What do you do when you feel stuck in life? When you want to achieve something, but you don't know how? Or when you don't know what you want to achieve, when you just find very unhappy about the situation you're in?
In essence, a life coach helps you to move from where you are to where you want to be.
That might sound simple, especially for practical goals, like being able to run the marathon, or lose ten kilo's. You identify your current situation, you goal, and you create an action plan. But if it were so simple, why haven't you done it yet? This is were the process becomes interesting.
I work with people who are unhappy in their professional life. That almost always goes much deeper than practical goals. Why does your work feel pointless? Why is it hard to make a decision and are you still in the same job? Why do you suffer so much from your difficult boss or colleague? Why is it so hard to cope with the pressure of work and why do you find it difficult to say no?
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How does a life coach work?
asking questions and listening
When you've been stuck in a situation for some time, you probably think about it a lot. But thinking tends to go in circles and that's is not very effective. That's why the essence of life coaching is asking powerful questions that make you think beyond those circles. You have time and space to expand and explore and start thinking in whole new directions and get powerful insights in your situation and in yourself. The possibilities that open up!
Goal setting
By setting clear goals for the coaching programme, we do not only give a clear direction to the coaching sessions, they also help to get a clearer sense of where you're heading in life. Coaching goals don't always need to be concrete. Sometimes they are about finding out about things, for example: 'finding out what I'm really passionate about'.
techniques from psychology
An effective coach draws from various techniques from psychology for example:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, that helps you to think in more effective ways.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, that helps you deal better with difficult thought and emotions.
Client Centered Therapy, where you get space to understand what is going on deep down, what blind spots there might be and how we can deal with them.
Positive Psychology, where research is done on how to live a good and happy life.
a growth mindset
For effective coaching it's important that we learn from what is going on in our lives. We'll discuss things that happen in yourpersonal life or in your professional life and see what blind spots might be there, what we can be learn in relation to our goals. Once you experience this growth mindset, it might be a way to look at things that you take outside of our coaching sessions.
three levels
Often life coaching is about achieving concrete goals. I find it very helpful to work not just on the practical level, but on three different levels.
On an existential level - What is a good life for you? What do you want to do with your life? What do you find important?
On a psychological level - Why haven't you taken any steps yet? How do your thoughts and emotions work? How do they help you? When do they bother you?
On a practical level - What steps can we take to reach your goals? How do you write a good CV? How can you approach a difficult conversation with your manager?
Often we go in different directions in each of the levels. When these levels get aligned and start going on the same road we are effective beyond our expectations.
and many more
And there are so many more ways that an effective life coach can help you to find and achieve your goals and have a more fulfilled life.
a good life coach
Life coaching industry is booming. Everyone can call themselves coach, and many people do, so it's important to look for a qualified and accredited coach. The International Coaching Federation has very strict requirements for coach accreditation. Ideally you look for a coach-psychologist with a lot of experience.
Is this interesting to you? Have look at my homepage or book a Free Session