Everyone loves a definition so let’s begin there:

The International Coach Federation says:
“Coaching is an on-going partnership that helps clients produce fulfilling results in their personal and professional lives. Through the process of coaching, clients deepen their learning, improve their performance, and enhance their quality of life. Beginning with the clients’ desires, coaching uses reporting, exploring, and a consistent commitment to move the client forward. Coaching accelerates the clients’ progress by providing greater focus and awareness of choice. Coaching concentrates on where clients are today and what they are willing to do to get where they want to be tomorrow.”
That’s a lot of words - here’s the bottom line: Life Coaching is all about helping people get from where they are in their life to where they want to get to. We identify the gap and work on strategies and tools to bridge the gap.

In truth, almost everyone could benefit by having a coach on their team because there are very few who don’t want to see improvement in some area of their life.

But why don’t people do anything about it? Most people know what to do to become more successful but don’t do what they know.

It’s a Life Coach’s job to help people get what they want by breaking down self-imposed barriers.

The best analogy is that of a Personal Fitness Trainer.

When you go to a gym they will first ask you what your goals are:

• Lose weight?
• Lose fat?
• Build muscle?
• Build endurance?
• Increase stamina?

They’ll determine where you are at the moment with achieving your goal.

For example, if you want to lose body fat they may ask you to take a body fat composition test to measure your current levels of body fat. You may be asked to take a fitness test and about your current eating habits.

After establishing exactly how much you want to lose, and over what period of time, the trainer will devise a plan of action for what you must do in order to achieve your fat reduction goals.

Along the way your personal fitness trainer will encourage and motivate you, ask you questions about your motivations and any barriers that you face and will help you stay on track.

The end goal of a trainer is to help you achieve your goals a lot quicker and more effectively than if you did it yourself.

A Life Coach does EXACTLY the same as a Personal Trainer but with different areas of your life.

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