Top Reasons to Try an Online Life Coaching Session

You've heard of Life Coaching. Maybe you know someone who has tried it. But you're not sure exactly why people seek out this specific kind of help — or whether an online Life Coaching Session might be right for you. That's understandable — the term is a little opaque, and can even seem slightly ridiculous when first encountered. It's easy to understand why football players need coaches, but why would a normal person need a coach? Do they just stand on the metaphorical sideline cheering, occasionally blowing a metaphorical whistle?

Luckily, the term has been normalized by exposure in the general public. But normalization doesn't explain the purpose of Life Coaching, or what it can do for people with different needs, or most importantly — what it might be able to do for YOU.

What Coaching is NOT

First, it's often helpful to explain what coaching is not:

• Consulting. Coaching is different from consulting, in which a consultant uses their deep experience in their area to give the client the answers they need to achieve their goals.

• Training. Coaching is different from training, in which a trainer uses their expertise to set the agenda for the client's success.

• Therapy, in which a therapist deeply plumbs personal and familial issue from the client's past.

These are all vital roles in society and in the realm of personal growth, and it is possible that one or more of them could be right for you. But maybe what you're actually looking for is a Life Coach.

What Coaching IS

A Life Coach helps you to move closer to your full potential by moving you from awareness to responsibility to action, by helping you identify and achieve your goals. Coaching works best when there's a gap between where you are now and where you want to be. You must be willing to learn, grow, and take action.

It sounds simple, right? In a way, it is! Just look within yourself, become aware of what you want to do, and then do it!

Heh.

In reality, for most of us, that is incredibly hard to do. How many of us make New Year's resolutions, with the full intention to stick to them? By January 30, most of us have let our good intentions slip away, and we tend to avoid looking directly at this fact, ashamed of ourselves. We seek distraction and solace instead of facing our failure.

The good news? Setting and achieving goals is much easier to do — if you don't try to do it alone!

Coaching Provides Support for Self-Knowledge...

I always thought that I knew myself pretty well — that I was a paragon of self-awareness. Partially this was because I had gained a lot self-knowledge in the12-step recovery process. I catalogued my resentments towards others, and learned to forgive them, and to accept responsibility for my part. I catalogued my character flaws or defects, becoming aware of the many ways I had undermined myself in the past. And I took a close look at the ways in which I had caused harm to others.

What I hadn't done was to ask myself questions like: what do I want from this brief life? What makes me happy? How do I want to spend my days? What do I want my children to remember me for?

Many years ago, my life coach helped me explore these questions. And now that's what I do for my clients.

Coaching Provides Support for Goal-Setting...

Once I uncovered my deepest desires, my coach helped me set goals that would further those ends. Through exercises and conversations, reflections and journaling, I learned to create reasonable, achievable, and verifiable goals.

Some goals are simple: renew my driver's license; get a new phone; call my mother every week.

Some goals are more complicated and daunting: deep clean the garage; apply to grad school; get better at painting.

And some goals are notoriously challenging: change jobs; move to a different city; write a book; market your business on a national scale.

Coaching can help with any kind of goal. What do you want to accomplish?

Finally, Coaching Provides Accountability

This is perhaps the most important part of coaching. Humans are social animals. We thrive in community, and we languish in isolation.

When we set goals and try to achieve them in isolation, we are entirely dependent on our innate will and motivation. For some people, this is enough. And the American myth of "pulling yourself up by your bootstraps"makes it seem like ALL normal people are really good at self-motivating and achieving their goals without help.

I'm here to tell you that that is NOT true. Most people need help. The most frequent kinds of help we get are almost invisible — the help that spouses and partners give each other in managing the tasks of their lives. Borrowing a car, a tool, or a book. Even asking a friend to help you move seems pretty reasonable.

But when it comes to our goals, most of us try to go it alone — with widely varied degrees of success.

As your coach, I help keep you accountable. Through our weekly meetings, I support you in moving the ball forward on whichever goals we have devised for you! IT makes all the difference in the world.

What Are You Waiting For?

Reach out today. You can set up a free Life Coaching Consultation Online in minutes on this website — no commitment, just a conversation. I look forward to talking with you!