A life coach encourages and guides clients on a many different issues, including professional and personal. Life coaching is different than giving advice, consulting, counseling, mentoring and therapy. A coach will help with specific professional projects, personal goals, and big life changes. A coach helps you grow by defining your goals, analyzing your current situation, identifying internal and external challenges and obstacles, and developing a personalized plan of action designed to help achieve specific outcomes in your life. Many of today’s most successful athletes, entrepreneurs, and executives use the services of a life coach to tap into the full potential of their lives, careers, or businesses. ​ A client and their life coach form a creative partnership. Together, they: Identify and clarify a detailed vision for what the client wants Use coach’s expertise to modify goals as needed Encourage client’s self-discovery and growth Design and cultivate strategies and a plan of action based on what fits best with the client’s goals, personality, and vision Develop client’s systems of accountability to maximize his or her potential for success in their goals ​ The true definition of a life coach is a committed professional who has the right training and tools to help you achieve any goal. Few people can honestly say that they are already performing at the top of their game each and every day. If you are ready to truly maximize your human potential, and take your life to the next level, then it’s time to seek out a life coach.

An intake or discovery session is not only completely free, but vital to making sure the relationship between client and coach is the right one. You want to make sure your coach "gets you" and that you can work together toward your goals in a productive, respectful way.

Yes. Some clients hire a life coach to help them achieve a specific objective or project. Many clients choose to continue working with their life coach after their initial goals are accomplished because there are even more interesting things to do!

The short answer: all of the above and everything in between. The life coach is the only professional trained to work with all aspects of your life. This is handy because very often, if something is bothering you at work, it is affecting your personal life as well and vice versa. ​ We focus where the client wants us to focus. Your goals are our goals, although we might have some radical suggestions for how to reach your goals more quickly. Sometimes, in order to be more successful in business, you need to do some personal work.

Although different types of life coaches may work in a variety of ways, life coaching typically works in a specific, structured format. Your coach will ultimately work with you to create a custom action plan. ​ First, you will work with your coach to define your vision: What is it that truly drives you? What’s at the basis of your goals? After answering that question, you’ll work alongside your coach to identify barriers and limiting beliefs that have been holding you back. What negative things have you been telling yourself? How have these patterns gotten in your way and how can you move past them? Finally, you and your coach will set challenging, but achievable, goals. Your coach will ensure that you are not settling for limited goals or being too negative as you assess your position by helping you calibrate your long and short-term goals against your core values. Assessing your current position helps you and your coach measure progress as well as identify current and potential obstacles. After this important step, you and your coach will review your resources and all courses of action available to you in order to create a strategic plan of action. You’ll then decide which specific steps you will take and when you will take them. You will prepare for potential obstacles and decide how to cope with them. At this time, you will ensure that each step supports your end goals, while your coach will help you stay on track and monitor your progress. If your plan needs modification at any point, your coach will help you with this as well, which will energize you to stay committed.

Most life coaches working with individuals charge about $300 to $700 per month for a 30- or 60-minute call three or four times a month. Executive coaches charge more and some clients work with an executive coach for an hour or two a week. It all works out to about to about $100 to $300 per hour. Corporate coaching costs more, and may cost $1,000 to $10,000 per month, and usually starts at $500 an hour. ​ There’s a reason that life coaching is the second-fastest growing profession in the world – because it works for people. People are tired of living their lives the way they “should” and are instead ready for something special and meaningful. The problem is that many can’t see it what that special and meaningful life looks like, or how to go about living it. A life coach can help them do both. People are realizing how simple it can be to accomplish something that might have felt out of reach. A coach can help bridge dreams to reality.

On average, most people find life coaching more beneficial than they realized and stay on longer than they initially anticipated. Many life coaches ask for a three- to six-month commitment but usually let you stop immediately if the coaching is not working for you.

People hire life coaches because they want to do more tomorrow than they can do today. They want to improve their output and see more growth, and they want to do those things quickly and to the best of their ability. All kinds of people use life coaches, including actors, business leaders, creatives, entrepreneurs, executives, homemakers, managers, professionals, small business owners and start-up pioneers. These people all identify a gap between where they are and where they want to be, and turn to coaching when they want help reaching their goals. When you ask yourself what is a life coach and why should I work with one, you’re asking yourself why you’d want to unlock your full potential to live an extraordinary life. The International Coaching Federation summarizes it nicely: “People hire a life coach because They want more. They want to grow. They want it easier. It’s as simple as that. Life coaches help a client get all three. Quickly.

There are many benefits of hiring a life coach. The first is that you start taking more effective and focused actions immediately because you now have a trained professional keeping you accountable. Because of that initial action, you create momentum so it’s easier to get results. Those results are driven toward better goals that are based on what you really want. The definition of a life coach is a professional who can help you excel in all areas of life. Some of the most common steps clients take while working with life coaches include: ​ Identifying and achieving short- and long-term goals Defining a vision and strategies for success Articulating core values Creating professional and personal growth plans Identifying limiting beliefs and how the limit growth Making big decisions Working toward financial security Creating and maintaining work/life harmony Fostering powerful relationships Getting promoted Finding fun and adventure Getting out of a funk or rut Achieving fitness goals Starting or growing a business Getting organized Managing an important life or business transition