Life Coaching is all about Empowering you
Posted on May 16, 2014 by Andrea Lavallee, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.
In my Empowerment Coaching practice clients typically approach me because they already understand that a negative experience or outright trauma has in
People naturally envision how their lives should be but too often find themselves living a scattered existence. Hectic schedules, demanding job and family responsibilities, and outright crises and trauma can bury hopes and dreams and leave people with cluttered minds and disjointed actions.
Just as athletes seek talented coaches to improve their games, people from all walks of life connect with life coaches to become the champions they know they could be. According to the International Coach Federation over 15,000 personal life coaches work in North America. International Coaching Week from May 19 to 25 highlights this growing trend and presents an opportunity to explain how life coaching helps people create their best personal futures.
A life coach is a professional who assesses a client’s issues and goals and then applies specific coaching methods to empower the person. One powerful technique known as neuro-linguistic programming or NLP guides the client toward a new and productive perspective that replaces negative thought patterns or beliefs. The NLP process effectively rewires a person’s brain so the person can nurture positive thoughts and behaviors. Through this process the life coach enables the client to apply his or her own strengths toward self improvement.
It’s About Empowerment
In my Empowerment Coaching practice clients typically approach me because they already understand that a negative experience or outright trauma has inflicted them with an unproductive way of thinking. I help them apply new perspectives that build a supportive mental framework that leads to improved results. A tenet of NLP is that people are in charge of their minds and therefore can adopt new ways of thinking and gain better results.
After assessing a client’s needs and goals, the life coach will help the person identify his or her personal strengths and insights. A coaching plan based on this inner wisdom will help unlock a client’s potential and transform a less-than-ideal life into a great one. Useful tools include gratitude journals, Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT also known as “tapping” and vision boards that teach new ways of thinking.
For example, one of my clients reported that her gratitude journal and vision board taught him to stop complaining all the time and focus on his goals. Other clients have gained new mental habits that reduced the stress and mind clutter holding them back in life. These transformations were accomplished by going back in time and uncovering the roots of negative patterns. Then the undesirable mental habits were unwound and spun into new ones that enabled success.
It’s Not Therapy
Life coaches are not therapists. Therapy is about fixing the past or managing mental illness and striving for a functional state. A life coach focuses on the client’s future by building a system of thoughts, values, and actions that support desired goals. With a life coach people gain optimal ways of thinking and behaving that transfer them to places of success, as defined by their own personal visions.
A life coach is not a consultant either. A consultant is presented with problems and recommends solutions whereas a life coach guides a person through a process of identifying problems and designing solutions. The life coach’s expertise is used to create a custom plan for success that fits the person. This is not the same as mentoring because people with mentors are trying to emulate the mentor’s path to success.
Life coaching offers people practical and proven techniques for improving their mindset. Clients who approach me for guidance are aware of their negative mental states but are unsure how to form a plan to fix the situation and achieve the life they want.
How to Choose the Right Life Coach
When seeking a life coach, a person needs a professional who is a good fit on a personal level. The best way to determine this is to use the free sessions offered by life coaches. A good life coach should always offer a free assessment because both client and coach need to know if they can achieve a comfortable rapport. A coach should also possess training from certified coaching programs.
Coach and client relationships are rewarding to both parties. Every coach wants to add positivity to the world one client at a time, and my clients have expressed their appreciation for my compassion, empathy, and authenticity. They sensed that they could make their lives better and found a way to make it happen. Life coaching rewarded them with a sense of empowerment they may never have discovered on their own. Self help does not have to mean doing it alone.
The author Andrea Lavallee is a certified life coach, certified NLP practitioner, and level 1 and 2 Reiki certified. From Toronto, Canada she runs The Empowerment Coaching Group and welcomes questions at theempowermentcoach@mail.com or for more information about The Empowerment Coaching Group visit: www.theempowermentcoachinggroup.com
