Does a Personal Development Coach Do the Same as Life Coaches?
Life coaches can be found all over the place. As the life coaching industry continues to mature and gain wider acceptance, more and more people are signing up for the services of life coaches. They cover so many different niches. They can be found in both online and offline. Since there is such an abundance of life coaches, it’s very easy to end up with the wrong coach.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that these coaches are bad people, or offer fraudulent services. In many cases, things may not pan out for you because you picked the wrong coach. Learn how to spot coaches you can trust with your hard-earned dollars. What follows are the six habits of truly effective life coaches. These coaches provide services in such a way that they maximize the results and value their students get. Most life coaching is a form of personal development coaching.
Habit #1: They truly listen
Ultimately, coaching is all about listening. Failed coaches insist on having their students follow some sort of rigid checklist. The problem with such track-based coaching systems is that, in many cases, they use a one-size-fits-all or cookie-cutter approach to coaching. They almost always fail because they don’t really speak to these particular nuances or special circumstances surrounding a student. Unfortunately, coaches will only become aware if they sit down and truly listen to you. Beware of coaches who don’t even interview you, and just work with you purely out of their assumptions regarding what you need.
Habit #2: They customize their approaches based on their students’ needs
Not only should a coach listen; they should also be ready, willing, and eager to make changes to their existing lesson plan based on your needs. This is crucial because a lot of the things you are looking for, other students don’t need and vice versa. It’s really important to pay attention to the learning materials or schedule that you’re given. If you feel that they follow some sort of generic template, you might want to ask the coach to customize their lesson plan based on what they know about your particular needs. If they are unwilling to do this, then you might want to consider another service provider.
Habit #3: They make themselves available most of the time
Real effective coaches are always available for last minute coaching. This doesn’t mean they’re going to be up all hours of the night. They are available enough; meaning they make themselves reachable through a wide variety of communication avenues. We’re not just talking about live Skype chatting. This can also take the form of emails or chatting over another app. Whatever the case may be; they make themselves accessible. Steer clear of coaches who only make themselves available for a narrow 30-minute or 1-hour time frame.
For example, if you need help resolving a personal time management issue, or you’re dealing with creativity issues, you need somebody who you could get a hold of very quickly. You should also insist that your coach gets back to you within a fairly short period of time if you send them a message.
Habit #4: They provide clear, actionable directions, which can be objectively reviewed
Anybody can give a pep talk and say the right things to you to make you feel good about yourself. The problem is, if you’re trying to solve a specific problem, you need directions that fix that problem. Everything else is junk and irrelevant. There is no shortage of smooth talking coaches who make you feel really good and make you look at the “big picture.” However, no amount of big picture viewing can make your particular problem go away.
Focus on getting the services of life coaches who are very specific regarding their directions. The more specific and actionable the directions are, the better the coach is. An actionable direction consists of steps that you could take now. Also, these directions must be able to withstand objective review. In other words, you can ask yourself, “If I take action on these directions, will I be able to achieve the results I expect?” If the answer is no, then keep looking for other life coaches.
Habit #5: They help produce measurable success
Success is worthless if it isn’t measurable. You should be able to measure the effectiveness of the tips that you got from your life coach objectively. Let's get one thing straight: the world only cares about results. That's right-it couldn't care less about your feelings, emotions, intentions, or whatever it is that is motivating you. All the world cares about is whether you are able to show up on time and do the job right the first time. All the world cares about is whether you lose that weight or not. Do you see how this works? This is called objective reality. And for whatever inspiring words your coach is capable of massaging your ear drums with, unless your coach's instructions produce real measurable results, your coach is not up to the job. It can't get any simpler than that. Focus on objective results.
Habit #6: They make their student’s self-empowerment their top priority
Life coaches must not only be able to help you solve specific problems in certain areas of your life. They should also give you a sense of self-empowerment. They should at least help you get the feeling that you are in-charge of your life after you have followed their instructions successfully. Self-empowerment is crucial for any kind of self-development regardless of how seemingly technical and specific the life coaching services you contracted for.
Keep the six habits in mind when sizing up prospective coaches. Whether you're looking to better manage your time, become more effective in social situations, or simply wish to be more successful in whatever you do, you need to keep the six habits above in mind. Look for outward manifestations of these habits. Check for them in whatever brochure, website, or content marketing material your prospective coach has. If you fail to keep the habits above in mind, you might end up wasting precious time, energy, and money with the wrong coach.