Why You Need a Life Coach Part 1

Why You Need a Life Coach Part 1

I saw a funny post the other day that said “I don’t trust twenty year-old life coaches” The comedian went on to say that he would take an older woman with some life experience any day over a twenty year-old. He of course said not to take his comment too seriously because he was joking. While I can understand that the credibility of a twenty year-old life coach sounds doubtful, after scrolling through the comments I realized most people don’t actually understand what life coaches are.

The comedian reasoned that he wanted to hear from a person who had gone through some difficulties in life because surely they would know what to do and how to give better instruction on living life. People made jokes about young couples who give marriage advice after a short time of being married and more, but when you think about it, time is not an indicator of how good a marriage is. Of course everyone would love to believe that time and experience automatically makes things better but it doesn’t. Even a young couple with the right mindset and training could have credible advice to give about marriage whereas an older couple may have fallen into bad habits, become distant and not actually have a good marriage.

If life coaches were what most people thought then sure, this logic of age+experience= good life might make sense. But if being older meant that you automatically gained wisdom and knew how to live your life then older people would be the most fit, healthy, happy and successful people on the earth! But growing older doesn’t necessarily mean that you grow wiser or that you can apply the things that you’ve learned to your life. 

Life coaches are not mentors and they don’t necessarily give advice. Life coaches are skilled and trained to listen and ask you the right questions. They pay attention to areas of your life that you may not notice and help you to become aware of areas you could benefit from making changes, gaining insight and rethinking situations. They help you discover what’s important to you and help you come up with solutions. Life coaches do not provide counselling unless that is their background and you have agreed to that. The cool thing about life coaches is that if you get one that has another field of focus you might get that blend in your coaching sessions. My life coach can help me develop insight into my spiritual life, work/ministry goals and help me stay focused on my writing intentions without needing to be a writer. 

To be continued.