5 Tips For Working With A Life Coach

The realization that you need a life coach can be a frightening one.  

Most people are hesitant to admit they need help figuring things out, but this world is much more complicated than it was just 20 years ago.  Today we are pulled in numerous different directions and our plates are just too full.  How are we supposed to balance it all?  In many cases, a life coach is the answer.  So how can we set ourselves up for success in working with a coach?  Here are five tips to help you out.

1. Be open to change.  One of the greatest barriers to effective coaching is simply not being open to change.  You’re hiring a life coach to help you make some major changes in your life.  Maybe you want to go from disorganized to organized.  Perhaps you’re having trouble finding a balance between work and your personal life.  Whatever it is that you’ve decided to work on, you must be committed to the idea of change or nothing your coach will try to help you with will stick with you in the long run.
2. Create a solid coaching plan and follow it.  Just like anything else in life, you need a plan in order to succeed.  A coaching plan sets out your goals and a timeline for you to achieve them by.  Of course a coaching plan is only as good as your ability and decision to follow it.  If you’re going to stay on track with the changes you want to make, you’ve got to stick to it as closely as you can.
3. Ready yourself for success.  Sometimes we have a defeatist outlook that needs to be overcome in order for coaching to be effective.  If you aren’t prepared to succeed, then you probably won’t.  The right coach will be able to help you unlock your ability to find success.
4. Prepare to work hard.  Making changes in your life is never easy.  It takes a lot of hard work, but if you have the proper guidance, you will be able to make those changes.  Just don’t expect to be able to sit back and relax.  Working with a life coach can and should be demanding—just as demanding as life was before you started working on difficult areas of life.
5. Remember that you’re still in the driver’s seat.  A life coach (or any other type of coach, for that matter) shouldn’t do the heavy lifting for you.  If he or she is starting to pull you out of the driver’s seat of your own life, then they aren’t doing their job.  The whole point of having a life coach is learning how to adapt to whatever is in your life.  Effective coaching leaves you in the driver’s seat while assisting you by providing sign posts along the way.

Working with a life coach will enable you to get your life back on track.  There are so many different directions life tries to take us in that it’s easy to feel like we’re drowning in all life has to offer. But when you know how to set yourself up for success in working with a life coach, you’ll discover what truly effective coaching is like.  

Wishing all the Best,

FreelanceCoach Team