Hiring a Life Coach
If you put yourself in a position where you have to stretch outside your comfort zone,
then you are forced to expand your consciousness.– Les Brown, author, speaker
“Why would I hire a life coach? I’m intelligent, aware, strong-willed and can make my own decisions without someone telling what to do. It wouldn’t work for me.”
Those three sentences sum up the reason many people refuse to seek out a life coach. After more than three decades of coaching, I have heard every excuse in the world. Most stem from misinformation but mostly from fear.
Most people believe that they can do it on their own. This mindset is a road to disaster because no one can achieve exceptional results on their own. Or, perhaps they simply will not make an investment in themselves.
I have had many coaches in my life and a number of what I call “mastermind” groups. Every experience has helped me see a new path, clarify a vision, set goals and move forward with passion.
Coaching Extends Beyond Sports To Everyday Life
When I started working with private clients in the mid 1970’s, the term “coaching” only existed in the field of sports. Now, it has become ubiquitous and accepted worldwide.
Life coaching encompasses coaching in a number of areas. There’s executive and career coaching, relationship coaching as well as financial coaching. There are professional coaches for every age group, ambition, life stage, and goal you can imagine. There is no doubt that having a properly trained professional coach can be a real asset in helping people move towards more effectiveness and productivity in personal, professional and business situations.
And, it’s flexible! Coaches and clients can be in different places. Sessions often take place by phone or Skype. Coaches help clients identify blocks, challenges, strategies and opportunities.
The phrase, “The eye cannot behold itself,” is the core of coaching. Regardless of our intelligence, we cannot see our blind spots.
Some of the most successful people in the world have coaches. By hiring a life coach, you have the edge to live an exceptional life.
The quality of your life is a function of the quality of questions you ask yourself. Therefore, the best life coaches know how to ask the type of questions that evoke answers which elevate the quality of your life.
There’s also accountability. When you go it on your own, you are only accountable to yourself. When you are only accountable to yourself, you can come up with endless excuses and stories of why you can’t or didn’t so something.
Experienced life coaches do not offer authoritative prescriptions or platitudes. They empower clients to come up with their own answers, dreams and strategies to achieve them.
If you ignite your brain with life coaching, you will develop a better relationship with yourself, your loved ones, your friends and business associates.
Most people who are stuck in life and/or feel like a victim, blame outside circumstances, others or themselves for the quality of their lives.
When you blame, you cannot get unstuck, see new opportunities and move forward with hope, passion and joy. While people and life situations do influence us, they do not have to prevent you from taking action.
When you take full responsibility for your life, without guilt, you can move in a positive direction. Letting go frees up the energy used up by resentments, anger, blame and bitterness.
What are the signs that hiring a life coach would be the right thing for you?
- You are going through a major life transition. This could be career change, health change or relationship change. This kind of stress is not only hard on you but it is a burden to treat family and friends like therapists. A life coach can help you make this transition.
- You lack a clear vision of your future. You can only set clear goals when you have a clear vison. If your vision is too big, you can freeze by being overwhelmed. A coach will help you clarify your vision, define your life priorities and identify the values that motivate you.
- You are seeking purpose. You can be wildly successful and still feel unfulfilled and spiritually empty. A life coach can ask the right questions to help you identify what ignites your passion and purpose.
- You are constantly irritable. This means that you are living in a reactive state. You might have sudden bursts of inappropriate anger at loved ones, pick fights, argue for no reason or get trapped into road rage. You are in emotional pain.
Emotional pain also can manifest as lacking confidence. If you extend your arm and hold a glass full of water for one minute, you would have no problem holding it. If you hold it for hours, your arm would get fatigued. Holding onto old hurts, emotional wounds, traumas, grief and sadness is exhausting and saps energy. A life coach can help you identify the cause of your bitterness, anger, blame or resentment and give you the tools to let go of pain.
- You are scared. Be honest, we are all scared of something. You might be afraid of failure, success, change, rejection, being alone, appearing stupid or the unknown. Some individuals can move through fear by turning into energy and excitement but others get stuck, frozen in place and cannot make empowering choices. A life coach will help you discover and examine your fears, give you the tools to break through them and take action.
Some of the most successful people in the world have coaches. Do they absolutely need them? No. However, by hiring a life coach, you have the edge to live an exceptional life.
As Albert Einstein said, “Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.”
James Mapes is the founder of Quantum Leap Thinking™, creator of The Transformational Coach™, expert on the psychology of “applied imagination,” best-selling author, highly acclaimed business speaker, consultant, seminar leader and personal excellence coach.