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There are a few careers that one can truly say have a direct impact on people’s lives. If you are interested in a career by helping others, traditionally, you had to either become a doctor or a firefighter, or any occupation along the same lines. But over the last decades, life coaching has become a common career path for those who want to help people live better lives.
As a result, more people want to learn how to start an online coaching business. It’s because figuring out the right coaching service is one of the keys to standing out from the crowd.
Becoming a career coach is a huge responsibility, everything you say and any advice you give has to be well thought out before you can start your practice.
There are a few things you need to know about becoming a life coach.
You don’t have to have it all together
Just because you’re a life coach, it doesn’t mean that your own life has to be picture perfect. But you need to be able to prove credibility when it comes to the advice you are giving. More often than not, the best life coaches are those who have had to overcome various life challenges to get to where they are, and chose to share the lessons they learned to benefit others. Also, having gone through hardships will help you become empathic, which is an essential quality for any successful life coach.
You should get certified
Having certification will make it much easier for you to find clients. When you start, you need to be able to prove your capabilities – especially if you are going to be coaching corporate clients.
There are providers that can help you gain your life coaching certification, and you can learn more about the different programmes if you do your research.
There are three different tracks for you to choose from. The executive coaching path is the most relevant one if you want to be working with business leaders who can use a little help when it comes to effectively managing their teams. Another possible track is academic coaching; this would be a perfect match if you’re passionate about influencing the younger generation to better plan their future. Finally, you can take the wellness coaching track to help people take better care of their health and adopt a more sustainable lifestyle.
It’s all about listening
This might come as a surprise to you, but working as a life coach has more to do with listening and less with voicing your beliefs and ideologies. Your job is not to tell people what to do, but rather to use your acquired knowledge, skills, and experience to help them tap into their greatest potential and create the life that they want.
As you will discover, people are different and there isn’t a one-size-fits-all protocol that you can follow to improve everyone’s lives. Instead, you will have to listen to each individual without judging; only then can you move forward and customise a suitable coaching plan.
Becoming an effective listener will take you far into your life coaching career so make sure you give this skill the time and attention it deserves.
Identify your preferred outlet
It’s not enough to have the certificate and the required skill set; you need to gain some industry knowledge. Take the time to identify your preferred outlet. Are you more suited for group coaching? Or do you prefer one-on-one sessions? Regardless of the coaching track you are interested in, you need to understand which medium allows you to thrive.
If creating YouTube videos and collecting subscription fees works for you, then focus your marketing efforts on this platform rather than dwelling on industry trends. It will take some time, but eventually you will understand where and how you shine as a life coach.
Final thoughts
Life coaching is not a traditional career to navigate, so you should expect to face some challenges along the way. But it’s definitely one of the most fulfilling careers that anyone with the right intentions can thrive in.
Before embarking on this journey, have an honest conversation with yourself and identify your ‘why’. If deep down you believe that you want to help people improve their lives, then coaching is an excellent fit for you.
Dennis Relojo-Howell is the managing director of Psychreg.
