Life Coaching 101 – Differentiating Certifiable and Certified Coaches

With the changes in the present economy, more people have chosen to take up life coaching as a profession. Anyone can choose to become a life coach. However, not everyone can make a living out of it. There are a lot of coaches nowadays who are struggling with the bills to pay, while worrying where they will find their next client.

The increasing number of life coaches who offer their services could mean that there is competition in terms of finding clients. It is important that you find ways to stand out among the others in order for you to attract clients. One way of doing so is by getting a life coach certification from an accrediting body.

Anyone can become certifiable coach as long as he has the skills. Most companies look for certified coaches, especially for those who are involved in the executive departments of a company. However, being a certified coach does not always mean that you can find guaranteed success. There are several coaches with no certification who have become successful.

If you choose to become a certified life coach, there are two things that you should consider. This is either to get an accreditation from the International Coach Federation (ICF) or the International Coaching Association (ICA). What’s the difference between the two?

ICF Certification

Being a certified coach under ICF means that you will need to go to a training school or university which offers a coaching training program that meets the standards of ICF. Regardless if you have previous experiences as a coach, like being a gym trainer, counselor, etc., you will be required to undergo a training program from an accredited school which takes at least six months to two years. However, upon completion of your course, you are able to get certification as a coach. One is from the accredited training school and the other, from ICF.

This route can be an advantage, especially if you’ve just started being a life coach and has no proper background in doing so. By going through the coaching course, you will be able to learn different things that you may need to know in being a life coach and how to help your clients.

ICA Certification

On the other hand, if you have already been coaching and had previous experiences, then taking the ICA route towards becoming an accredited coach might be the best to take. Getting a certification under ICA no longer requires you to undergo a specific number of training hours, training periods or even the number of hours that you have interacted with clients. You will only be required to take an exam to test your competency as a coach. If you already have previous experiences as a coach, then it may only take you 23-months time to be able to process and take the exam.

Being a certified coach can be a great advantage in getting hired as a life coach. However, one thing that you should also give time to consider is your marketing skills and how you sell yourself. Most coaches fail not because they have no skills as coaches, rather, they lack skills in marketing.

Christina Cordle enjoys writing for Coachestrainingblog which is an online resource on how to become a life coach and become a business coach as well as other related subjects.

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The Life Coaching Process In Action

In this article I am going to show a life coaching process that I particularly find practical and can help clients in a simple and direct way while maintaining effective results.

This life coaching process is made of four main questions that are brought from two different disciplines; life coaching and emotional intelligence. The four main questions are:

1- What do you want?

Somehow we have developed an incredible skill and experience in defining and expressing what we don’t want. Once we face ourselves and try to define what we want we get speechless and our words don’t flow smoothly anymore.

Answering this question is basic ingredient for success in anything that want to achieve. Make sure to state what you want rather than what you don’t want.

2- What are your options?

If we get an idea regarding achieving what we want we jump ahead without even considering the fact that other options might be available. We get emotionally attached to the first idea that seems doable.

The best way is answer this question is through a brainstorming session allowing yourself to state every single option that might cross your mind without evaluating the sanity of the options stated.

This is not the time for evaluation. With this question allow all options to be considered.

3- What is the best option?

Answering this question will allow you to evaluate all the options that you have stated in the previous question. here is a suggestion on how to arrive to the best option:

a) Delete all options that are totally out of the question for implementation. If you think that any option has a small chance of being implemented keep it in the list for now. Only delete those that there is no way you might consider for implementation.

b) With the remaining options choose a prioritization method. Some examples of such prioritization methods are:

i) Importance

ii) Ease of implementation

iii) Faster results

iv) Effectiveness..etc

Once you have prioritized your options you will start planning for implementing your first option and the plan might start with the question “what is the first step?”

4- How do you feel?

Once you choose your best option, you need to check with yourself and the emotions that have developed once you have chosen the option.

In some cases we might choose the option that we have to consider and not the one that we feel comfortable with. This scenario might cause us to choose an option that we might not have capabilities for or one that will not motivate us to accomplish.

This might cause the usual procrastination that stopped us from achieving this goal in the first place. Choose the option that best serves your goal and one that you feel motivated to do.

We wish you all the best in achieving your goals and moving forward with your life.

Rami Doleh is a Certified Life Coach, Certified International Professional Trainer, Certified in Emotional Intelligence and a Thetahealing Practitioner with a MBA in International Business & more than 17 years of work experience. He has changed his focus from setting and achieving targets for companies to helping individuals setting their own goals, discover their true potential and create the life that they desire.

Read more about the life coaching process and check Rami Doleh’s Life Coaching Section Home

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Are You in Need of Life Coaching?

Many people fail to achieve the goals and level of success they had planned for their lives. Why is this? There are endless reasons behind this inability to reach one’s dreams. Many people are disillusioned by the real world after graduation; while they were fed lies for years that doors would open to them if they only tried, they soon realized the truth – becoming successful takes more than the desire to be so. Others have had tragic circumstances befall them and this loss stole any determination they once had. If you are disappointed in how your life turned out, what are your choices? If you are looking for an option with a high success rate, consider life coaching.

What a Life Coach Can Do for You

A life coach (LC) can help you find direction after years of twiddling your thumbs. With their help, you can reorganize your life and get yourself back on the track to your dreams. They work with you to set goals and make detailed plans that outline exactly what you need to do to achieve them. Their guidance can assist you in going farther in life than you ever thought possible. In fact, many professional athletes and performers give the credit for their success to the life coaches that aided them. Life coaches can help in all areas in your life, not just your career.

Life coaches also can help you transform yourself. Many people, after years or decades of being abrasive, pushing away loved ones, and avoiding relationships, start to regret their previous decision of being on their own. The truth is that sometimes you cannot make it alone. A LC can help you identify what first lead to you building up those walls of callousness and aggressions. By finding these emotional blocks and removing them, you will reveal a calmer, more loving self.

They also assist individuals with various kinds of addictions. Not all people get addicted to alcohol or drugs; others find themselves stuck in a rut of harmful action. Are you unable to stop certain behaviors that you know are sending your life down the drain? A LC can help you discover what led to these bad decisions. While this might seem similar to therapy, the goals are different. A therapist’s goal is to get you to talk about your past and accept it. A LC allows you to discuss the burdens you carry with you, and they also help you overcome it and move past it towards the life you always wanted.

How long does the guidance of a LC last? While this is up to you, the client, many LCs are willing to help individuals until they achieve the goals they set for themselves. These one-on-one sessions are different for everyone. Some immediately become successful while others take longer to find their stride. By sticking to the program, however, you can be confident you will see improvement. Look into life coaching today and start the process of creating a happier, healthier, more successful you!

Learn more about Life Coaching and Personal Life Coaching at Satvatove.com.

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Life Coaching for Artists

Pursuing a career in the arts has always been a difficult road. The terms “starving artist ” have been applied to the artists lifestyle for hundreds of years. We are all too familiar with the romanticized version of the struggling artist through literature and know about the horror of the unrealized impoverished genius. Simply put artists not often known for receiving big paychecks at the end of the day.

In many ways this makes sense. The one caveat about the artists life is that the artist spends a very large amount of their time working unpaid hours to perfect their craft or produce their product. It is this unique situation of unpaid hours and high risk that makes for the impoverished theme in an artist’s life. The field is competitive and with the bad economy there is only so much money to go to artistic projects. An individual may spend a large amount of time working on a project and not get the part or have their piece rejected. The artist can experience feelings of rejection, despair and worthlessness. What then?

One important thing to remember that the arts are a valuable asset to society. Artists produce works of creativity that relate to abstract concepts versus some other field like medicine. As mentioned above there is high risk involved with being an artist and an artist must get used to rejection. There are many reasons that an artist will get rejected from a project and it’s not always because their work is not sufficient. Investors, directors, or whoever is hiring may be looking for a specific look or product that you don’t have. The important thing is to keep on working and growing and waiting for the right opportunity to present your work. Prioritizing artistic goals and managing a healthy lifestyle is also essential for happiness and success. Here is where a life coach can be helpful for the emerging artist or mid career artist.

Many artists are known for their creative resources but are not always known for having the best sense of time management or business savvy. A life coach for artists is a highly trained individual that specializes in artists issues. A life coach can help with prioritizing goals, managing time, exploring options for making more money, and finding more opportunities to present work to. They can help with finding coping mechanisms for stress caused by competition and financial hardship. A life coach can also help with identifying negative thinking that may be hindering an artists work and reshape the thinking process to create a more positive approach to working as an artist and also seeing their dreams realized.

Being an artist is hard. But for those who know that the artists lifestyle is for them then finding a life coach might be a wonderful option for getting projects together and making those dreams come true.

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A Definitive Guide to Life Coaching

The biggest reason life coaching gets results is that you are employing an individual with higher experience than you in a certain topic. Your coach can easily distinguish patterns which may not be clear to you. Then your private coach can help you create and execute solutions. When this works, it is actually an extremely high-leverage union. It can be one of the easiest ways to solve complicated problems. Businesses frequently hire outside experts to help solve important problems, and coaching is basically the individual equivalent of business consulting.

Offering advice and motivation to the client is just one part of life coaching. There is an idea that individuals who do not cultivate their inner selves could be more prone to anxiety, stress, and panic, and for that reason one of the objectives of coaching is to handle those potential problems and try to reduce or better get rid of them. This is achieved using intuition as the key coaching skill. There are many issues we are engaged on that the life coach (1) has already solved, or (2) know how to address in a variety of different ways.

In the same way, a good life coach will have superior knowledge and experience in the aspect(s) in which you prefer to improve. A coach can use all of his/her skills to be able to help you solve specific difficulties proficiently. This is fundamentally a variation on the theory of mind-boggling force. A challenge that may seem overwhelming to you might be a reasonably simple issue for a highly skilled coach.

The real challenge of life coaching is for your coach to help you in carrying these solutions out. Coming up with solutions is simple. Your coach will probably identify some good strategies within your free trial appointment. Implementing those solutions is the challenging part. That is where good coaching actually shines. Your coach can work as a guide to help keep you on the right track, leading you confidently through the problem of errors, blind alleys, and delays.

If you work with a life coach, your coach’s state of mind will gradually rub off on you. This is a thing when you find a coach whose state of mind already contains the solution to your issue. For instance, you are a chiropractor and you would like to develop your client base and at the same time learn the ropes in chiropractic business, joining some chiropractic groups or organizations can help you achieve your goals.

There are lots of benefits and uses of life coaching. Visit http://chiropracticlifecoaching.com for more chiropractic and life coaching guide.

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Manage Life Changes Without Making Yourself Miserable!

Sometimes we choose to create change in our lives and other times change occurs outside our realm of control. Either way, we find ourselves adjusting to a new situation or a whole new way of life. How you manage change determines how peaceful or miserable you are determined to be! Here are 5 effective ways to manage life’s changes without making yourself miserable:

1- Be Flexible – When change happens, our natural response is to hold on to what is familiar. Familiarity gives us a sense of security and enables us to coast on ‘auto-pilot’. On most days, we zip in and out of our neighborhoods without much thought. Change requires that we slow down, reassess our new surroundings, readjust our thinking, and implement a new plan to reach our desired goal. Imagine if the GPS in your car insisted on following only one route to your intended destination! You wouldn’t get too far without getting stuck and feeling frustrated. Similarly, when we are flexible in our thinking, we learn to maneuver life’s detours more effectively.

2- Perception- Change can often be ‘perceived’ as a challenging & frightening time in our lives. Sensing a loss of control brings fear. Rest assured, many people feel this way initially. The key is perception! We can choose to view change as something to fear or as an opportunity for something new to manifest in our lives. Change is essential to movement and often helps us uncover our hidden skills and resilience in life.

3- Time- Give yourself time to emotionally adjust to your new situation. While it is essential to be flexible in thinking and perception, remember, it doesn’t all have to happen overnight! Continuing to resist inevitable change can make you as miserable as pretending to have suddenly adjusted at breakneck speed. Genuine, long-lasting adjustment & acceptance takes place gradually. Even when good changes like marriage, childbirth, new job or house occur, they all require letting go of the way it used to be, to the way it will be now.

4- Review & Reflect- Set aside time each day to review & reflect on the change or changes in your life. Busy schedules and hectic lifestyles prevent us from taking a quiet moment to reflect, accept, and plan for adapting to the changes that have occurred or are about to occur in our lives. Remember, even your car’s GPS has to continually reassess and devise optional routes to reach your intended destination. Not taking time to reflect and plan ahead can create more fear and misery. Avoidance is not the answer!

5- Support- While it’s wonderful to feel like we are totally independent beings and do not need to rely on others, do remember to reach out for support from friends, family, or professionals. Call your Personal Life Coach! Find someone who understands and can be there with you as you adjust to the changes in your life.

Whether we like it or not, sometimes life just throws us unexpected curve balls. Some good, some not so great. The more we insist on maintaining the status quo, the more painful it becomes. While we cannot predict every twist and turn that lays ahead, we can let go of limiting thinking and be open to the possibility that there are actually many routes to our desired destination. And being miserable, is certainly not one of them!

Sydney Chhabra, Ph.D. is a seasoned Psychologist and Personal Life Coach with 20+ years of experience! Sydney has a very warm and personable style of communication and takes a very practical approach in life coaching. She is genuinely supportive and maintains a focused and solution-oriented approach. To learn more, visit: http://www.midlifecoachingforwomen.com.

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4 Proven Time-Tested Secrets That Will Extinguish Fear Out of Your Life NOW

We live in the most multi-tasking, confused, dysfunctional, depressed world known to mankind. Do you realize that? Everyone is so busy doing absolutely nothing productive, and they wonder why they aren’t successful in life. You cannot achieve the results that you desire without daily preparation. Preparing for your day will set the tone for everything else in your life, and I guarantee it will explode your level of success. If you are unhappy with your current results, then make a decision to start preparing yourself for the day ahead. Remember, nothing will change until you step out in faith and take an uncomfortable challenging action. I am not a life coach. I’m a strategic business coach, and I have the right to challenge you to step out of your comfort zone because I paid the price for my success!

The root word of challenge is change. You will go through many challenges in order to change your life. Are you committed to change? If not, then you will be part of the 97% crowd. By age 65, 97% of people are dead or dead broke. Sadly, only 3% are successful and have achieved their Why in life. You’re either full of fear or full of faith. You’re either indecisive or decisive. It’s ultimately your choice! I believe that you have the right to be in that 3% crowd, but you must make the decision to take the necessary action to secure your place in the top 3%. Now, I’m going to give you four proven, time-tested strategies that will extinguish fear out of your life NOW!

#1: Play the Right Numbers

Everybody’s born a champion. So, why do you let people attack your dream every day with words, associations, and actions? Let me say it again. Every single person in existence is born a champion. No one was born a loser! God does not make junk. He’s not in the junkyard business! At the moment of your birth, you are destined for massive success, monumental prosperity and an incredible amount of unbelievable results in your life. You and only you control the chances of when or how or if that will happen. My parents were told that I was going to become a stutterer. You can’t shut me up today. I overcame a speech impediment, and demolished it. I was also told by a professional speaking bureau nine and a half years ago, that I would never make it professionally speaking, because I have a New York accent, I look too much like the Mafia, they’re not going to accept you in the speaking world. When you focus on changing people’s lives, your life will change. From 1990 to 1996 I got totally immersed in self-development. I started to listen to cassettes. I reprogrammed my mind over and over and over. I didn’t take one a day off from my dream.

Multi-tasking allows you to take a day off from your dream. I believe in impossible. You must believe in the impossible for you. I made a decision not to listen to anyone but my dream. Who are you listening to? Your habits produce your results. You can’t blame anyone else for anything in your life but you.

Secret number two is the ultimate driver machine.

Pressure and resistance from the enemy destroys 97% of people, but it fires up the other 3% of champions to take more focus, daily champion action. The key word is pressure. The ultimate driving machine is pressure. Pressure is the secret to combat fear. Pressure is the secret to find your why now. Pressure is the secret to indecision. What’s the root word of depression? Pressure.

The number one prescription drug right now being prescribed is anti-depressant drugs. I can tell you that anti means go against the pressure. Anti-depression. Against depression. You have to face depression straight on.

Crude oil versus jet fuel. Crude oil is a smelly, yellow kind of black liquid, it’s decayed plant and animal remains. It’s kind of like a lot of words a lot of your friends speak. The starting point of jet fuel is crude oil. But it’s got to go through a refinery. It’s got to go through pressure. Take advantage of the pressure to fight your fear so you can find your why now.

Now, everyone is self-made. You realize that, right? It’s just that the successful people tell you that. Someone who’s 44, broke, blames everybody else, it’s everybody else’s fault but theirs. Everyone is self-made. This is the process. You come over to the house for Christmas, Thanksgiving, that’s an occasion. See, the root of occasional is a special once in a time only a couple of times a year. That’s what occasional means, the root word. Your dream is not a special occasion.

I want you to open your ears and I want you to open your heart. Because inside the word heart is ear. H-E-A-R-T, ear. What goes in your ear goes in your hear and what goes in your heart comes out of your mouth and then your words produce your results.

Every morning when you roll over, I call it the why roll over. You roll over, instead of rolling on the floor, and putting on the news, or calling your negative friend or checking your fancy phone, you speak your future into existence today by the words you speak. The first seven minutes of your day controls your destiny. As soon as you roll out of bed you stand up and say, I am dealing with all the challenges that are building my business today, because my why is to spend more time with my family. Provide for my children’s education and have the finances needed to take regular family vacations and be a mentor to my kids. I am building a tithing, a percentage of my earnings to my church, a favorite non-profit organization. I am making a difference today.

Words outwardly spoken instantly detonate inward fear. The tool of the enemy is distraction. Your vision is clear. You get clarity. You need faith; it comes from hearing the great word. Faith is the greatest muscle you can build. Your faith gates are your eyes and your ears.

Secret number three is the relationship root canal.

How many times a day do you use a toothbrush? Normally twice a day. That’s the number one success habit in the world. It’s a habit you created. This is the next challenge you have to have, is a relationship root canal. There are either one, two, or three people in your life right now that is as annoying as a root canal, and a serious root canal, but you’re just dealing with it. Eventually, that person is going to be the reason why you completely fail. Relationship root canal. Without common sense, your life’s a circle of nonsense. That’s one of the quotes from the 177 Motivational Success Quote book.

Without common sense your life’s a circle of nonsense. If you associate with losers, you become a loser. Toxic people. Have you ever noticed we have got more disinfectants than every before? People are sicker than every before. I haven’t washed my hands in two decades. Of course I wash my hands, but I’m not compulsive about it. Did you ever notice compulsive people get whatever their compulsive about? Because they’re focused on the what ifs. Toxic people. Page 98 of the Ten Life Lessons on How to Find Your Why Now. It’s on lesson number nine.

Remember, the second obstacle was your past that keeps you from achieving your why. The third obstacle is toxic people. Toxic people are deadly to my dream.

The ABCs of success. ABC stands for Associations Build Character. You become a person of character, a person of integrity by who you associate with. Priority number one in life is God. Second priority, with association is family. God, family then business. When you’ve got God right, family right your business will explode. Your fruit’s or your results are the exact production of your daily actions, rooted over time. Exact production of your daily actions rooted over time.

Secret number four is storm preparation.

There are two areas in life you can’t hide. Time and truth. The truth will be exposed, what you do each day, over time. Are your ready for the fear of a storm? 97% of people are not prepared. That’s why they fail. You realize that, at the age 65, 97% of people are dead, or dead broke, because they’re not prepared. Preparation builds confidence, plus preparation will keep me alive while everyone else is dying. Preparation builds confidence plus preparation will keep me alive while everyone else is dying. That is a one screw on a hurricane shutters. If one screw is loose, the shutter goes. If one screw is loose in your life, your dream goes, it is when fear attacks. How tight are your screws?

Bamboo, it takes five years for bamboo to even break ground, for those that know the story, I teach a lot about that. It takes five years before bamboo even breaks the ground. When it breaks the ground it can grow up to 80 feet per day. After five years, 80 feet in a day. In the jungles of Kenya when roaring live animals are attacking, kind of like your friends, negative comments and associations? Everybody says, if the guns don’t work, hide behind a bamboo. My bamboo is my self-development habit. My bamboo is my self-development habit.

This is the preparation habit. There are 24-hours in a day. I’m going to share with you the 1/96th of a day. And you’ve got to maximize every second of your day. There’s eighty six thousand, four hundred seconds, its fourteen hundred and forty minutes, and its 24-hours in a day. From 12 to 12:15, that’s 1/96th of a day. What this means is, each day, you take a great book or one of the CDs or the DVDs, and for fifteen minutes per day, you are laser focused, meaning no texting. Day one, you check it off. Fifteen, no texting, no Skyping, no instant nothing. Fifteen minutes. Day two, fifteen minutes. Day three, fifteen minutes. Day four, fifteen minutes. Day five, I could tell you, this habit will change your life. Fifteen minutes per day will change your life. Make sure you’re tied in to self-development. And the key is, will you accept the 1/96th day habit?

Miracles. That’s quote number two of 177 Motivation Success Quote. Faith doesn’t make sense. Faith does not make sense, that’s why it makes miracles. You’ve got to develop blind faith.

The number one weapon in life is words. The words you say. You have to realize that words are very powerful. Words create the world.

Find YOUR Why NOW!

John shocks millions globally by exposing the truth about how to achieve monumental life success despite the labels that society has placed on you. Through his award winning live seminars, power-packed training programs, live tele-classes, best selling books and website John Di Lemme has made success a reality for thousands of people worldwide!

P.S. Free for You… as a Gift from me to you…

’177′ Success Quotes…

http://www.LifeStyleFreedomClub.com/go/q

P.P.S. Search John Di Lemme on Amazon.com for the Success Tools You NEED Now! _________________________________________________________________

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How SUPERMAN Can Help When You Have a Life Coaching Client Who Feels Stuck!

One of the most powerful tools a life coach or a business coach has… is the questions they use.

There’s no substitute for a great question when you are wanting to help your life coaching client to identify a problem, clarify why something is important or really own a solution.

So… as a life coach… it’s always important to continue to look for strategies for creating effective questions.

Today… we look to heroes as our source for great questions.

Heroes… I love ‘em. Don’t you?

Superheroes… for example.

Ahhhh yes. Superheroes. They fill our 20-screen movieplex. They do cool stuff. They are strong, smart and have cool gadgets. Heck, sometimes they even make us laugh.

But let’s not limit our discussion of heroes to people who wear their underwear on the outside of their clothing!

Let’s talk about real heroes.

Heroes of industry who create globe-changing products. Heroes that create non-profit organizations who feed and clothe millions. Nameless heroes who give their time and money to serve the forgotten or the lost.

Yes… true heroes.

And yes… these real heroes are the inspiration for our Elite Life Coach Question Strategy today.

It’s something we call “HERO QUESTIONS.”

So, let’s dig in.

Here’s the scenario:

Your coaching client feels stuck. They have been wrestling with a challenge for a while and they feel like they have exhausted all of their options. They are out of ideas and they feeling frustrated.

You, as a coach, want to help them create and own a solution, so instead of giving them ideas… you decide to ask a question instead.

With a tip of the hat to heroes… let’s walk through this 3-step process.

STEP 1: IDENTIFY A HERO

First, we want to get our ally to start thinking of some people that inspire them. We want to get them envisioning someone who has come up against adversity in the past and broken through.

You can ask questions like…

  • Who is someone that has faced some big challenges and overcome them?
  • Think of someone that has inspired you because they have faced some serious challenges and pushed through.
  • Name someone who is a hero of yours because they came up against some significant obstacles in their life… and overcame them.

STEP 2: CONNECTING WITH THE HERO

Once your coaching client has a hero in mind, you might ask them a few questions. These questions will help them to connect with the hero at a deeper level. It might also help to establish a bit of a connection to their current situation.

You might ask questions like…

  • What aspects of that person make them admirable?
  • What did they do that inspired you?
  • Why do you think that person came to mind?
  • What’s an example of a time when that person faced a challenge?
  • What did they do?

STEP 3: WHAT WOULD YOUR HERO DO NOW

Then you move towards creating a solution. But instead of offering a solution to your life coaching or business coaching client, you ask another question that will help them create their own solution.

Basically, you can ask a question or series of questions that will help your client to see their challenge from a different perspective and open up possibilities.

So you can ask questions like…

  • If your hero was in a similar situation, what do you think they might try?
  • If your hero was facing a similar obstacle to this, what steps do you think they might take to break through it?
  • If your hero was sitting here, what advice do you think they might give you?

As you can imagine, this simple 3 step process can be wildly powerful and it can be fun too.

Let me give you an example of how this played out recently with a coaching ally (our word for “client”) of mine.

SPECIFIC SCENARIO:

My coaching ally was an entrepreneur with a growing business. He was interested in developing a consulting and speaking business on the side, but he wasn’t sure how to get started. He had tried some things, but his first attempts at starting something new had been pretty “bumpy.” He was still committed to the idea (hence he hired me as a coach), but he felt like he was out of ideas.

So as we talked through a particular situation where he felt very stuck, and I walked through this HERO process with him. Here’s how it went down.


ME: “So who would you say has been a hero of yours in regards to a person who has successfully launched new products or services?”

ALLY: “Hands down… Thomas Edison.”

ME: “Oh, going for the big dogs right out of the gate. I love it. Great. Let’s go with BIG TOM. Tell me a little bit about how he got things done. Why does he inspire you?”

ALLY: “Oh, well one of the things that he did was he surrounded himself with brilliant people from a lot of different specialties and fields. That way, if he ever got stuck or needed help with something, he could go to one of his people and get their thoughts and insight.”

ME: “Great, what’s another example of something he did?”

ALLY: “Um, well he didn’t give up easy. Even when something didn’t go well, he just crossed that option off the list and moved on. I think there is even a quote about him saying something like… When something didn’t work we didn’t think of it as a failure. We saw it as one more way it didn’t work and we moved on. I like that.”

ME: “Okay, that is awesome. Let me ask you another question. If our old friend Thomas was sitting with us here today, what advice do you think he might offer you in your situation?”

ALLY: “Oh, now I see what you’re doing. Um well, he would probably tell me to think about who I know who has some experience doing what I want to do and then reach out to them to get their insight or ideas. He might also tell me to try to surround myself with successful consultants and speakers as much as possible and grow that part of my network. And I bet he would tell me to not give up. Plus, I bet he would end his little advice giving session with a ‘Now, get back to work!’”

ME: “That’s pretty good advice. What do you think? Which part of Ol’ Tommy’s advice would you want to try this week?”

ALLY: “Well, there has been a guy that I’ve been thinking about reaching out to for a while, but I just haven’t done it. He’s been successful at making this transition and I like his style. I think I might try to reach out to him this week. Plus, I probably should not be so hard on myself.”

ME: “Sounds good. Let’s talk specific strategy for that…”

Okay, I’ll admit that it doesn’t always go that smoothly. This was pretty textbook. But I will tell you that 9 times out of 10, this 3 step strategy can really help your ally to see their situation from a different perspective and start to identify new solutions.

Just know that the heroes may vary.

I’ve had clients come up with examples of heroes that ranged from Tony Robbins to former Presidents… from celebrities to members of their community, and from parents to astronauts. So be ready to be surprised by who your client identifies as a hero. And in some cases… you might need to talk about a few heroes in order to find a right fit.

But by taking your ally through this simple but powerful 3-step process, your client will be inspired, encouraged and bolstered. And most importantly, you will help them to uncover strategies and solutions that they own.

And that is coaching at it’s best!

NOTE: I was going to wrap up this article with a… “Look! It’s a bird. No… it’s a plane! No… it’s a SUPER COACH!” reference, but that just felt too cheesy.

So I’ll simply conclude with a challenge: Give this 3-step super-powered question-asking strategy a try and see how your clients’ heroes inspire them to new levels of insight, strategies and break through!

Mitch Matthews, “America’s Dream Champion” has coached and certified hundreds of people through his coaching program “The Coach Mindset”. He is a certified life coach and has served on the Franklin Covey Coaching Innovation Advisory Board. He is a published author and his life focus is to Launch A Million Dreams and Connect A Million People. You can find out more about him and get other tools to help you grow a successful coaching practice at http://www.TrainingToBeALifeCoach.com.

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A Day in the Life of a Life Coach

Deciding on a career path can be a long process if you have never really decided what you love to do. Allot of times, we don’t even come to the place of deciding that it’s even possible to have a career that is both fulfilling and lucrative, if this is your desire.

If you are like myself, where it took a couple of tries before I was able to hone in on what I loved, the path that you are already on, may be an indication of the skills you are going to need, people you are suppose to meet, and places you are meant to be, until finally you realize that all that you have been doing, has culminated into what you were always meant to do.

For instance, I started out working for a very large healthcare organization in my area. In fact, the largest in South Jersey. While working for this healthcare organization, I would gather the majority of the skills that I currently utilize, in helping me to run my current business in Life Coaching, as well as my home organizing business and the office that I currently run, as Practice Manager.

I would learn how to maintain client records, with confidentiality, learn professionalism and networking, I would learn CPR (an extra-added bonus), computer skills, systems thinking, how to run an office, curriculum development, training, teaching, and a host of other skills to fill the page.

All in all, the most valuable skills I learned were when I interacted with a client.

Learning to actively listen to what was being said before having an answer. Speaking clearly and concisely to convey, not only the point that I may have wanted to get across, but learning how to repeat back to a client, what they just said so they were confident I understood their message. None of what I just described had anything to do with my being a Life Coach/Motivator at the time, but the qualities of wanting the best, and seeing the best in people, were always inherent in my day to day interactions.

One day, it dawned on me after going to a clients home for my home organizing business, that I was already doing the work of a Life Coach/Motivator, but working in a different capacity. I decided to go back to school, where I received my Bachelors degree in spiritual counseling, and I was now able to focus my attention on my hearts desire to help people, while having a business that I can nurture and enjoy.

Look back on all you’ve done to this point. Take inventory of the skills you have acquired and know that you have an array of directions you can choose from. You don’t even have to choose just one thing. The choice is yours.

It is said that if you “Do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.”

Welcome to the path of Self Awareness

Lisa Scott/Bachelor of Metaphysical Counseling

Motivator/Life Coach

Lisascott858@msn.com

Lisa Scott is a Life Coach who has a Bachelor in Metaphysical Counseling. To see more information visit Lisa on her Facebook page called Motivation Made Simple @ http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002596512169#!/pages/Motivation-Made-Simple/157611597649467.

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Life Coaching for Teens

According to research, youth who have 3 or more adult role models (in addition to their parents) are less likely to engage in unsafe behaviours including, sex, drugs, and alcohol. The adult role models can be athletic coaches, teachers, extended family members, or a member from the church/ temple/ synagogue. Unfortunately, today’s communities are larger and as a result are less intimate leaving teens without the support previous generations were able to give to youth.

Life coaching for teens has been increasing in popularity. Similar to other role models, life coaches are trained individuals (be sure to always check credentials!!) who can guide your teen to think and behave in a self-serving manner. Coaching is about teaching youth to CREATE their life as opposed to be swept away by it. The benefits of coaching are widely recognized.

The benefits include:

1. Guiding and teaching teens how to think for themselves

2. Helping youth develop a self-identity, including how to think about their place in the family, school, and community

3. Promoting positive relationships with family members

4. Understanding the meaning of responsibility and accountability (responsibility is more than just chores and homework)

In addition to the many benefits, life coaching for teens often focuses on the following area (depending on individual programs). The 4 components serve to provide guidance to teens as they transition from childhood to adolescence and over into adulthood.

1. Self-awareness: Sometimes it is difficult to connect how our actions lead to outcomes. Many individuals see life as unfair fate or just plain luck. Life coaches show teens how to make choices that are in line with who they are in order to create the life they want. This way they do not need to count on luck for things to go their way.

2. Self-esteem and confidence: Self-confidence is based on self-esteem and self-esteem is based on how we interpret events in the world, including how we interpret others’ comments, our setbacks, and what we think about our place in the world. It is determined based on whether we focus on our strengths or weaknesses on our success or our failures. Showing youth to put things into perspective will raise self-esteem and confidence levels.

3. Choose and plan goals: Everyone has values, strengths, and needs. It is important we choose goals based on strengths and values to ensure goals are fulfilling. Picking goals because others expect us to pick them almost always leads to disappointment. Life coaches show teens how to recognize the goals important to them from the goals important to others.

4. Empowerment: Increased self-awareness, raised self-esteem and confidence levels, and choosing and planning goals all give teens a new perspective on life. This new knowledge empowers and motivates them. They learn that life does not happen randomly and they learn that when something does not go as planned they still have a choice on how to react.

Best Wishes to Your Family!

Ivana motivates teens and adults in their 20s to approach life with desire, confidence, and passion.

Ivana also works with the following cases:
*Low motivation, *Stress & time management, *Anger management, *Social skills, *And more…

Life coaching is the perfect gift for your teen or young adult. It provides your child with an early start at success!

Ivana Pejakovic, B.Sc., MA
ivana@lifecoachintoronto.com
289.242.6219
http://www.lifecoachintoronto.com

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