What Does Working with a Life Coach Look Like?
So you’ve decided to work with a life coach. You’re excited and a little nervous. You have a lot of questions:
What will we do?
What do I need to prepare ahead of time?
How do I know if it is working?
How often will we meet?
Great questions. The answer is simple and also probably more vague than you’d like. It depends on who you work with and what you want to accomplish. Life coaches just like teachers, therapists, doctors, etc. receive different training, have different go-to tools, and meet their individual client’s needs in a unique way. So it will vary. This variety adds complexity because each time you work with a different coach it will look different. However, the variety also creates opportunity for you to find a coach that fits you really well because there are so many options.
Even though there are so many differences, a good coach often employs a set of tools and techniques. Here we will take a look at these.
Introductory Meeting: This is a complimentary meeting that allows you to get to know the coach so you can understand what they offer, what their style is like, and if they are a good fit for you. This is an opportunity to ask questions about schedule, cost, their expertise and experience, whether they provide in-person vs. virtual services, what their philosophies are, and anything else you are curious about. If, after this meeting you don’t think it is a good fit, keep looking for the right fit.
Contract: Once you have decided to hire a specific coach, you might receive a contract. This will outline what you can expect, how scheduling and payment will occur, what boundaries will be upheld, and what services the coach will provide. It may also include a contract for you regarding your commitment to a pre-determined plan.
Overview: It’s hard to remember everything that was discussed in the introductory meeting so you should receive some kind of written overview of what you agree to, what your coaching options are, where to access resources, and how to best communicate with your coach in between sessions. This tool may include prompts or diagrams for tools used in your sessions, or an FAQ.
Plan: Your goal, your approach to your goal, your homework, and your schedule will be determined by you. However, your coach will be making notes about your plan and your sessions so that they can be prepared for future interactions. You should always be able to ask to review their notes to help you remember details of what you’ve accomplished, to make sure you are on the same page, or to make sure you are making strides to the end result you desire.
Baseline: Your initial session with your coach often is what is called a discovery session. it may be a little longer than the typical session and is used to get a full picture of who you are, what you want, how you learn, and what your communication style is. Information from this session can inform the coach on how to best support you ongoing meeting you where you are at. Topics often discussed are your history with coaching, your values, your priorities, and your support network.
Guided Interaction: Once your coach has onboarded you, your normal sessions begin. The number of sessions is determined by you, although your coach may have a minimum number required, set packages to choose from, or have a suggestion for how many could work well for you based on your goals. In each session, your previous work and any homework is reviewed, you set an intention or goal for that specific session that fits within your overarching priorities, and then get to work. During your session the coach will likely ask a series of questions and use tools to help you look at how to achieve your goal from different angles. Once you’ve fully explored your options together you likely work with them to make a plan for how you want to use your new-found knowledge in between sessions to further your progress.
Goal Tracking: A life coach will likely confirm with you multiple times during a session (beginning, middle and end) what your goals are and how well you believe the session is going to achieve those goals. These are opportunities to be honest. You won’t hurt their feelings if you say they’ve got it wrong or you believe your session is going in the wrong direction, promise!
Check-ins: Some coaches offer check-ins in between sessions. Whether it is a regular text message or a quick call once a week, these can help you stay on track, stay motivated, feel supported., and ask questions in real time instead of holding on to them for the next session.
What it Does NOT Look Like
There are a lot of preconceived notions out there about what coaching is. Here are a couple of things that are not often associated with coaching:
Therapy: A life coach is not a therapist. They should not be engaging you in addressing mental health challenges.
Giving Advice: A life coach does many things: listens, asks questions, provides tools to explore goals and next steps - but giving advice on what to do is not one of them. They create the space for you to find your own answers in a way you otherwise might not be able to do. But no one knows you better than you and a life coach knows that.
Enabling: A life coach will show empathy and support but they will not encourage you to sit in self-pity, to be oblivious to what is going on inside and outside of you, or to avoid your truths.
Lack of Boundaries: It is tempting, when listening to someone to say, “oh me too! I totally get that, here’s how it went down for me…” Relating is a way people can feel connected, but a life coach will not make the conversation about them by taking up air time.
Gossiping: A life coach does not apply judgement on their clients. Period. Coaching sessions are a safe space to explore challenges, to learn from ‘failures’ and to open up to new possibilities. Therefore, a life coach does not gossip about clients to other clients or share client information with people in their personal or professional life.
If you’d like to learn more about potentially hiring Living with Gusto, check out our About Us page, or follow us on Facebook or Instagram. Or contact us to set up a consultation, or share with us a challenge you are facing that you might want coaching support with. We’ll respond with a couple ideas for free.