service (yup, seriously). With over a decade in the corporate industry, I help clients to enhance their skills, leadership and getting out of their comfort zones to become the ultimate best.
Where else can you find life coach?
Google of course!
Part 10: How much does life coach costs?
Most life coaches working with individuals charge about $200 to $1,000 per month for a 30- to 60-minute call three or four times a month. Executive coaches charge more and typically work with their clients for two hours a month. It all works out to about $100 to $300 per hour.
The rates above are based on individual life coaching in the United States.
Since I’m in Malaysia, how much does life coach costs in Malaysia?
I wish that I could answer you that, but I can’t as each coach charges differently. However, I could share my pricing structure for “How much does life coach charges in Malaysia?”
- Individual coaching Malaysia: RM 150.00 per hour (minimum two hours per month)
- Executive coaching Malaysia: RM 400.00 per hour (minimum two hours per month)
- Group coaching Malaysia: RM 5,000.00 per day (maximum 20 participants)
Summary: Get Started With A Certified Life Coach
If you are reading until this part, you are probably getting ready to hire a certified life coach.
Hiring a life coach is not complicated — so, don’t fret too much over it. Many life coaches offer free consultancy through discovery calls including myself.
Need some help with life coaching? Click here to talk to me right now!
I’m always looking forward in sharing ways in enhancing your life.
