Life coaching is a synergistic relationship between an accredited life coach and a client designed to tap into your full potential. Just as Olympic athletes wouldnt think of training without the added insight, objective perspective and enthusiastic support of an athletic coach, many of todays most successful business leaders, professionals, executives, entrepreneurs and CEOs use the services of a life coach to take their lives, careers, or businesses to the next level. At LifeCoach.com we have an international directory of accredited life coaches who can address your personal and business coaching needs for both your personal and professional life. Find the perfect life coach to help you reach your biggest goals and dreamshere.

Part consultant, part motivational speaker, part therapist and part rent-a-friend, coaches work with managers, entrepreneurs, and just plain folks, helping them define and achieve their goals career, personal, or most often, both.

Coaches have the ability to view things from afarin what some call helicopter visionand to shed new light on difficult situations. Often they can act as a sounding board through tough decisions, help sharpen skills, and motivate.

An article inPublic Managementrevealed a study where training alone was compared to life coaching combined with training. The study showed that training alone increased productivity by 22.4% while training combined with weekly life coaching increased productivity by 88%. Here is why:

1)Accountability.Most life coaches have three calls a month with their clients. This regularly scheduled call prompts clients to get more done than they would if left to their own devices. Think about it, if you work out with a personal trainer at the gym, you work much harder than on your own. Clients take bigger actions, set bigger goals and think bigger when they work with a professional coach.

2)Expertise.The trained life coach knows how to help you set the right goals, make more money, and structure your personal and professional life to achieve greater productivity with less effort. Youll achieve more in less time with the input of an accredited Life Coach on your side.

3)Delivery. A well-trained coach knows how to use the right words so that you are naturally motivated. It doesnt take brow-beating or nagging when you are working with a skilled life coach. Coaching typically works best with a weekly call so clients have time to integrate new ways of thinking and take action each week toward their goals. Most life coaching is done by phone and delivered in half hour to one hour coaching calls. The experience is challenging and uplifting. Youll look forward to your weekly calls with your life coach. Find an Accredited Life Coachhere.

4)Speed.Most people find that things start to happen very quickly after hiring a life coach.

Who works with a Life Coach?

Entrepreneurs, executives, business leaders, actors, musicians, creative people, managers, small business owners, start-ups, professionals and home-makers all reach their goals with the help of a life coach. If there is a gap between where you are now and where you want to be, there is room for life coaching. Not only will your life coach help you close the gap, your life coach will help you break through your limited beliefs and challenge you to think bigger.

What would you work on with a life coach?

How does life coaching differ from consulting, therapy, sports coaching, a best friend?

Consulting.Life coaching can be considered a form of consulting. However, consulting is often information and expertise based. For example, you might hire a consultant to help your business with a specific problem. In which case, youd expect your consultant to have knowledge and experience in that particular area. Life coaches, on the other hand, may or may not have a background or experience in your field. A coach is a life specialist, an expert on helping you develop all areas of your business and personal life. Unlike many consultants who propose a solution and leave you to implement it, the life coach stays with you to help you integrate the changes, new skills, and goals to make sure they really happen. This is one reason why coaching is so effectiveit is one thing to have the information and quite another to actually make the change!

Therapy.Life coaching is not therapy. Coaches dont work on past-based issues or traumas. Life coaches are not psychologists or psychotherapists. If you start the process of life coaching, and have not resolved a past issue, then it is very likely you will be referred to work with a therapist to resolve the issue. It is very common for unresolved traumas to stop us from getting what we want in our lives. Life coaches focus on the present and the clients goals for the future. We help people move forward and set personal and professional goals that will give them the life they really want. Most life coaching clients are healthy, 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.

Sports. Life coaching often includes principles from sports coaching, such as being your best, doing more than you think you can, working with a team, going for the goal. But unlike sports coaching, most professional coaching is not a competition. Your life coach will help you win in your own life!

Best friend. A best friend or two or three is wonderful to have. But is your best friend an objective professional who you can trust to advise you on the most important aspects of your life or business? Sometimes our friends cant tell us the truth as much as they would like to because they dont want to risk losing the friendship. A good life coach is never afraid to tell you the truth and is willing to be fired at any time. Why not have a best friend and a life coach?

Our basic philosophy of life coaching:

If there is a gap between where you are now and where you want to be, then there is room for life coaching. Why struggle on your own when you can get what you want out of life in a fraction of the time with the structure, support, and tools of a skilled life coach?

Who hires a life coach and why?

The ICF puts it nicely:

People hire a life coach because

Its as simple as that. Life coaches help a client get all three. Quickly.

What are the benefits of hiring a life coach?

Do life coaches work on personal goals or business/professional goals?

Usually both. The life coach is the only professional trained to work with all aspects of your life. This is handy because very often, if something is bothering you at work, it is affecting your personal life as well and vice versa. Some clients prefer to spend more time focusing on their business goals, while others may want to focus on personal goals. How you use your coaching call is up to you!

Where does the life coach focus with an average client?

We focus where the client wants us to focus. Your goals are our goals, although we might have some radical suggestions for how to reach your goals more quickly. Sometimes, in order to be more successful in business, you need to do some personal work. So dont be surprised if you get some personal assessments and quizzes!

Why does life coaching work?

Life coaching works for several reasons:

Why is life coaching so popular?

Shouldnt I be able to reach my goals on my own?

Weve been taught that hard work and doing it on your own are the keys to finding life, success, money, or happiness. Most people believe they must sacrifice something to attain what they want. Some people sacrifice their health, their time to enjoy life, or their relationships. None of this is necessary. You can have it all, but maybe not all right this minute! And, with life coaching, youll find you dont have to sacrifice anything to get what you want. You may need to change a few things, true, but clients find they have more time with their families and friends, more money, more opportunity, and are more successful at work when they work with an accredited life coach.

Athletes, performers, CEOs and presidents know that they cant do it alone. They know they need a trained professional or even a team of experts to help them determine the best direction and to provide objective support and feedback. Without this, it is almost impossible to achieve excellence. No athlete would consider going to the Olympics without the support of a coach. The extra edge the coach provides makes all the difference. Why shouldnt you have this same advantage?

Why would people who are already successful hire a life coach?

Nobody really needs a life coach, but many people want one! Are you doing what you most enjoy? Are you tolerating or putting up with anything? Is life easy or are you struggling? Are you on the path to financial independence? Do you have what you really want? Most people can expect a lot more out of their lives. I thought Id start writing when I retired at sixty-five. I wrote my first book at 30! Life coaching really speeds things up so hold on to your hat!

Can a dependency be created between a life coach and coaching client?

No. The client may need the life coach in order to maximize an opportunity or accelerate their personal growth, yet not be dependent on the life coach. Anyone who has big goals can benefit from the structure, advice, and support of a life coach, so in that sense, a coach is needed. As far as creating an emotional or psychological dependency, not to worry. Life coaches work with people who are healthy and successful on their own. Life coaches do not resolve therapy issues. If you start to feel dependent on your life coach, get a therapist.

Can life coaching hurt someone?

No. The client is always responsible for their own life. Clients makes their own decisions and takes their own actions. Life coaches provide positive support and encouragement. While a life coach might challenge you to think differently or suggest that you try a different or even radical approach than you would normally take, the client must decide whether to take the advice or not. Life coaches do not in any way control the clients thoughts, actions or life. If you feel bad after a coaching call, for any reason, let your life coach know about it. It is probably a miscommunication or it could be that this coachs style is not working for you. If this happens consistently, try a different life coach. You should feel uplifted and motivated to take action at the end of each personal coaching call. You should certainly feel good about yourself and your accomplishments.

Can I hire a life coach for a short-term, special project?

Yes. Some clients hire a life coach to help them achieve a specific objective or project. Many clients choose to continue working with their life coach after their initial goals are accomplished because there are even more interesting things to do!

How long must I commit to working with a life coach?

One month. Although on average, most people find life coaching more beneficial than they realized and stay on longer than they initially anticipated. Many life coaches ask for a three to six month commitment but usually let you stop immediately if the coaching is not working for you right now. Some life coaches might ask you to sign a contract or an agreement. This is fine, however, all the Lifecoach.com coaches have agreed that you can coach on a month-by-month basis for as long as it is working for you.We never lock you into a fixed term for life coaching.

This does not apply to corporate contracts which may be for a specific term or project and are negotiated on a case-by-case basis.

How much does life coaching usually cost?

Most life coaches working with individuals charge about $300 to $700 per month for a 30 to 60 minutes call 3 or 4 times a month. Executive coaches charge more and some clients work with an executive coach for an hour or two a week. It all works out to about to about $100 to $300 per hour. Corporate coaching is more, and may cost $1,000 to $10,000 per month, and usually starts at $500 an hour. Corporate coaching may include on-site programs as well as individual executive coaching.

Excerpt from:
What is a Life Coach? - LifeCoach.com