4 Steps to Fulfillment
These days life coaches are a dime a dozen. Simply googling the term turns up hundreds of thousands of hits. How does one stand out from the pack? If you’re just starting out as a one, you’re probably having difficulty in finding clients. You’re maybe asking yourself if this is truly the right path you should be on.
Here are the 4 steps to becoming a life coach:
1. Do Your Homework on Yourself – find out if you really have what it takes to be one. Are you empathetic? Are you a ‘people person’? Are you open-minded and non-judgmental? Do you have the ability to dole out tough love yet be sensitive enough to people’s pain? Do you have the ability to network for clients? Are you willing to market yourself?
Life coaches have to have all these qualities and more. They have to fulfill the potential in each of their clients therefore they have to have their own personal lives in order. I mean, would you take the advice of someone who was a mess themselves?
2. Take a Course – it is extremely advisable to enroll in a training course for life coaching so that you can learn the ins and outs of the business. Being naturally sensitive to people’s desires is great but without a proper background in coaching you won’t get anywhere. You may have the natural traits to be one but without training, you won’t be maximizing your potential at all.
Choosing the right one can be tricky. Make sure they are accredited. Also, you can ask graduates from the course whether they would recommend the school or training. You also don’t need to limit yourself to one course. When you have chosen your specialty (personal coaching, business or executive coaching, career coaching), you should take extra training in that field.
When you finish your course, get accredited. It’s a fact that most potential clients prefer someone who is licensed or accredited.
3. Get Your Own Mentor – becoming a life coach doesn’t mean you won’t need one too. Having a mentor can be great for your own career because they can share their experiences with you and guide you well. Often, mentors can impart important advice that you may not have thought of. Mentors can take the form of you training teacher or a fellow coach.
4. Market Yourself – you may learn all there is to learn about coaching through a program, but you also need to learn how to get clients or else all your learning was for naught. Networking is necessary in the life coaching trade. You need to get out there and sell yourself to people or else you’ll have an empty roster of clients. There’s no room for shyness or hesitation when it comes to finding clients since the competition is very fierce.
Once you have completed the 4 steps to becoming a life coach, you should be well on your way to a promising and fulfilling career of helping people in need and realizing their potentials.
