A life coach is a collaborative partner and guide and doesn’t dictate how you should live or the decisions you should or need to make. The whole idea with life coaching is that you are empowered to make the best and most appropriate decisions for your own life.
The coach provides the space for you to soundboard those decisions/choices.
Your happiness is all your doing. A life coach cannot “make” you happy, it is how you view yourself and the world around you that matters. I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “happiness is an inside job”?
Another very important aspect is that your mindset matters. So while a life coach cannot make you happy, they can certainly help and guide you to find happiness within yourself.
It’s very possible that through your life coaching process you could find a job or a new/different job. This is because you grow through your process and show up differently.
There are career coaches who specifically help clients hone their job seeking skills such as CV writing, interview skills, self-confidence, your online presence (eg LinkedIn), etc.
When you know what life coaches help people with, and you find yourself in those situations, then perhaps you should sign up with a life coach. Most life coaches offer what is called an introductory consultation (there are variations on what each coach calls it).
During this conversation both the coach and the prospective client see if the relationship is what each one needs and can facilitate.
So do your homework on what you believe you need and who offers services in that category. You might even be referred by a friend or family member to a life coach that they have been working with.
We only stop learning and growing the day we die. If there is a desire to change and grow, age is only a number that indicates when you were born.
Don’t limit yourself by society’s measures. Be who you want to be and how you choose to be, regardless of your age.
Anybody who has a desire to change a specific thing or area of their life hires a life coach. Seeing a life coach doesn’t mean that there is “something wrong” with you.
Just as athletes hire and work with their sports coaches to develop their specific sporting skills and techniques, so too do people work with life coaches to solve problems, achieve goals, make life changes, discover and exercise specific life skills, techniques and the like.
The coach provides the space for you to soundboard those decisions/choices.
To get the best from life coaching, you need to take responsibility for and commit to the changes you want to bring about in your life. You need to be open, honest and trusting within your life coaching relationship. This means being honest with yourself as well as your life coach to maximise the benefits of your transformation journey. All this will happen in a confidential and non-judgemental space.
You must invest in the self-work in-between sessions. This will enable you to get the best out of the exercises and practices that your coach recommends. Your willingness and curiosity to try new approaches and perspectives will help you a long way on your journey. This commitment will help you move forward to reaching your goals and influence how soon you reach your desired destination.
Although life coaching is not yet a regulated industry/profession in South Africa specifically, there are professional bodies that have very stringent behavioural practices and codes of ethics that guide and govern their members.
One of the standards in the code of ethics and behavioural standards is confidentiality. Usually when clients sign up with a coach, the confidentiality clause is included (if not emphasised) in the agreement. This agreement serves to protect the client (as well as the coach).
You might feel that your career is not important enough, but YOU are important enough to benefit from life coaching. If you’re in a job that you dislike, for example, through life coaching you could even level up and find another job or even a career that really works for you.
It’s all about you and how you show up.
Life coaching is not a “course” that you do for certification, accreditation or qualification of some sort. It’s a different story though if you are studying to become a life coach. Then it surely deserves a spot on your cv.
Life coaching is a personal development or mastery process that you go through. You will have much too show for it – if you are committed to the self work – in how you show up socially and at work.
It is entirely up to you if you want to discuss your growth journey through life coaching. It may be relevant when discussing certain skills that you have acquired or strengthened during your coaching journey; say in interviews or performance appraisals, etc.
There are different “types” of coaches out there. And each coach has a specific specialisation. There are business coaches, confidence coaches, mindset coaches, spiritual coaches, and the like.
Think about it, coaching is not really new. Sports or talent coaches have been around for a long time. The life coaching field is getting more “airtime” now as the industry grows in response to the needs out there.
The number of sessions needed and the coaching package that you opt-in for, depends entirely on the outcomes that you wish to achieve for your life. This is normally discussed during the Discovery (Introductory) Consultation or the initial coaching session.
If you decide to sign up for my coaching services, we will discuss the rates based on the programme that we put together for you.
This depends entirely on what you want to achieve and your investment. The sessions can range from 60-90 minutes and are dependent on the programme that you choose.
- Sessions are conducted online which allows me to work with my international and out of town clients.
I use online video platforms such as Zoom, Whatsapp and Google Meet to connect with clients. This allows more flexibility and you can be coached wherever you are most comfortable. - For clients based in Cape Town, in-person sessions are also available.