How To Know If You Need A Life Coach

Consider the following questions:

Are you living the life of your dreams?
Do you know how to balance work and play?
Do you have all the energy you need to take you through your days?
Do you have best friends who support you but don't empower you?
Do you ever suffer from feelings of not being enough?nn(Good enough,thin enough,smart enough. ENOUGH ALREADY)!!!

Are you always looking to the future for times to get better?

If you answered "No" to any of the first three questions above, or "Yes" to the last three, perhaps it's time for you to consider hiring a Life Coach; here's why.

Almost everyone needs a life coach from time to time. All you need is a resounding realization that you are not living the life of your dreams.

A Life Coach is someone who can help you create a life that is more in alignment with your values, more closely adhering to what your soul is longing for. The emphasis here is on the word 'help'. A really good life coach will empower you to make those changes, but won't try to fix you or your life.

Most of the top coaches that I know see their clients as capable, competent and whole. They may -- from time to time -- offer advice, but more often they trust you to have the answers inside of you. Their role is to guide you to finding those answers.

In a way, a Life Coach is much better than a 'best friend'. A coach is not a friend. A coach is someone that stands in your corner for you and the life you envision for yourself.

Coaching is for YOU! - your agenda, your purpose, your goals, and you
nvision without any attachments or ties. It eliminates the attachments and ties that often interfere in friend and family relations (no matter how good the relationship or the intentions).

Your Life Coach is someone you can talk to about the challenges you are facing. He or she will be objective, supportive and helpful. An excellent Life Coach has loads of resources -- books, videos, groups -- that you can tap into for inspiration. How you use those resources is entirely up to you, but your coach can make recommendations that your friends may not know about. Tapping into their experience with other clients, the feedback they've received from those clients and from other coaches, superior Life Coaches have developed a vast repertoire of ideas to get you started on your journey.

A Life Coach is much more than a 'best friend'. Your coach will encourage you to step outside of your comfort zone, seek new horizons, make the big bold moves, do something outrageous. You'll have a dedicated cheerleader in your corner to keep reminding you of your dream and your plan to realize it.

In addition, as you develop a good relationship with your Coach, the two of you can sort through the conflicting wants and needs you may have (for example, you may want to be a 'stay-at-home' mom, but need to have an income to support your family's lifestyle). With an objective view to how to structure your life, your coach can lead you to making the decisions necessary for change.

Finally, your Life Coach will hold you accountable to make those changes. You'll meet -- usually on the phone -- twice a month (or more often if that seems appropriate) and end each call with a clear idea of what your area of focus will be for the next period. Then, when you meet again, you'll discuss your progress and develop new strategies to move you in the direction of choice. With a constant 'correct and continue' approach, you'll find yourself gaining momentum and becoming more of who you want to be and creating more of the life you want to live.

Like any good fitness program, or nutritional changes you make in your life, your time with your Life Coach will work better for you if it is consistent and lasts for a minimum of 3 months. Most excellent coaches recommend a year or more. Don't look for a quick fix -- like any diet that promises you lasting results with only a few weeks' effort; rather, commit to work with your coach for as long as it takes to create the life of your dreams.