Why do so many of us make life difficult? For each of us there is a different answer. The answer is often very simple yet so hard to find. Life coaching is a very effective way of finding your answer. People wonder; what’s life coaching all about? Will I feel comfortable to talk about myself with a stranger? Where will I meet the coach? What will I tell my Partner? Will it be worth the expense?

What is life coaching? The name coaching comes from sport, the title going to the person who has the special task and responsibility for training sports people and teams to achieve peak performance and to win. No team or athlete would consider achieving excellence and winning tournaments without a coach. Coaching is a relatively new profession taking off in the eighties, starting out in a business environment coaching is now widespread and used in every area of a client’s life. In coaching the client is held accountable, it is all about the client’s agenda and the whole process is focused on getting the results the client wants. Coaching begins where the client is now in the present and helps the client setting and achieving their specific goals. Coaching is about improving performance, it is about self awareness and it is about making choices. Coaching is about living more fully in the present with the future in mind.

Who comes to coaching? people come from all walks of life and all occupations; they come both young and old. Large corporations down to small businesses come for group coaching. Anyone who is seeking solutions, seeking to improve their performance and sometimes reaching for excellence come for coaching. People come because they want things to be different; they are looking for positive constructive change in their lives. They come because they have important goals to reach, goals: to start a new business, to get a new job, to buy a new house, to loose weight. People come to coaching because they want more order and balance in their lives. People come because they want fulfillment, happiness, joy or fun from life. They also come because they want less stress, less confusion or less financial pressures in life.

What about the coach: The coach is a person with a set of skills they use to support and encourage clients in setting and achieving goals. The coach and client are active collaborators; they form an alliance between two equals. The coach and client design their working relationship. The coach holds the client accountable knowing that the client has the answers or can find the answers. The coach is always responding to the client’s answer aware that every answer provides information where to go next. The coach keeps them moving forward towards their dreams and goals. The core competencies of a coach are a genuine acceptance of people without judgment focused listening with the client’s agenda in mind. One of the most important qualities of a coach is truthfulness, if clients are going to risk making change, they must feel confident to talk freely with their coach.

Where and how does coaching take place? Coaching usually takes place in a safe and confidential setting agreed by the client and the coach. Some people are happy to be coached by skype, by email or other online methods.

Is life coaching expensive? In all fairness to the coach he is entitled to get paid for his services after all it’s his time, skills, tools and experience. The results can be phenomenal. Can one put a price on this? We discuss the client’s requirements; most times we have four sessions with one free introduction session.

The latest concept in life coaching is indirect life coaching. In this program the coach takes a more all-round approach to life coaching. This is done with the aid of a book and workbook. It is more general in topic with the client bringing their life into the program. The coach helps the client discover what they want and helps them set goals, design a plan and move forward from there. An example of this is the 28 days to Success program. This is an easy economical introduction into life coaching. It is very effective and worth trying.