What is Life Coaching?

Life Coaching is a method of helping people to "find their way", i.e. a support system. It is both a professional and a personal relationship between Coach and client, aiming to help the client to improve one or many aspects of their lives, removed from the "baggage" of the past. We accept that the client is where they are now and for whatever reason: we'll help the client to find out where they wish to go and then help them to get there.

The way in which this is done is by helping the client to understand what it is they want to achieve; by setting goals that are realistic (achievable) and that will help them to achieve their higher level ambitions. The coach helps them to believe that they can achieve their goals and their ambitions, and by guiding them as to how they can achieve their desires, and by encouraging them to fulfill these dreams or aspirations themselves.

Can you ensure that I achieve my goals?

Only you can do this! This is crucial - a Life Coach cannot change or improve your life for you: he or she will help you to set your goals and then to act. They will assist you to convert dreams to reality and self-doubt to self-belief. The Coach is a facilitator. Rest assured though that we will do our utmost to help you to reach those goals.

How are coaching sessions conducted?

Typically, coaching sessions are conducted by telephone, though occasionally some coaches and clients prefer to meet and work one-to-one. Usually, however, the client calls the Coach at a pre-arranged time for a coaching session, to report progress, explore blockages, etc. Naturally, the details of these discussions are held in absolute confidentiality. These calls are generally at weekly or fortnightly intervals and last between 45 minutes and an hour, rarely longer unless a major stumbling block has been encountered. It usually takes a month to six weeks to start achieving the desired results, though the client will often start to feel the benefits of the Life Coaching approach within a couple of sessions. It is rare for a coaching process to last longer than six months without a break, but it is not unusual to have a series of coaching relationships, moving onto the next stage each time.

Your coach will work with you in a totally non-judgmental way. He or she will help you to go within yourself and to decide where your true ambitions lie. As each goal or aim is articulated by you, the Coach will then help you to decide on specific actions that will move you in the right direction to achieve those goals. Generally, each session finishes with agreement on the specific actions that you will take before the next coaching call. The next session will then go over those actions and their results, and your views about what you have achieved. It is this method of goal setting, working together non-judgmentally, commitment and analysis of progress that makes Life Coaching effective. Life Coaching gets you to make undertakings to someone else, your Life Coach, regarding your aspirations and you know that they are going to challenge you if you don't deliver.

How do I know if Coaching will help me?

You don't, but to start exploring whether it might, ask yourself these questions, honestly. Do you have clear goals and an overall plan for your life? Do you know where you will be and what you will be accomplishing in the next week, month, or year? Are you thriving in your career, your relationships, your personal happiness and your finances? If you can answer these questions positively and frankly, then coaching might well not be of any great benefit to you. But if you answered 'no' to any or all of the questions, or if you even hesitated about any of your answers, then coaching could indeed be of assistance to you.

If you ever have those moments of feeling that 'your life should be better than it is', or that you want to have more control over the way your future develops, then Life Coaching could help to provide you with a way of achieving the aims and goals that you hold sub-consciously or even voice from time to time, but feel are beyond you. We take the view that everyone has the potential to achieve almost anything they want out of life, if they develop the goals, take action and move towards the desired life. Our coaches can show you how to tap into your full potential.

The very first coaching session you have will introduce you to new ways of thinking about yourself and your life and will provide an insight as to how you can overcome those obstacles you feel are holding you back. Our coaches can help you to question your life and your current direction.... and come up with answers that will change your life.

How does Life Coaching differ from other similar approaches?

Life Coaching is not counselling or therapy or mentoring. Often, a counsellor or therapist will look into your past to try to ascertain why current patterns of behaviour are being exhibited. Your coach will, over time, develop an understanding of how your past has shaped your present, but the centre of attention of Life Coaching is on where you are now and where you are aiming to be in the future. The overarching aim is to enable you to take control of your life by accepting responsibility for all that you are and all that you do and to be proactive in achieving your goals.

A mentor is different from a life coach. A mentor is usually there to assist someone to learn a particular task or to acquire a specific set of skills. The mentor will have a good deal of experience in a particular area and will be able to assist the client to learn how to achieve particular results in specific areas. The mentor will generally know details of a job-related situation already. Life Coaching, however, does not require that the Coach should have personal experience of a client's industry or occupation. It's commonly accepted in coaching that the absence of specific experience adds to the effectiveness of coaching in this area, coming at the situation through unbiased eyes. A mentor already knows the answers: a coach works with the client so that they can first discover the relevant questions for themselves and then derive their own answers.

How does Coaching work in the business environment?

We and our Associates, as coaching professionals, have taken advanced training in the application of Life Coaching principles to senior executives and to work-groups in the corporate environment.

Senior executives, who may well be successful, can often benefit from the clarity of thought and clear direction that can be derived from Coaching. It can also be very valuable in helping individuals to differentiate between what their title says they are and what they really are, or would like to be. Being successful in business does not necessarily mean being successful in many other important areas of life. This is what Coaching can help the senior executive to achieve. Courses in Work-Life Balance are often an essential tool in this area and can be tailored for executives or all levels within an organisation.
For more details, please email balance@outsidetheboxcoaching.co.uk.

Similarly to Life Coaching, Business Coaching focuses on personal goals. With Business Coaching, however, the range of these goals is limited to those that are in synch with the overall goals of the organisation, as they apply to a team or work-group. Through Business Coaching, we aim to ensure that the work-group members have a full understanding of the corporate goals and the targets of the particular projects to which they contribute. Our Coaches work with each individual as in personal or life coaching, but focus more on helping the individual to understand how they can best fulfill their own and the organisation's objectives in harmony. This approach often highlights personal development requirements that enable the individual to both make a stronger contribution to the organisation and help them to be more successful, a more useful team-player and with an increased level of personal happiness and satisfaction. Overall, the effect is to benefit both the individual and the company and this boosts productivity, job satisfaction, teamwork and staff-retention.

Additionally, Life Coaching with its breadth of coverage and depth of understanding about the attitude and desires of the individuals involved, will often enable a company to achieve change in a faster timescale and with longer lasting benefits than those resulting from a standard consultancy approach.