The term life coach has become a household name. People have started to accept the importance of life coaches in their lives.
All of us will experience difficulties and hardships at least a few times in our lifetime. And when these events happen, a person can either succumb to the difficulties and bury himself or herself in it or overcome these difficulties and rise above them. A life coach can make that difference.
But with the number of life coaches growing every day, how do you find the right life coach for you? In this article, you will be given the basics of how to look for a life coach.
Determine What You Need
Just like choosing a life coach over baseball coaches, football coaches, and basketball coaches, you also need to choose what kind of life coach do you want. Life coaches also have specializations meaning there are certain areas that they are really good at.
First thing’s first, you need to know what you need. Do you need a life coach that will help you determine your goals and achieve them? Do you need a life coach who will help you with your career path? Do you need a life coach who will help you in your business? There are a lot of different possible aspects and you need to know which one.
Life Coaching Style
Life coaches do things differently from each other. They all have the same goals but they differ in methodologies. You can make the life coaching style a criteria when looking for a life coach. There may be certain methods, styles, and techniques that you are not comfortable with so better know them as early as possible. You can also ask a life coach before you start your sessions so the both of you can make the necessary adjustments if there is a need to.
Somebody, You Are Comfortable With
There are times that even though it is just the first time you have a meeting with a person, you already have that uncomfortable feeling towards that person. This could be an indication that you are not compatible with him or her. You can also apply this when looking for a life coach. You can try talking and testing the waters.
If you do not feel comfortable with that life coach, then do not go through with it. An uncomfortable environment is not conducive for development and improvement. Any session you will have will be futile in such an environment.
Certification
Anybody can claim that he or she is a life coach. You need to be careful with these people. When looking for a life coach, it would be good to ask whether he or she has a certification or proof of life coach training. But do not just accept any kind of certification.
There is a self-appointed body that tries to set standards when it comes to training programs. This group is called the International Coach Federation. The ICF provides training programs certified to be effective for implementation.
In fairness to other life coaches, there are those who have no certification yet really are great life coaches. They are usually known by word of mouth. If you encounter anyone life coach of this status, you may know more information on the effectiveness of his or her services through the feedback of clients.