Life is full of inevitable ups and downs. Sometimes, people will quickly proceed with the path ahead, while others may struggle to figure their way to the next steps. A certified life coach is a trained professional who helps people navigate life, especially in difficult periods.
Do you effortlessly tap into active listening, problem-solving, and empathy skills to help people advance their lives? If so, you may be interested in a career as a life coach. Life coaches use their people and organization skills to assist their clients in identifying and overcoming the obstacles to their goals.
Here are six frequently asked questions on how to become a life coach.
1. Can I Become A Life Coach?
Anyone can become a life coach, including you. The life coaching profession does not have a regulatory authority. How to become a life coach can be as simple as printing a business card, titling yourself as a life coach, and starting to coach. But this is a questionable and unethical coach of conduct.
Despite the lack of a regulatory body, prospective coaching clients are increasingly picky. They compare coaches by their training, accreditation, and experience. Clients settle for higher quality professionals with a training background, as this always reflects in the quality of services.
2. Where Do I Learn How To Become A Life Coach?
Helping clients improve the different areas of their lives is a significant responsibility that requires specialized training. Through training, aspiring coaches learn all the psychological principles of life coaches.
They learn how to conduct an assessment when determining a client’s needs, communication skills, coaching ethics, and much more. To get the most out of training, sign up for programs at institutions like the iNLP Center, accredited by Industry associations such as the International Coach Federation (ICF).
3. How Do I Set Up My Life Coaching Business?
How to become a life coach is not only about becoming a professional. Essentially, you’re also a business owner. Determine your business entity, whether an LLC, corporation, or sole proprietorship, and get officially registered in your state.
Assemble a business plan addressing start-up costs, including training and overhead costs. Many new life coaches set up their businesses digitally, saving them money.
4. Do I Need A Niche?
When wondering how to become a life coach, finding your specialty based on what feels comfortable to talk to clients about and your background is an excellent place to start. A niche makes it easiest to market your services accordingly. Most coaches focus on people’s personal, romantic, and professional lives. Others help people make changes in health with exercise and diet plans.
When life coaching, you’ll find yourself touching on more than just one area, regardless of a niche. However, it is essential to have a specialty for branding purposes.
5. How Do I Charge My Clients
Placing a value on helping people navigate and improve their lives can be challenging. The price of your services depends on how you approach working with clients. Are travel costs involved? Is it an hourly or daily rate? Is it a one-time service session or an ongoing work relationship? Figure that out, and then you’ll know what each hour is worth and start there.
6. How Do I Market Myself As A New Life Coach?
As a new business, you must get the word out there about your services. Once you have your niche down, place your ads in the targeted population to get the exposure needed for your businesses.
With life coaching, your best marketing tool is your clients; request testimonials and online reviews. Use digital platforms to share these testimonials and more content marketing your services.
Train And Begin Your Life Coaching Career
Becoming a life coach is an easy entry career choice. Equip yourself with good training, get certified, and watch yourself thrive in a new profession. Remember to apply business management skills to scale up your earnings in your career.
