What Is Life Coaching?

We all have things in our lives we want to achieve, goals we want to get to and obstacles we want to overcome, but it can be hard to understand how to get there. Which path takes us to our destination and which leads us in circles, taking us back to where we started, or even worse?

A life coach is there to help us understand what our goals are and what obstacles we need to overcome to get there. They help us see the way through the maze and encourage us when the going gets tough. They help us design strategies and offer objective insight and understanding about how to succeed.

Life coaches can help with all sorts of problems you may be experiencing, but here are some examples

• Improve your work/life balance

• Tackle long-held fears and anxieties

• Be more creative

• Improve your finances

• Enhance your communication skills

• Find the right career

• Improve relationships with friends and family

Life coaching is distinct from counselling, friendly advice, consulting or mentoring. It is there to help with a definite life goal or situation you are going through, which is why Life Coaching typically only last for six sessions. By the end of six sessions you should have overcome the issue you are experiencing and be in a position to move on.

Whereas therapy can last for years and is primarily for people suffering from mental health problems, life coaching is for anyone and everyone who is trying to understand what their goals are and how they can achieve them. Often in our lives this is done by a friend who we consider to be 'wise' or to have experience in the issue, but sometimes we don't have anyone we can call on or the person we want to speak to is not objective on the issue. That's when a life coach can step in and be an objective outside party to help us get to where we need to go.

The American swimmer Daniel Phelps is the most decorated and successful Olympian of all time but he still sees a coach everyday to help him improve, because he knows that an outside perspective is the best way we have to understand and get past our obstacles. Even the greatest athletes in the world know everyone can benefit from seeing a coach.