If you've found this article from a Google search, I assume that you are already familiar with what a life coach is. Even if you are, reading my article "What is a Life Coach With Mary Morrissey" will provide you with valuable information on what exactly a life coach does, how coaching contracts work, what typical coaching formats look like and how you might want to focus your business as you consider becoming a coach.
At the risk of turning people off to life coaching in this article, I am going to give you the facts about people that are calling themselves coaches. Truth be told - there are NO job requirements to become a coach. Put a sign up, print some business cards, call yourself a life coach and you are good to go. Before Calling Yourself a Coach...
If you are intending to call yourself a coach, please understand what it means to give yourself that title. I'd suggest reading a coaches code of ethics to see if what you are offering could truly be considered coaching.
Coaches come from all backgrounds. As previously mentioned there are coaches in the health and wellness world, in the executive development world, relationship coaches, coaches for families with children that have special needs, stress management coaches - the list goes on and on. Now a pure life coach is committed to recognizing that a client has their own answers and that the coaches job is to empower the client such that they see this clearly for themselves. If you naturally have this skill, you've got the greatest asset that a life coach needs. If you are considering becoming a coach, I definitely recommend that you get training. A coach training program often has coaching and mentorship not only on how to be a better coach, but also on how to build your business. Typically after an introductory class, you are encouraged to begin enrolling coaching clients. My suspicion is that it is less than 1/3 of all coaches. So being a 'certified' coach differentiates you for sure, however at the moment a typical coaching client probably would not know the difference.
Make yourself an expert coach based on the knowledge of what a coach is and what they do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3DqXEEzINg
Life Coaching Certification Free Training (LCC) is the leading coach credentialing agency on the market. Many coaches have opted to become a member of the LCC (by paying an annual fee to be a member), but this is certainly not a requirement to be a coach. Many coaches believe that this will come to fruition in the next 5-10 years. I present this because if you did elect to go through a coach training program, the LCC provides a list of programs that are accredited. To summarize, if you've been considering becoming a professional coach (life coach), its important to educate yourself on what a coach is and is not. Educationally there are many coach training programs available. I suggest that you attend at least some coaching courses (or hire your own coach) such that you begin to understand how coaching works.
