Whether you have already made the decision to hire a life coach or you are just starting your research, you are probably wondering, “How does life coaching actually work? What exactly does the process look like?” While each life coach may have his or her own unique coaching strategies, there is an overall process that all successful coaching programs follow.
Here are the fundamentals of a successful life coaching program:
Step 1. Clarify What You Want
You may be the type of person who knows exactly what you want and just need help mapping out a game plan to get there. Or perhaps you know many things you do NOT want but need help figuring out what you actually DO want. Regardless of where you currently are on that spectrum, one of the first critical elements of a life coaching program is to help you clarify what you want.
While this first step sounds fairly simple and straightforward, it may take a little more digging than you anticipated. We humans are complicated creatures. The wiring in our brain can lead us to take surface level actions that are driven by subconscious motivators. It takes some digging to uncover those hidden motivators that are probably dictating much of what you do in your life. However, taking the time needed to discover what it is you really want is well worth it when you consider the alternative of living a busy but meaningless and aimless life.
Once your life coach has helped you discover what you want, it’s time to set goals.
Step 2. Set Clear Goals
As Napoleon Hill said, “A goal is a dream with a deadline.” Think about that for a minute, and be excited! You probably have aspirations and dreams that are constantly minimized by this voice in your head saying, “It’s just a dream.” The reality is, dreams are possible when you break them into clear, definable, step-by-step goals.
I’m sure you are already familiar with the acronym SMART goals. One of the great benefits of how life coaching works is that your life coach will work with you to establish goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. Before we continue on, I’d like to highlight that “realistic” doesn’t mean turning your dreams down a few notches to fit into society’s definition of “realistic.” It simply means choosing goals that you feel could be possible. It doesn’t mean you know how to get there or how everything’s going to pan out, but there’s a portion of you that knows achieving the goal could be possible.
Step 3. Create a Plan of Action
As Pablo Picasso put it, “Action is the foundational key to all success.” You can have all the best tools for success and resources in the world, but they are worth nothing without action. However, when you’re looking at your newly established goals, it can become daunting to try to figure out how to achieve them.
This is where most people’s motivation actually fizzles out. Maybe it’s happened to you too…. You’re excited to change your life, you’ve figured out what you want, and you’ve put together some goals to help you change your life. Now that you’re staring at your goals—BOOM—you become completely paralyzed, and your mind becomes dominated with thoughts of “This isn’t possible—how am I going to achieve this? I don’t know where to start, so I’ll think about it tomorrow, next week, next year…” and then “poof!” your goals turn into dust, easily swept away and forgotten by the powerful winds called life.
Hopefully, you’re starting to see why having a life coach can be a complete game-changer for you. No longer do you feel overwhelmed and paralyzed, but a good life coach can help you put together a solid plan of action and then…
Step 4. Start Making Moves
An experienced life coach will help you take the first step towards achieving your goals. Think about learning to walk, learning a new language, or getting a college degree. Each of these things took persistent actions one step at a time. We become overwhelmed when we believe we have to accomplish our goals in one fell swoop. Every big accomplishment was merely a set of smaller action steps. As a result of how life coaching works, a good life coach will help you turn all of that thinking, dreaming, and planning into DOING.
As your first step turns into your second, third, fourth, and fifth, your life coach can then help you accomplish step 5.
Step 5. Stay on Track
Does this sound familiar? You’ve started changing your thoughts, changing your actions, and moving closer to your goals when all of a sudden, life comes in and completely derails you. This happens to every single one of us. It’s simply part of the human experience. The difference is what we do when we get knocked off the tracks.
A life coach is someone who helps you see that the tiny bumps in the road are just that—tiny bumps in the road. Most importantly, having a coach who facilitates awareness and holds a sacred space so that learning and development is encouraged and allowed to happen will ultimately support you in getting back on track as quickly as possible. And guess what? When you do come up against one of life’s true mountains, a life coach is someone who can help you build a new track when the previous one wasn’t leading anywhere.
As you can see, a successful life coach does much more than simply cheer you on. A solid life coaching program can support you in creating the action plans to help you get from where you are today to where you want to be.
Whether you are looking to further your career, start a new business, work better with your team, or finally start living your dreams, the Mind Mastery Coaching Program may be the solution you have been seeking.
To learn more about how life coaching works, schedule a free consultation today!
