How to find a life coach - [Online Guide 2024]
Life Coaching is a combination of dedication, determination, and inspiration combined with a step-by-step process for getting from where you are now to where you want to be, because the best way to make the most of our lives is to make the most of our moments.
- David Frank Gomes
Why hire a life coach?
Would you ask your plumber to help you with your taxes? Would you ask your spouse to fix the furnace? So why does it seem normal to rely on our families, friends, and community members to help us achieve our very unique, authentic life goals?
Everybody needs outside help and fresh perspectives to help them grow. Someone who does not have an agenda for you, other than helping you achieve and experience what’s in your heart.
How to find the right life coach in Canada.
Are you considering working with a life coach to improve your life?
Let me make it easier for you.
Many people arrive at a coach’s doorstep for different reasons, but often there is a crisis which they are not sure how to navigate through.
Then the question becomes - how do I find the right person to help me figure this out? How to find a life coach in this great big world.
Do I need to find a life coach near me?
Is working over the phone as effective as in-person?
Should they be like me?
What questions should I ask a coach?
Some ideas to consider as you search for the right life coach for yourself.
Trust your gut.
After the initial conversation, how do you feel? Would this coach be a good fit for your life? Do they relate to you and does it seem like they "get you?" Did anything shift? Do you feel lighter or have increased clarity after you talked? Do you feel a sense of trust and confidence in them? Have they made you feel safe to say what's on your mind without censorship.
If not, keep looking, but remember a masterful coach may also ask very tough questions, so temper the fact that it’s a new experience with the guidance of your intuition.
What is their process?
What kind of approach does the coach use? Can they explain it in an understandable way?
As the saying goes, if you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it yourself.
If everything seems too complicated before you even start, you probably won’t finish.
Philosophy
What is their world view? Are you looking for a spiritual coach, or a purpose coach or a business coach? ? Perhaps you need a radical shake up in your life and you actually want to work with someone very different from yourself.
If your coach doesn’t have a manifesto they live by, keep looking.
Life coaching requires inspiration, and you should feel inspired by the person you are working with if you want dynamic results.
Brave conversations
You’ll know when you hear a powerful question. It will crack something wide open for you. If you don’t hear any of these in your initial conversation with, keep looking.
Without brave, compelling questions, you just won’t go deep in your growth, and that’s a waste of time, money and energy.
Coaching is about manifesting positive change.
You need deep questions to do that.
Online support & tools
Online coaching - support & tools
Does your coach have a way to support you or is it just random phone calls and emails? Do they offer online solutions and additional tools to help you track your process and set specific and measurable goals?
Do they incorporate accountability into the process? Do they offer you an efficient way to check in between the calls and do they have a way to allow you to see the complete history of all the coaching that you do together. Without a support structure in place, you won’t get break-through results.
I use a simple, effective interactive online system to hep supercharge the coaching process for my clients.
Natural gifts and talents
Does your coach feel like a natural or does it feel like the questions they ask came out of a coaching book they got at the library? Are they old enough to have had some real life experience. Chances are a coach who is 23 years old doesn’t know much about the school of life.
Personal development coaching is an art and a science, so you need to find the person that has explored and developed their own gifts.
Some coaches have a gift, some have a script.
Wisdom.
Experience can be very overrated. Doing something for a long time doesn't mean you get better at it. Underneath experience you must have understanding and wisdom.
Many coaches will tell you about their specialty niche to try and add some authority. Niche coaching is marketing hype.
The person you work with does not have to have done everything you have, nor do they need to be an expert in your field to offer effective personal growth for you. Masterful coaching is about success principles and learning to be confident and believe in yourself, and having a wise guide to help you do that.
Meaning & Purpose.
When you boil down the necessities of life to the the basics, we see that everyone needs the same things.
A way to live and work that creates happiness and contentment.
Strategies to help us navigate through problems in our lives and find solutions.
Discover a vision for ourselves worth living for and working hard for.
Does the coach you are considering offer ideas that are compelling to you?
What kind of online presence do they have?
Have they presented interesting ideas you can read or listen to?
Can you remember the first time you visited their website or blog? How did it feel to you?
Did their message move you in some way or inspire you to want to take action?
Are they adding to the noise or taking it away?
Did they have some kind of compelling presentation that felt fresh or were they just saying the same old stuff.
Hire that person whose presence and inspiration speaks to you.
Meaningful results.
A master coach and mentor should have plenty of real testimonials about the success they achieve with their clients, so read them and see what people who have worked with them have experienced.
Some coaches will let you talk to previous clients they have worked with. If that’s important for you, then ask.
Read what my client say about working with me.
A spark to light a fire in you.
Does the coach you are considering hiring create an energy for you that seems inviting in some way. You have to have sparks in order to get the most out of a coaching relationship.
Choose someone who doesn’t feel like they came out of a cookie cutter.
Choose someone you enjoy talking with.
Choose someone who has a sense of humor.
Coaching is also about joy, not just about getting stuff done and creating a checklist.
It's about finding a deeper level of happiness in daily living.
It’s your life, so ask for a complimentary session, and before you have that session, figure out what’s really important for you, make a list and ask questions if you have them, and then follow your heart and you’ll make a good choice for yourself.
Coaching is experiential. You have to experience it to believe in it, and when you experience masterful coaching, you will be a believer.