The Importance of a Life Coach
When I was at one of my lowest points in my life, I met a life coach that turned my life around and put me on my current path.
So much that even my own wife said to me:
If you did not meet your life coach and change your life, I would have divorced you then.
Yes, my life coach saved my life.
I recommend everyone get a life coach. Before getting my own life coach, the idea seem silly to me because:
- Why should I pay someone and I do the work?!
- Why do I need a life coach, I have friends.
- I know myself better than anyone.
As much as I hate to say it, all of those statements are false.
Why Pay to Do Work?
This put me off at the beginning too. I’m paying someone so I have to do work??
An analogy to this would be like: paying a plumber so you can fix your plumbing problem.
Another analogy that counters that in relation to a life coach: paying for a gym membership and expecting to get fit without the work. (Thanks GT for this one!)
Drawing conclusions from analogies are bad - but the second one is more appropriate to a life coach than a plumber. It’s perfectly normal to pay for a gym or even trainer.
Why not a life coach?
Fallacy of Friends
As much as I hate to say, friends don’t always have your best interests in mind all the time. Your presence shape and fill your friend’s reality; just like you do theirs.
So, if you want to grow and change into something different than your friend can imagine, well, there’s a good chance your friends will want to protect their own reality at the cost of your improvement.
At the time I got my life coach, I was at a point in my life where I didn’t have friends around me. So getting a coach worked out.
I know ME!
As much as I hate to say it, I don’t know me as well as a good life coach can. Not only can a life coach be objective about you since they’re not part of your life, they can communicate the thing you need to hear.
Ultimately, everything my life coach told me was something my wife has said to me before.
Problem was that I tuned out my wife after awhile and only when my life coach said the same thing impartially, the message clicked.
Benefits
Only after working with a life coach, I realize there are more benefits than I initially thought:
- Know variety of others and their problem
- Clear relationship
- Different Approaches
Pattern Matching
One thing I did not realize before working with a life coach is that a life coach would draw on their experience working with others through their problems. Hence, they would be able to pattern match my situation with someone else they worked with, so I can get to a solution faster.
Clear Relationship
With a life coach, there’s a clear boundary of what the relationship is: transactional. Remember that fallacy of friends? If the relationship is purely transactional, there’s objectivity.
Variety of Approaches
With life, there’s no single approach to a problem. With coaches, there are a variety of them and approaches.
Some are direct. Others, more touchy feely. It’s most important to find one that fits you, understands your needs, and you respect. Getting a coach that you don’t respect just undermines the whole life coaching process.
Conclusion
A life coach is an important person in getting you out of life’s ruts (whether you know it or not.)
Whether you like it or not, a life coach can:
- be objective about you and communicate what you need to hear impartially
- better than any friend
- get you to work on the right thing to improve your life
Along with that, there are other benefits with a life coach:
- varieties of coaches mean varieties of approaches - you will find one you like
- having clear relationship between you and them
- they can pattern match others they have worked with to make sure you are getting to a solution fast
I am glad I got a life coach when I did because I love my life now.
If you are feeling like in life’s rut, consult with a coach and see what you need to work on.