It is a powerful and valuable process that uses proven techniques and provides an incredible return on investment of time and money.
There are different fields coaching has been provedn to be successful:
- sport coaching
- life coaching
- couples couching
- relationship coaching
- family coaching
- business coaching etc.
For example life coach is someone who aims to help and empower others to make, meet and exceed personal and professional goals – including excelling in the workplace, becoming happy and fulfilled in the home, exploring the self and the world, and achieving ambitions.
By harnessing specialist techniques based on core psychological principals and natural intuition, life coaches provide clients with the tools to confidently face difficult situations, push past emotional barriers and eventually view life with fresh, hopeful and enlightened eyes.
Just as sports coaching enables athletes to hone themselves into the fastest, strongest, most tactical competitors in their disciplines, life coaching helps people from all professional and personal backgrounds improve their strengths and build upon their weaknesses to make the most of their lives.
A life coach will never try to be an ‘agony aunt’ – he or she will never attempt to dish out advice because, firstly – giving advice is just a way of imposing a personal view of the world onto another person (who may or may not share the same view) and, secondly – it is not a life coach’s job to become personally involved in a client’s life. Life coaching is about objectivity, structure and empowerment, not instruction or indoctrination.
At the heart of it all lies the idea that clients must be given the power to help themselves. Offering advice, opinions and judgements would undermine some of the basic principals behind life coaching, which include:
A) Subjectivity: we all have different perspectives of the world – no one perspective is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, but some perspectives are restrictive and can stop a person becoming who they want to be.
B) Empowerment: it is within everyone’s capability to adjust the limits of their own perspective. With the help of life coaching, anyone can learn to open their mind if they wish.
C) Guidance: there is a difference between an instructor and a guide. An instructor shows a person exactly what to do, whereas a guide provides the tools and support a person needs to do something for themselves. A life coach is a guide, not an instructor.
The term ‘coaching’ itself comes from the Anglo-Saxon word for ‘carriage’, which is a means of transporting something from one place to another. A life coach therefore, is an individual who guides another individual from where they are in life, to where they want to be in life.
If you still can not decide you can look for more details on:
- our page: Change your life or
- our blog: Live a better life and its articles
(For example: http://coach-center.eu/2016/11/06/is-coaching-what-i-need-and-would-benefit-me/).
However first session last usually from 50 minutes to maximum 1,5 hours.
Depending on the goal and its complexity in some cases it could be enough to hold one session but in general it usually takes 3 to 6 months or more, with sessions once per week or two, especially if the problem clint chooses to solve if very complex and complicated – additionally also if client wants to set and achieve many different goals.
For you, the client basically depends on where you are, where you want to go, and how quickly you want to get there. Some clients are able to achieve their goals in as little as one to three months. Most often, clients stay with a coach anywhere from six to eighteen months. After clients realise their first goals, they often identify other areas they want to work on.
The coaching relationship continues as long as there is benefit to the client and he recognizes it.
Coaching sessions may be held in-person or over the phone (tele-coaching) or online using for example Skype or other similar services.
It is up to the client, her/his schedule, time, costs and convenience that may dictate a client’s choice. Clients often prefers to have a combination of phone and in-person consultations.
Clients may choose to meet at the coaches place, their home, office, even nature or other designated area.
It is however important that it can be guaranteed that coaching process can take place privately without any important disturbances and disruption for sessions held outside of the coaching office.
Many individuals feel they can’t afford a personal/professional coach. But, coaching is not as expensive as you might think it is. In fact, after considering the real life value they have gained from coaching, our clients often wonder what took them so long to participate in a coaching relationship. Before going directly to the pricing details, you might ask yourself what you’d be missing if you don’t get a coach. What isn’t working in your life right now? How might your life be different if the challenges were resolved and replaced with productive, meaningful things? Coaching is a perfect vehicle for moving toward your dreams and leaving the trash behind.
Coaching offers you a chance to “do” for yourself so you can, in turn, take care of all the things that are important in your life. It provides an opportunity to grow, to change, to thrive. It is all about learning how to empower yourself in incredible ways. You deserve that much, don’t you?
Here are a few things we’ve heard…
“I have moved so much faster toward my goals and am now living in a way that I thought not possible…”
“I’ve never been more inspired”
“I feel like someone is there for me, and that is a change I like!”
“I was able to shift out of my usual non-productive mental state and to dream/realize possibilities.”
“I am opening my business 6 months ahead of my expected timeline.”
“I feel good about myself and my future and am no longer operating out of fear.”
Coaching costs between €100-€600/month depending on the program you choose. But don’t let the numbers scare you. The typical coach/client relationship lasts for 3 to 6 months. When you come out of the relationship with a joyful hold on life, you will feel this investment in yourself was a very smart move.
In some most simple cases it can be enough to have one session but in general coaching lasts 3 to 6 months with sessions held once per week or two weeks.
In some cases where plausible sessions can be held less often, but it there should be really good reason behind it.
Here are a few things we’ve heard…
“I have moved so much faster toward my goals and am now living in a way that I thought not possible…”
“I’ve never been more inspired”
“I feel like someone is there for me, and that is a change I like!”
“I was able to shift out of my usual non-productive mental state and to dream/realize possibilities.”
“I am opening my business 6 months ahead of my expected timeline.”
“I feel good about myself and my future and am no longer operating out of fear.”
If not, you could be limiting your career success. That’s because coaches help you identify and focus on what’s important, which accelerates your success. According to coaches.com, good coaches:
- Create a safe environment in which people see themselves more clearly;
- Identify gaps between where the client is and where the client needs or wants to be
- Ask for more intentional thought, action and behavior changes than the client would have asked of him or herself
- Guide the building of the structure, accountability, and support necessary to ensure sustained commitment
Successful athletes obviously understand the power of coaching. The United Kingdom Coaching Strategy describes the role of the sports coach as one that “enables the athlete to achieve levels of performance to a degree that may not have been possible if left to his/her own endeavours.” Innovative companies understand that coaching can help career-minded professionals increase their performance at work. They invest in coaching for their senior leaders and high potentials. (For more on this, read the section on why coaching is not just for executives anymore in my report on personal branding trends for 2015.)
Coaching also has an impact on an organization’s financial performance; according to an ICF and HCI study, 60% of respondents from organizations with strong coaching cultures report their revenue to be above average, compared to their peer group.
