FAQS
What is life coaching really about?
Life Coaching is all about helping people reach their full potential. You may feel sometimes like there is more to life than you are experiencing. You may even feel that there is more to you than you are expressing. Life Coaching agrees. Life Coaching grew out of the therapy and human potential movement. The pioneers saw that there was a need to move people out of their problems and into the solutions for their lives.
What is the difference between Life Coaching and Therapy?
There are many kinds of therapy and some are closer to Life Coaching than others. Primarily, the Life Coaching Model is based on the premise that clients are mentally healthy, whole, creative and resourceful in and of themselves. They do not come to coaching to be “fixed.”
There is a difference in the focus between Life Coaching and therapy also. Therapy tends to focus on the past issues that continue to plague the patient. Therapy sessions try to help them understand these issues and root out the cause.
But knowing why you may be having troubles doesn’t make them go away. That’s why Life Coaching looks to create a new and better present and future regardless of your past by focusing on what is working now, how to do more of that, and how to move beyond the issues from the past, including any limiting or stuck beliefs about oneself and the world.
How to choose the right life coach?
It looks like you are ready to hire a life coach and you are here looking around. How do you choose the one that is right for you?
First, be clear on why you want a life coach. You may have a very specific need, like building an online business, or achieving a life long goal, or learning to eliminate those limiting beliefs that are keeping you down.
Although as a Life Coach, I work with most of the above issues, I would not be a good fit if you are looking for a business coach for example or trying to find a mate. There are many niche coaches and those who specialize in certain areas. For example, I hired an online business coach when I started this website. And just so you know, I hired a coach many years ago to help me find a mate when I was ready to be in a committed relationship. Do you know the first question she asked me when I said I was having trouble meeting men? “What do you do for fun?” Hah! At the time, Nothing!!!! I had a great experience with her and success as well. And so, when you are clear about why you want a coach, that will help you narrow the field.
Second, do what you are doing now. Get on the internet. Do some google searches with some questions and see who shows up. Check out social media. Who do you relate to? Who can you connect with even there? And ask your friends. You’ll be amazed by how many people you know may know a coach or have worked with one or even are following one on Instagram.
Third, book a consultation. Most coaches have an opportunity for you to reach out and book a free 30-minute session. I know I do, as do most of my coaching friends. Those 30-minutes allow you to know if you and the coach are a good match. It’s all about seeing if there is a good connection. You want to feel comfortable with your coach. And you want to feel better, even excited after the call. That way, you know you are going to get a lot from the coaching.
Finally, check in with your gut. Sometimes, it has to be more heart than head when you are making these decisions. Luckily, if it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out. No big deal and you move on. Listen to your gut, and I think you’ll make a good decision.
How Do I Know I Need a Life Coach?
If you can check off anything from this list, you could really use a Life Coach:
- You Feel Lost
- You Doubt Yourself
- You Have A Vision, But No Clear Plan
- You Want To Change Your Profession
- You Need To Improve Your Health
- You Tend to Forget Things
- You Don’t Always Follow Through
- You’re a Procrastinator
- You Don’t Have a Lot of Time to Waste
- You Need to Make More Money
- You are Susceptible to Stress
- Your Self-Confidence Could Use a Boost
How much will Life Coaching Cost me?
I have several options for you depending on what you are looking for.
- Book a Free Consult so we can be sure to find the right fit for you.
- Take a look at my themed coaching packages. For one month with 3-sessions, a workbook and email access, you pay $549.
- Look at the 3-month packages. 6-sessions are $1,050. 9-sessions are $1,485.
- And I have single sessions for $225.
Take a look at my Work With Me Page which will link you to my 3 main programs.
How will I know if we have a good Coach/Client relationship?
You may have read in other answers that having a good professional relationship with your coach is key to making sure you get the most from your life coaching.
One way you’ll know we have a good coaching relationship is that you feel that you can tell me anything and know you will not be judged. That sense of emotional safety means we can do the important and sometimes difficult work of overcoming the behaviours and mindsets that may be keeping you from living your fullest and best life.
In addition, you will feel you can trust me. That means you know I am going to tell you the truth. You will see that if I have to say the hard things that will help you see things you are denying or avoiding, I will say them.
And finally, you will know we have a good coaching relationship because you are seeing results. It may be at first that you simply walk away feeling excited after each session. Then you start to implement your insights and your new behaviours and you begin to see the changes you want in your life. You’ll start to feel more empowered and you’ll start to act that way too. Results can really show that we have a good working relationship.
And from my end? Well, I know I can count on you to show up and show up completely. Was it the filmmaker Woody Allen who said “80% of success is just showing up?”
That quote is deeper than it seems on the surface. I know we are a good team and a good match when I see you coming to sessions prepared and fully present, when I get emails between calls updating me on your progress, and when you stay true to your aims. Showing up is huge. And we’ll be a great team if you do that, show up, because I will too.
To help you get a better sense of me, please read my About page to learn more about me. I guess that’s why it’s called the About page. 😉
What does a life coach do?
A Life Coach is a professional listener. She knows exactly what to listen for and how to ask powerful and probing questions that point you in the direction of your highest good.
A Life Coach helps you uncover your goals, and dreams such as finding a new career, writing a book, and most importantly, finding yourself. Then, a Life Coach will work with you to overcome the obstacles and limitations in your way to success.
A Life Coach also helps people improve their personal and professional lives. Whether they want to strengthen their relationship with others, move their business forward, or simply have more peace in their lives, a Life Coach can help you set, understand, and meet those goals.
A Life Coach and the structure of the life coaching sessions, keeps you accountable, and gives you the tools to change your life.
How can Life Coaching help me?
Here are 7 pretty good reasons for how Life Coaching can help you.
- Find Your Life’s Purpose: We all have dreams, desires and a deep longing to live meaningful lives. We want to be of value in some way to the world. We want to honour our spirit and shine our lights onto the world. We each have a purpose, but for many of us, it’s not clear. A Life Coach can help you discover yours.
- Unlock the Answers Within Yourself: If you can’t put your finger on your future and what you want, a Life Coach can help you unlock those answers within. By encouraging you, being positive and open to your ideas, and by asking powerful questions, your Life Coach will partner with you to help you find the answers in you about yourself, even if you don’t know or believe that you have the answers. You do. You just have to trust the process and trust yourself.
- Develop Steps to Improve Yourself: Maybe you already know your purpose, passion and the longing of your soul. What a great place to be. But now the work begins. Your Life Coach can help you achieve your goals whether they are self-improvement or career related. It all starts with a step by step plan of action. Whatever your goal or life purpose may be, your life coach can help you zone in on what needs to be done in the here, and now to work toward making that dream a reality.
- Set and Achieve Goals with Someone Who Holds You Accountable: Many people can set a goal. A small subset of those can achieve them. Life just gets in the way and days, weeks, can slip into months if we’re not careful. There goes the goal! Your Life Coach will help you break your big goals into smaller actionable items with a timeline. She will ask you to write these actions down, put them on a calendar and discuss them with you on your next session. This kind of accountability is one of the main reasons people hire Life Coaches.
- Start Doing Instead of Dreaming: Do you have a dream you’ve carefully put on the back burner? Do you want to write a book, travel to Bali or find more meaningful work? A Life Coach can help you work through the reasons you are not making those dreams happen. And btw…your dreams don’t have to be earth shattering to be worked on with your Life Coach. Maybe you’ve wanted to adopt a dog for years. Your Life Coach will help you with that. It gives them the greatest pleasure to see you realizing all your dreams, both big and not so big.
- We Can All Use a Personal Cheerleader: Can you imagine having someone cheering you on, celebrating your successes, and being your biggest fan? A life coach wants you to be successful, because your success is their success. They will be your cheerleader. And don’t we all need one sometimes?
- Gain Better Self Understanding and Confidence: A Life Coach helps you better understand yourself. And when you know who you are, you can become more confident in who you are. Through the process of self-discovery, you and your Life Coach will be able to recognize many of your limiting beliefs, and the lies you have told yourself. Then you can begin to weed them out and grow a much more supportive and beautiful sense of yourself. Your Life Coach sees your light and will help you see it too.
Can Life Coaching Actually Make My Life Better?
Well, in one word…Yes. For you sports fans, imagine Michael Jordan without Phil Jackson. Or Serena and Venus Williams without their father. There are coaches in sports, arts, acting, business and all things under the sun. Why? Because getting help just works. Our coaches bring out our best, believe in us when we don’t believe in ourselves and tell us the hard truth. They have our best interests in mind. And that kind of partnership just works. So again, the simple answer to can life coaching actually make my life better is Yes!
What if the 1-1 coaching doesn’t work for me?
No problem. Well, I guess it actually is a problem for you. But in terms of our professional relationship, there is nothing to tie you to me if you are not satisfied.
To avoid this happening though, I make sure during our sessions that you are happy with the process. I will ask how you are feeling, how the coaching is going, and after each session what in particular is your important take away. I will be looking for guidance from you to let me know if there is something else you want from your coaching. And I alway check to make sure we are going in the right direction for you.
Coaching is very much a client-centred process. But with all these checks and balances in place, if you are not happy with me, your progress or life coaching in general, you are free to end the relationship. I’ll try not to take it personally! Just kidding. Coaches are trained to never take things personally. It’s a good skill for everyone to learn.
Is Life Coaching worth it?
Of course, I am biased. So let me be as objective as possible while answering this question.
Like everything in life, you will get out of it what you put into it. For example, if your coach gives you some homework to do, and you don’t do it, then you missed an opportunity.
However, if your coach presses you on your behaviour, asks if this is common for you etc., and you are willing and open to explore this, you will likely get a lot out of the session even though you didn’t do your homework.
Coaches are trained to not let you get away with the behaviours that have held you back and stifled your success and fulfillment. No one else really does that. In my opinion, that alone makes coaching worth it.
Notice though, that in that scenario, you, the client, had to be open to looking at some hard truths, or behaviours that are frankly hard to look at.
It also depends on what you want? Life Coaching will not feel worth it if you are trying to regain some mental health but your coach isn’t trained to help with that. Your complimentary consultation is so important. You must get clear on what you are after, even if you don’t know what you are after!!!!
I mean, if you are looking for a purpose in life, if you are seeking meaning or achieving something great but don’t know what that is, that works great for coaching. You don’t have to come to coaching with the answers, you just need to make sure you are playing the right game in the right park.
I know what coaching did for me and why it was worth it. I had a partner who was totally on my side, who I knew wanted the very best for me. Each coach I have had over the years had that one amazing quality, they did everything they could to support me in achieving my goals.
Honestly, it is impossible to have that kind of support from friends and family.
In addition, my coaches knew how to help me face the ways I was failing myself. They helped me to look in the mirror. And they did it with love. I was able to take more responsibility, plan out big important projects, and succeed at some wildly audacious goals.
Here are some things my clients have said about coaching with me and whether it was worth it:
Coaching with Lisa was life changing as a new mom. She got me to see what I had been unknowingly tolerating that allowed me to create a much bigger vision for my life. My life at home with 3 little ones drastically improved to be happier & more connected. She allowed me to see possibilities for a new career I was able to step into where I could do what I love.
Lisa’s women’s coaching group completely changed my life.
Lisa helped me understand my true worth and connect to my inner wisdom.
My work with Lisa has helped me to grow and step into my power. Specifically, to come back to myself.
So there you have it. I have always found my experiences with life coaching as a client, extremely worth it. And my clients have felt the same.
Still not sure? Book a Free Consultation and we can talk about it.
How do I measure the results of coaching?
We measure results in coaching by getting clear on where you want to go first. Then we look at where you are in relation to that. If you have enough clarity, we can even set milestones along the way. And then by reviewing at key times, we can see how well you are doing.
That way, we take the sense of overwhelm about life in general and allow it to be more like a project plan, albeit the most important project you’ve ever had.
However, it’s important to know that each person measures their success differently. Part of what we do as we set up our coaching, is to understand what matters to you. We will measure your success by seeing you doing, having and being more of what matters to you, and less of the other stuff!
Finally, part of our coaching sessions are check-ins. What’s working? What isn’t? What happened since we last coached? These constant touchpoints really help us to guide the sessions in the direction where you will get the best results.
Overall, you will find the whole coaching experience to be very mindful, intentional and results oriented.
PS – If you find yourself telling your friends about your coaching sessions, you know something good is happening!
Still deciding if coaching is for you? You might enjoy reading this BLOG about some Life Coaching tips to be your best self.
