Life Coach

Sometimes, life’s like a really big kitchen with really tall cabinets: When you need something from the top shelf, you can’t always reach it. That’s when you break out the stepstool. As a Life Coach, you’re like the stepstool. When people can’t reach the proverbial top shelf, they hire you to give them a boost.

In your line of work of being a Life Coach, the top shelf is people’s personal and professional goals, while the boost is motivation, inspiration, structure, and support. Your clients as a Life Coach, might want to find new jobs, for instance, or learn new skills. They might want to stop smoking or lose weight, or write the great American novel. They might want to make new friends, meet new lovers, or build self-esteem.

Whatever it is, they want to improve their lives, but don’t know how. You give them the tools they need to succeed by meeting with them, setting goals, creating game plans and, ultimately, making them accountable for their achievements and failures.

Because you help people alter their thinking and change their behaviors, you’re kind of like a Therapist. The key difference, however, is this: Therapists typically help people overcome issues from the past, and often help patients deal with mental illnesses or emotional disorders; you, on the other hand, are future-focused, helping people effect positive changes rather than overcome negative dysfunctions. It’s a fine but important line.

You’re not a Magician, so you can’t make people’s problems disappear. Instead, you’re more like a motivational Traffic Guard: Although you direct traffic, it’s up to your clients to do the driving.