Suki, founder of I AM WOMAN tells you why...
How many of you rolled your eyes when you saw the title of this article? It's ok, I would have done exactly the same thing, that’s before I embarked on a journey of finding out exactly why life coaching is so big in the 21st century. In fact, what I found was so convincing, I gave up a very well paid job at one of the world’s biggest social media companies to start coaching instead. So, if you have ever wondered why life coaching might be an added benefit to your life read on. Not for you? Well, give it a go…I might just convince you.
1. Personal development Did anyone ever say no to developing themselves? When offered a course at work which will help improve your skills and potentially line you up for that promotion, would you turn it down? The most critical variable in achieving success is you. If you nurture yourself adequately, all areas of your life will improve, and there is no doubt that you can, and will, achieve success. Life coaches utilise effective techniques to help their clients in all aspects of life. If you've ever struggled with anything – whether it be losing that extra inch around your waist, overcoming your fear of heights, getting promoted, public speaking, finding a partner in a coach can help. 2. Career People generally think of coaches when they want that big promotion at work, or if they are already in a senior position and need additional guidance. Life coaches can help with all this and more. Work/life balance, effective leadership, public speaking, management and effective teams are topics that come up again and again when coaching organisation. Yes coaches can work with teams too, not just individuals! Coaches regularly coach individuals at companies and teams to help with productivity, retention and all round success. Salesforce as a company is renowned for having coaches for their staff. CEO Marc Beinoff truly believes his successes are down to his coach Tony Robbins, as he told Fortune.com in an interview: "it was Robbins who provided the leadership model that Benioff uses to set goals for Salesforce, one of the world’s largest software companies, with an expected $5 billion in sales this year and a market capitalization of $38 billion. “All of that came out of Tony’s work.” 3. Relationships Yes that is right. Coaching is not just about your career. It spills over into every part of your life including your relationships. Personal relationships and work relationships can lead to happiness or misery. How can you work more effectively with your annoying boss? How can your relationships outside of work be easier.? A coach will help you identify the issues you are facing which may lead to deeper questions: Is it in fact your boss you can’t stand or is it your job you hate? Is your personal relationship difficult because some small changes are needed or is the whole relationship not right for you. The power is in you, you have all the answers, the coach works with you to help surface the answers so you can take action. 4. Love. It can be the best thing or the worst thing. Coaching covers every spectrum of your life and love is a big one: whether you are trying to commit, or trying to break up with someone, or generally just want a better relationship with your spouse. A coach can help you work towards identifying your love life problems and rectifying them. On the flip side you may have just come out of a relationship and are heartbroken, a coach can help you work through your wants and needs and help identify the sort of partner you are looking for. All the way from increasing confidence for dating or securing the man/woman of your dreams...a coach will help with setting clear goals and actions to get you there. 5. Balance Balance means living a life that is in action and flowing.Sometimes its very difficult to juggle the different priorities you may have in your life. This is not about reaching an even kilter, more so, it is about having a life that flows like a river, there may be waves but it is all flowing in the same direction towards a more fulfilling life. Making the waves manageable on the way. The purpose of a coach is to spur you into action whilst still maintaining control of your values. The coach will work with you to balance your priorities so you can set goals to lead a more fulfilling life. The main objective of a coach is to get the clients the lives they are seeking, one of fulfilment and balance with clear actions to execute. They challenge our fears, subjects that we don't want to approach, emotions we don't want to surface. With coaching, you learn about yourself, you evolve as a character...not only in your career, but also in life.