Top Qualities and Skills of a Life Coach
- Curious
- Adept listeners
- Good verbal and written communicators
- Empathy
- Extreme care and love for helping others
- Skilled questioners
- Intuitive
Self-Assessment Questions for Prospective Life Coaches
What is motivating me to want to start a career as a life coach?
What is my commitment level to growing a business from the ground up?
Am I comfortable with growth that might not come quickly?
Am I comfortable doing the marketing, networking and other business development activities that will be required to make this a success?
How much money do I need to make ends meet?
Do I have the support of family, friends, mentors or other coaches to help me through this process?
How do I feel during the coaching career exploration process? Is it fun, exciting and motivating? Or is it uncomfortable and uninspiring?
Step Two: Explore Your Personal Goals
One of the biggest challenges of starting any business is the unknown. While some businesses explode right from the start, many others take persistent time, energy and money to grow over time. As a prospective coach, it is important to get very clear on your personal and financial goals. When you know what you’re striving for, it becomes easier to create a plan and to achieve it.
Review your financials. Get clear on how much money you need and how much money you would like to earn each year. Are you wanting a part-time job or a side hustle? Is your goal to create a full-time life coaching empire?
Goal clarity will be key as you begin to identify the education and skills you need to achieve success. It will also help as you plan how to grow and market your business in the future.
Step Three: Determine Your Niche
Establishing a niche for your coaching practice allows you to become highly specialized in helping the kinds of clients you really want to work with. While this might seem premature at this point, it is helpful to think about the kinds of clients that really light you up.
When you have a clear understanding of your coaching niche, you can more effectively research life coaching training and certification programs as well as other educational opportunities. Find out if the program provides direct training, resources or mentors related to your chosen niche. This will ensure that you are getting the training and networking opportunities you need after completing your program.
There are so many coaching niches out there! Some popular options you may consider include:
- Small business owners
- Young adults
- Executives
- Single mothers
- Career or career transitions
- Marriage and divorce
- Spiritual
- Productivity and performance
- Health and wellness