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How does life coaching work?

Most life coaching is done over the phone. This allows the issues of geography to be eliminated. It also saves time and money and gasoline. You don’t have to make unnecessary trips outside your office or home. The focus then becomes making sure you are matched with a coach that will be most beneficial to you. People tend to be more open and honest when they have a sense of anonymity. You and your coach will form an interactive partnership that will be focused on helping you and your coach co-create a vision for your life. Your initial discussions will be centered on powerful and in depth questions designed to help you dig deep into yourself.  You and your coach will have calls scheduled anywhere from weekly to monthly. This will be determined by your needs. Your calls will last between 30 minutes to an hour again depending on your needs. Between calls, you will have steps, and / or exercises designed to help you learn more about yourself and help you best utilize your specific, talents, emotions and strengths. You will learn to develop techniques that will allow you to move forward in a powerful and intense way toward achieving goals. Your coach will always be available via email for additional questions or guidance. Your coach is a mentor and sounding board that is there to help you stay focused on the things that are important to YOU. Coaching relationships between clients and coaches last as long as the client desires. We have partnerships that have existed for in excess of 15 years.

We always try to provide well rounded guidance to our life coaching clients, and personal financial coaching is a big part of that guidance. In fact, we teach that financial stability reduces stress and makes a more fulfilled life. Often, we get questions about credit and debt and people seeking direction on whether or not to make a major purchase in this uncertain economic climate.

With the automotive industry crunch calming down lots of people are trickling back into the car buying market. Recently, talk of lender easing and super low interest rate deals has made the prospect of diving back into the American dream — car and home ownership — a serious goal.

So if you’re serious about making the best car buying decision, we highly recommend using a rate calculation system like the auto loan calculator at sunrisefinance.com.

It’s never smart to just head out to buy a car on the spur of the moment without checking facts, researching vehicles, and of course knowing the best possible rate and monthly payments ahead of time. A good rule of thumb is to always know your price range and the monthly payment you can afford ahead of time – that way a clever salesperson can’t nickle-and-dime you with upsells you will live to regret for the life of the loan.

In fact, being prepared is good practice for any major purchase. Sure it’s fun to shop for homes and cars during the planning and discovery stage, but when you’re ready to make the move, having all the calculations done for you cannot be understated. There are several powerful mathematical calculators at the Sunrise Finance website. They have free tools to calculate mortgages, refinance loans, and even a saving rate calculator. Without a doubt they are worthy of a visit and a bookmark.

So if you’re car shopping, spend a few moment putting your facts and figure together.

We’ll talk soon.

Disclosure: This post is a sponsored conversation.

Things are going to change around us every day. The sun will rise and set, the weather will grow colder or hotter. Your favorite sports team will have a winning and then a losing and then a winning season. Things will continue to change every day. The act of personal growth will require a choice combined with commitment and effort.
We have the ability to determine whether or not we will grow. You have the ability to change who you are. You can become a successful business owner or a climber of corporate ladders. The thing that must be done is to determine what change you want to make and then make it a priority. Visualize yourself actually making the change. Put what that change will look like in great detail in writing. Have it in a place where you will see it daily. Determine what the top 10 things that you would like to change or become. Is this something that means becoming more or less? Do you need to acquire more knowledge or a skill to accomplish the goal? Think about what is currently standing in the way of you doing what you desire to do. Then determine how to remove, go around or wipe out the obstacle.
The greatest gift that we have is the gift of choice. Make it a priority this year to choose the life that you really want. Once you make that decision and take responsibility for self determination, you will be amazed at the results.

Mounting debt got you down? No debt problem is too bad or too big for American Credit Foundation; we are available today for a debt consolidation consultation. Eliminating your debt in the shortest possible time and with the lowest payments possible is the goal we will work toward together. Peace of mind is within your grasp. Wouldn’t it be great to know that you will become debt free in the shortest amount of time possible? Highly qualified and independently certified debt consolidation professionals make up a team that offers years of experience to aid you in controlling your debt problems as quick as possible. Looking for a debt consolidation service? Want a reputable company on your side? You can do the research. American Credit Foundation offers the best debt consolidation program available along with the best customer service in the industry.
Avoid filing bankruptcy, put an end to your creditor harassment, lower your debt payments up to 50% or provide a single monthly payment, debt consolidation can be the answer you seek.
It is as easy as submitting some brief information about yourself and your financial situation. The certified credit counselors on staff will take you through the program. You will be set up in no time.

We live in a world that is so busy, loud and full of problems, that it’s hard to avoid obstacles when it comes to fulfilling personal and professional goals. The job of a life coach is to guide people on their way of achieving the goals they have in an efficient and simple manner.

Many people wonder what life coaching is and ask: why do I need a life coach? We explain that it’s a concept of getting professional help with setting new standards in the way you see the world and deal with your problems and goals. Life coaching assists people overcome these difficulties, reach their desired goals and manage their life better. Not everybody will get the same results when they get a life coach, since there are so many dissimilarities when it comes to human relations and individual personalities, but there are plenty of benefits you can get from life coaching for sure.

One of the most important benefits you can get from your personal life coach is the increased confidence. The coach is an adviser who will help you focus on the goals and think positive about them. A high self confidence level will help you both in your private and in your professional life. Feeling self confident will help you get new friends and socialize better with the existing ones.

Life coaching is about making your goals reachable. You will get there faster and the achievements you get will be of a much better quality than before. This is in fact the main reason people think about getting a life coach to put some order in their lives and guide them properly on the way to their highest goals.

The decision to get a life coach will bring you further benefits, like an increased awareness. You will get the best possible feedback for all your major actions in a professional way, so that you will never feel embarrassed about that. The source of the problems you have will become clearer when a person from outside analyzes it and gets the results to you. The experience you get with your personal life coach will make you understand better your personality related to the reactions people have on you.

Your mood will be definitely improved when you get a life coach. Having all your goals achieved or being on the right path of getting to them will make you feel good about yourself. The overall happiness will increase since you will be content with the new you and with the fresh relations you will get.

In the end, it can be stated that there are lots of benefits a person can have from life coaching. This is not about having someone to govern your life and tell you what to do, but about a professional help for all the problems and obstacles you can encounter on the way of achieving your goals. All your efforts will seem simpler and you will gain a whole new perspective of your life with the help of a life coach.

This is the time of year that a lot of people sit down, review the prior year and plan what they want to accomplish in the coming year. Starting to work out, get in shape and lose weight is a very common goal. Most people start like a ball of fire. They join the gym, along with hundreds of others. They gym is crowded in the middle of January. If you go back at the end of February, you could shoot a cannon ball through the workout area and not hit a soul.

So what happens between the great start and the lack of finish? If you would like a complete and full explanation then you can take a college course, get a degree and still not accomplish your goals. Instead let me give you a couple of things you can do to have an impact on reaching your goals in 2010.

1. Write your goals down

If you have not heard this story before you need to, and if you have it is worth repeating. In 1979, the Harvard Business School did a study. They interviewed their newly graduated participants in the MBA program. Here are the results of the interview:

84% had no specific goals either in writing or in mind

13% had goals but only in their mind, they had not written them down

3% had very clear and precise goals and had developed plans to accomplish them and they were in writing

Fast forward to 10 years later, the results were amazing. The 13% who had written their goals down had earned 2x the amount of the 84% group. This is an astounding number! The really amazing thing is that is nothing compared to the next comparison. The 3% group earned ten times the amount as earned by the other 97% combined. This shows the power of writing your goals down.

1. Read your goals out loud daily

There is power in the spoken word. When you read your goals and speak the words it gets into your mind. Speaking your goals has power. 

Bible Mark 11:23
For most certainly I tell you, whoever may tell this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and doesn’t doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is happening; he shall have whatever he says.

1. Break your goals down

Answer the questions, WHY do you want it, WHO is going to do it, WHAT is it in detail, WHERE is it going to occur and WHEN will it happen. This will help bring clarity to what you want to accomplish. Focus on why you want these things, not why you don’t want them.

1. Work with a coach or mentor.

Having a coach or mentor will help you stay on track and keep you focused. Studies have shown that those who work with a coach or mentor increase the chances of your success. A coach will help you determine what truly important to you and help you accomplish that goal.

It has been shown that people who are successful in becoming highly successful have several things in common. They have a vision and, they develop and then execute the plan. It doesn’t matter whether it is personal or career development that they are focusing on, all of these factors apply.

A typical plan will be 4 to 21 weeks in length. This depends on the level of change that is desired. Sometimes a person only wants to make minor changes or adjustments. This can usually be accomplished in a relatively short period of time. In other instances, there is a desire for greater change. This will be a longer more detailed process. Usually the first example is part of the second.

After you have gone through periods of personal growth and intense activity, you should devote some time reflecting on that experience and making a habit of your new skills. Below we will discuss several methods and activities that will be conducive to consolidating your gains and preparing you to move forward towards even greater growth.

Taking a week to reflect on progress that you have made after several weeks of working on personal growth is vital. You will begin to notice a change in your thoughts and behavior. This will continue to occur over the next several months and throughout the remainder of your life. Becoming self aware will allow you to adjust your thoughts and behaviors on the fly. This is not a skill that is automatic. You will have to make the effort and commitment to develop this skill through repetition.

Many times we continually focus only on what has not been accomplished. This is counterproductive. We should learn to celebrate the success and growth that we experience. Have a plan to reward yourself after each goal is accomplished or significant progress has been made. Don’t feel like you need to be humble during these times. Progress is something that can be difficult and should be acknowledged and celebrated as it occurs.

There are going to be areas that do not improve as quickly as others. These are opportunities for learning. This may mean a change in how we approach certain things. Sometimes it may mean that we should focus on our areas of strength and delegate other things. Some things can’t be delegated and so being aware will help us improve.

Identifying what these areas are and how they should be approached. Why is this area lagging? What emotions are brought up when you think of these areas? Do you feel energy when working on this area or does it drain you? Whether or not this is a personal growth or career development area is important. Personal growth can’t be delegated some things in career development can be. Having the courage to set aside an area for a period of time can be important. It is not a failure to come back to an issue after working on other areas.

Having a vision is an integral part of the process. I always start with the end in mind. What would things look like in a perfect world? Create a vision without limitations. If everything went perfect for you what would the world look like? If you could exhibit every trait or characteristic that you would want what to exhibit what would those be? This is the vision that will help drive your plan for success. As you move forward, revisit this vision often. Does it still look the way you would want or has it changed. Don’t be afraid to adjust. When we make intense personal or career changes, sometimes things that we never thought possible become attainable.

LifeCoachLive.com

It is estimated that during the calendar year of 2008 over 8 billion dollars was spent on self-improvement products, seminars and books. The greatest portion of this was spent in the area of working with specialized coaches. Some examples include, but are not limited to, life coaching, success coaching, motivational coaching and business or executive coaching.
As a result of this type of money being spent, it is estimated that 25,000 full or part-time coaches serve as many as 250,000 clients. What is it about this type of process that is effective? Are the claims of gains for the clients of coaches accurate or exaggerated? If the claims are accurate, then why does this process work better than other methods?
One of the things that seems to resonate with the clients that report success if the feeling that they benefited from the process. From the time clients began the process until the feel like they are making progress is a relative short period of time. Most clients feel they have improved self-esteem and confidence, the main two reasons for seeking coaching. Over 90% of those who had this motivation report improvement in those areas. Those who sought coaching for other reasons also reported improvements in these areas. Client who sought the services of a business coach felt an improvement in self-esteem and self-confidence over 50% of the time. This shows that coaching has the added benefit of facilitating improvements in areas other than the primary goal.
Clients who seek the services of business coaches are usually looking for improved or greater business performance. Many are looking for this type of result on an organizational basis. This creates a unique challenge in terms of measuring the effectiveness of the process. This is as a result of the larger number of variables involved. One of the most effective means to measure this progress is by the use of 360 degree post coaching feedback.
360 degree feedback provides the client with feedback from all levels around them. The feedback comes from those who report to the client, those who the client reports to and from the client’s peers. This is very effective in providing the client with a view of how their actions are perceived from all levels.
The thing that most people are not aware of is that we are designed to grow as people. We have an internal hierarchy of needs. Studies done by Abraham Maslow are the most well known. At the base of this pyramid of needs is safety and security. These are the needs that people must satisfy before they can begin to think about other needs. The needs that follow are love, belonging and esteem. Above these needs is the need that humans have for continuous growth. Maslow called this the need for self-actualization or the need to reach one’s full potential. People respond best under positive conditions.
Self help is something that is touted by many as the way to best improve self. This is not shown by the statistics. The data shows us that when a person is working alone in attempting to achieve any goal the chances of success are increased from 50% to 95% when they are working with a coach versus working alone. This is achieved by using goal setting and specific accountability appointments. The process of making a commitment to a person and having scheduled meetings with that person is of extreme priority. This is the basics of the coaching arrangement having a shared commitment along with accountability to the coach.
All of these things combined show that coaching is a process that is beneficial to the client. Based on the evidence provided by studies, clients of the coaching process are more likely to be successful in achieving their goals then those who attempt progress alone.

You have made the decision to hire a Life Coach. Now how do you decide who to hire? Below are some of the questions that I would suggest you ask.
1. What is your coaching process? : Each coach has their own method they use to determine what issues truly should be addressed. Some coaches prefer to simply as the potential client what they feel they want to change or achieve. Others will use some form of assessment to determine what their client’s personality is. Many use a combination of client interviews and assessments as a means to determine which path to follow. From that point, your coach will have some schedule of calls or meetings that will be designed to help you make the changes you desire. Some coaches prefer face to face meetings to phone calls. Face to face meetings have the advantage or disadvantage of eye to eye contact. They also have the disadvantage of eye to eye contact and geographic limitations.

2. Have you coached others in similar situations and what were their results? : While not always necessary sometimes it is comforting to know that your coach has seen this exact situation before with proven results. More often than not, if the coach has personal experience or has coached a situation that is similar that will be sufficient. While age is not a factor, the older a coach the more likely they will have had some experience with your situation.

3. What coaching training have you had? : Many coaches in the industry have no formal training. Other coaches have advanced degrees or accreditations. This is an area that may or may not be important to you. They coaches personal style may be the thing that makes the relationship click. It is however a question to ask.

4. What coaching experience do you have? : What type of clients has this coach worked with? How long has this coach been a coach? Was this experience working with individual clients or within a corporate setting?

5. What is your philosophy about coaching and about achieving success in life? : What is the coach’s belief as to the role of coaching? What is their expectations in terms of the type of results that are possible?

6. What else do you do as part of your career besides coaching? : Many coaches do other things besides coaching? Some are professors, teachers, consultants or advisors of some type. Many coaches work on the lecture circuit or are writers. This is something that is common but not always the case.

7. What commitment do you require from you client? : There are different questions within this question. Is there a minimum time period that you are expecting the client to commit to? Do you expect your clients to do things outside of the calls? At what point, if any, do you decide that you will no longer work with a client?

8. What are your fees? : This is a very important question. While paying more does not guarantee better result, paying more than you can afford will cause problems. The flip side is that the cheapest price is not always the better deal. Ask for discounts for longer commitments or for paying in advance.

9. How often will we talk? : This is discussed in the question about process. There are other parts to this question. Are there other methods that are available for communication? What about emergency situations?

10. If I want to work in an area of my life that you do not specialize in do you have a network of other coaches that you can refer me to? : This can be a plus with larger firms. If you situation changes you can stay with the same coaching firm but just change coaches. There is also usually a premium to be paid for this benefit. Larger firms have more fixed overhead while smaller firms do not. Smaller firms have fewer options since no one coach can specialize in all areas.

How do I get started?

Often we are asked how does Life Coaching compare to therapy.

Here are some side by side comparisons to help illustrate the differences and similarities: