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How to Become a Life Coach: 5 Steps to Greatness

Becoming a life coach is a great career path if you enjoy helping people reach their greatest potential. Find out how to become one!

Do you love helping people to become the best version of themselves?

Are you the friend or the person in the group that everyone turns to when they need guidance?

If you answered yes to these, then you may be the ideal candidate to start training to become a life coach. But before we launch into what goes into training, it’s important to address the following question:

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What Does a Life Coach Do?

There is some confusion around the difference between a life coach and a therapist.

A therapist spends many years getting an education and a degree to help people recognize their deep-seated behavior patterns and how they negatively impact their lives.

Meanwhile, a life coach helps those with tangible goals: losing weight, finding more creativity, or spending more time with family.

A life coach is trained to ask the right questions that allow their clients to recognize they already know the answers. Then the coach and client work together to formulate a plan.

The client is accountable to the coach when goals aren’t met. But the coach is also the person with whom they will celebrate the many successes.

Life coaching is a rewarding career. But to become a certified life coach, you’ll need to complete the following steps:

1. Educate Yourself

Depending on the program you choose, you could spend upwards of $15,000 and 6-12 months of your life getting your certification. So it’s wise to check with online and offline sources to get an insider’s view of the industry and what it means to be a coach.

2. Choose Your Program

Once you’ve determined you want to take the plunge, the next step is to find the right program. While there are over 1,000 programs, you can narrow your choices by insisting on only those accredited by the International Coach Federation (ICF).

From there, it’s a matter of how much you can afford, whether you wish to do it virtually or in person, and what level of coach you want to achieve.

3. Earn Your ICF Credential

Once you’ve completed the training, worked with a mentor coach, and logged in all your necessary hours of volunteer coaching, you’ve earned your ICF credential as an Associate Certified Life Coach.

From there, you can decide whether to train further to become a Professional Certified Life Coach then a Master Life Coach.

4. Join a Life Coaching Association

Making connections in any industry is always a huge benefit. And there are many life coaching associations. Stick with the independent ones versus those that are part of or promoting a training school.

Once again, the ICF has one of the most well-known and offers many benefits, especially those just starting.

5. Start Coaching

There are countless opportunities.

Some coaches open their businesses, while others work with coaching service providers or are paid a salary to work in a corporate environment.

Once you start training, you’ll recognize the niches you’re most drawn to. From there, the sky’s the limit!

Embark on a New Career

No matter who you are or where you live, you could find great rewards in becoming a life coach.

After all, everyone could use a little help now and then.

And if you’re toying with other career options, check out the rest of our career tips blog.

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