7 Typical Roles Life Coaches Take On to Help Advance Your Life
So maybe you are feeling a little skeptical about the whole ‘life coach’ thing. What does a life coach really do? How can they help you, or what are the benefits?
But first, let’s define what a life coach is for those who may be unclear. According to Google, a life coach is a person who “counsels and encourages clients on matters having to do with careers or personal challenges.”
This definition is fairly accurate, but life coaches can actually take on a number of roles, depending on your needs and the type of coach you are working with. Here are seven typical roles of a life coach.
- Sounding Board
Sometimes a life coach will simply be there as a sounding board to help you weed out unimportant or ill advised activities and focus on the best items. Many top CEO’s employ personal life coaches who help them stay on track and focus on their goals and the goals of their company. You might need a life coach to help reorganize your life, tweak certain aspects of your life, or even gain clarity on your goals.
- Ask Questions
Most Life Coaches are great at getting to the heart of the matter. Using questions instead of simply giving information they often lead the person being coached to the answers that they really need.
- Fresh Perspective
Often you just need someone with different eyes on the situation to give you an outside perspective free from the emotional attachments that you carry in your situations. This also means that you must be open to new ideas and perspectives.
- Accountability
Many times just knowing that I am going to meet someone who is going to ask me a question is enough to get me off my backside to accomplish whatever it was. Just the other day I met with a couple of the guys that I work with and we set out goals that we wanted to accomplish in the next 7 days. Most of them were personal, some were business goals, but I am sure we will do a better job of meeting those goals this week then we did last week because we know we are going to be asking each other about them at the end of the week.
Accountability is a powerful part of coaching, and of attaining goals. Through small steps, big things can be accomplished.
- Life Purpose
If you are wishy-washy on your reason for being on the planet, the right coach can help you. My friend and author Stephen Blandino (http://stephenblandino.com) first helped me understand one of my life purposes by turning me on to Life coaching about 10 years ago and I have been enjoying doing it with lots of people over the years since then.
While not everyone needs help in understanding their life purpose, gaining clarity in specific areas that bring fulfilment can lead to a much better quality of life.
- Goal Attainment
Do you have goals out there that you just can’t seem to reach. Maybe you have been thinking, dreaming and planning about some of them for years but can’t seem to get forward progress. The right coach can give you the traction you need to make your dreams a reality.
- Priority Discernment
Taking the time to get away can often give you the discernment that you need to figure out what you should be focusing on. When that doesn’t work a few pertinent questions can often be all that you need to set you in the right direction. Locating and understanding what needs to be done in your life can significantly reduce the stress involved in big decisions or challenges.
Life coaches are really exactly what their name suggests; people who coach others as they go through the various challenges and distractions of life to help you get the most out of the life you have..
The basic function of a life coach is to allow you take the next step in life, to help you make the best use of your time and energy. And when you employ your time and energy effectively and efficiently in the right direction, you are suddenly able to accomplish great things of lasting value.
To start reaping the benefits of life coaching, all you need is a basic level of training, and a friend who is also looking to be coached in an area of their life.
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