I Don’t Want To Be A Life Coach.

I certainly don’t begrudge anyone who proclaims that they are a ‘Life Coach’. And I do understand that there are as many permutations and combinations of coaches as there are flavours of those fancy American Jelly Beans, so if they could all just be boiled down to one garden variety to make life easy, I get that it would be simpler!

With a gargantuan list of coaching types like this lot below, is it any wonder it’s confusing?

Success; Business; Transformational; Relationship; Mindset; Clarity; Executive; Small Business; Leadership; Empowerment; Personal; Confidence; Video; Parenting; Social Media; Intimacy; Health; Soul; Energy – argh, you get the picture! 

To me, personally, it feels a bit woo-woo, vague and fluffy round the edges to be a ‘Life Coach’. And as someone with a Bachelor Degree background who then pursued a good couple of years of study and many, many hours of learning, applying and being coached, I feel like it lumps me in with the weekend warrior types who speed-learnt their way to being a ‘Life Coach’. (**However, I also acknowledge that maybe my inner snob around the fast-track coach is a trigger for me, and I’m happy to own it).

For me, a life coach feels a bit like what you might call yourself when you’re embarking on your debut coaching ‘journey’ (had to get that one in!) and don’t know what your proverbial ‘niche’ is, that everyone tells you is crucial to success.

But I must admit (damn it), the title in itself is largely irrelevant.

There are so many coaches that call themselves whatever they like. But the real question here is:

Do they know what they’re ‘on about’? (technical term)

In an industry that isn’t regulated, you need to find someone with integrity that knows what they’re doing and isn’t going to lead you backwards; to a dead end or result in you needing a lot of therapy (or a second mortgage) by the end of it.

You can get an online course maverick who has dedicated a few brief hours to becoming a coach while desperately craving the low overheads and ubiquitous ‘laptop lifestyle’ that can lead you to a “7 figure business”.

OR someone who has learnt their craft and continually invests in more growth; learning; development and well, coaching (!) for themselves. 

I call myself a mindset coach because that’s predominantly what the focus is on: mindset. 

But it will also:

• Give my clients running a small business better outcomes (revenue; sales conversions; boundaries around work vs personal life; charging reasonable prices; working with clients they love).

• Improve relationships with those around them

• Give them more energy, time-freedom and self care.

• And most importantly, enable them to free themselves of who they think they ‘should’ be, and instead be true to who they really are (which I help them to work out, because mostly that is a whole mystery! – find out more about that box of chocolates right here)

Whether you’re a life coach, a yin and yang coach; a wild energy coach or a water buffalo coach (yes, I made those last ones up), it doesn’t really matter.

What matters is that you find the coach who is the perfect fit. Not in a ‘Cinderella with the perfect glass slipper’ kinda way. But instead the ‘I can do karaoke stone, cold sober and feel like a boss’ kinda way 🙂

If you’re thinking of working with a coach of any type, and if I may be so bold as to presume you’d like my suggestions, then here they are:

1. Get recommendations first: Ideally from someone who has personally worked with the coach you’re considering working with, and make sure they actually got the results (and hopefully more) that they were seeking
2. Have an initial conversation: Work out if you’re going to be a good fit. Chances are, some personal things will come up or at the very least, some challenges. There may be tears! So make sure you work with someone you feel comfortable around, and who you like!
3. Decide your preferred format: Do you want an online program; 1:1 coaching; group coaching and so on. The price point will be different for each.
4. Trust your gut: If your intuition is telling you the person isn’t a good fit for you, listen to that and keep looking. But also recognise if they are simply speaking the truth and you may not want to hear it – in that case, you might not be ready to start coaching if you deep down don’t want to change.
5. Know what both your budget and your calendar will tolerate – whilst it’s true that ‘we find the money if something is important enough to us’, there is also a limit sometimes. Just like you might prefer fortnightly to monthly sessions, for example.

Work out what you’re looking for and then go from there. And alright, you can call me a Life Coach – I can handle it 😉

Kylie x