How to Become a Personal and/or Life Coach
A life coach is an individual who teaches people how to become more effective in setting appropriate goals and achieving them. Their work consists of both motivational techniques and practical psychology. Although life coaching is considered outside the realm of traditional psychology, a number of organizations train and certify life coaches. A life coach may work with individuals, groups, or both.
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Things You'll Need
- Life coach certification course
- Business cards
- Website
- List of credentials
Instructions
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Obtain a university degree in psychology or sociology, or become a state-certified counselor. This step is not required in order to become a life coach, but it will help you establish credibility with skeptical clients.
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Become familiar with any state licensing requirements for life coaching, and make sure that you can meet them. Many states have no such requirements.
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Research the life coaching profession and certification programs such as coachfederation.org. Many books are available on this subject in both hard copy and e-book format. Attend life coaching seminars in your area. You should also learn as much as you can about motivational psychology.
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Hire your own life coach for at least a while, in order to gain first-hand experience in what life coaches do.
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Narrow your focus to a specialty. Life coaching specialties include time management, goal setting, relationships, business coaching, leadership coaching, spiritual coaching and career coaching, among others. Make sure that your chosen specialty represents an area in which you are personally competent. Business-related coaching is likely to be more lucrative than other forms of coaching, because your fee will be paid with company funds.
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Enroll in a life coach certification course that offers instruction in your chosen specialty. Study other specialties if they are offered, and don't be afraid to change your specialty as you learn more about the profession.
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Join a life coaching professional association such as the 15,000-member International Coach Federation. Organizations such as these can provide you with information about the profession, advanced licensing, specialty training, ethical guidance, networking opportunities, and client referrals.
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Market yourself. You should print business cards and a list of credentials, set up a website, and advertise through various forms of media. Your best long-term marketing strategy, however, is to rely on word-of-mouth referrals from satisfied clients.
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Tips & Warnings
Public speaking organizations such as Toastmasters International can provide you with public speaking training as well as promotional opportunities.
Chose your certification course with care, because the life coach industry has it share of scams and substandard instruction.
