Life Coach – Excuse Me?

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Author: Polly Mettarod

Article source: http://wahmtalkradio.com/. Used with author's permission.

What is a life coach, anyway? I asked that question of my friend, Elaine, who had just completed her training at Coach Institute. She told me, "Therapy is about the past. Life Coaching is about the future." Okay, that helps some.

She went on to say that in therapy, people look to the past to solve their problems in the present. But in life coaching, they learn skills and tools to move forward into the future. It's not about healing, so much as it is about training. It's also about getting to know yourself and your own talents so that you can make a living doing something you really love and are good at.

There are lots of specialties in life coaching. Life is one of the broadest topics there is, of course. It seems that a good life coach can teach you some general principles and tools and then help you apply them to your specific life situations. Some stay with the broader versions, helping people to develop themselves in many aspects of life including work, leisure, family and spirituality. Others may specialize in things like life work coaching or divorce coaching or spiritual coaching.

Coaching isn't for people who have childhood traumas to heal or who need therapy about some past situation that is still affecting them in the present. It's more for those who are doing pretty well in their lives, but want to do better, branch out or find something new to do.

One of the biggest areas of life coaching is coaching the coaches. Many people are entering this new field and looking for ways to find clients and hone their skill at teaching and supporting people. It's a profession you can coach individuals or groups, either in-person or on the phone. You can even coach online via email or a chat room. There are lots of teleconference calls available on various aspects of coaching. Many of these are free.

Look for information online at places like Coachville.com and CoachingInstitute.com. Do a web search for coaches in your area of interest. See what you can find out about this up and coming field!

Polly Mettarod started her own life coaching business last year. She hopes to write an ebook guide to life coaching. Having her own business allows her to spend more time with her children. Find more articles about life coach at Life Coach Cycle