Best reasons to hire a life coach

WHY LIFE COACHING WORKS

If you’ve ever thought of hiring a life coach, but like many others you’re not so sure what a life coach does, or even how to start your search for one, we have encouraging news. This profession is no longer the enigma it once was. In fact, a 2023 ICF Global Coaching Study reveals that in the last five years alone – since just 2019 – professional coaching has seen a 60% increase in growth. Now a $4.5 billion business with an estimated 35,000 clients in the U.S. alone, trained life coaches are being hired with the same confidence that professional athletes hire a fitness coach, or a professional singer hires a vocal coach.

For both career and major life transitions, the life coach is now widely considered an essential component for those in search of greater life fulfillment and accomplishment. So, if you’re curious about the benefits to hiring a life coach and why a growing number of people worldwide are such believers in the practice, or maybe you’ve always wondered what distinguishes a life coach from a therapist – we are here to clear the air.

THERAPY VS LIFE COACHING

What’s the difference between a therapist and a life coach? This is one of the most common questions we get asked and as you might assume, there are a few very clear-cut distinctions between these two professions. They are important to understand as you consider your needs and your options. Today we’ll take a look at the most common differences.

First and foremost, a therapist is a trained mental health counselor who provides individuals and families with therapeutic support surrounding emotional and mental health concerns. Where a therapist can diagnose a mental health disorder and help clients work through various life traumas, a life coach cannot. A life coach is a trained professional who works with clients on specific life goals they want to accomplish, and life transitions they want to navigate more successfully. The best life coaches bring a variety of effective tools and diverse practices to support these goals and are willing to customize their process to best fit each client’s unique needs and learning style. The best coaches are excellent listeners and act as collaborators, not facilitators, in their coaching relationships.

Another key difference between therapist and coach is that the therapist more often assesses their clients’ family history as a path to uncovering any mental or emotional health challenges that are interfering with their daily lives. A therapist supports the healing of psychological disorders and teaches healthier life-coping skills.

A life coach’s focus, on the other hand, is more centered in the areas of personal and group development, motivation, effective habit-building and achieving objectives like career advancement, growth mindset behaviors or a healthier work-life balance. They do this through better time-management habits, better boundary-setting practices and improved communication skills.

On the rare occasion you might meet a therapist who is also a certified life coach, though it’s fairly uncommon. So to summarize, the role of a therapist involves assessing a patient’s life history to address and help them overcome mental and emotional difficulties, whereas a life coach’s role is non-clinical based and more goal-oriented and future-focused. They share tools and habits that help motivate their clients and hold them accountable to the goals they’ve set out to accomplish.

What is very common is hiring both a therapist and a life coach. And, the best coaches will help these clients incorporate their therapy work into their goal-setting, for the very best cumulative outcome.

MOTIVATION & ACCOUNTABILITY

No man is an island, entire of itself is the famous idiom delivered by the Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral, John Donne, in a 17th century sermon. Donne is widely regarded as one of the greatest poets in English history. What he means by this phrase is that we humans are connected to each other, and this connection is essential for the wellbeing of any one of us. We need each other to thrive and survive. It could be said that John Donne possessed the mindset of a modern-day life coach.

Unlike anyone else, it is the job of a life coach to help strategize, collaborate, motivate and celebrate the progress and success of their clients. Our friends and family may love us to pieces, but they still have their own lives to live. It is the job of a life coach to listen carefully and share best practices and habits to keep their focus and their eyes on the prize. A life coach holds the client accountable through encouragement, motivation and a series of intentional weekly action steps. A recent study by Frontiers in Psychology found that both individual and group coaching helps reduce procrastination and more actively expedites goal achievement.

By the time they’re ready to hire a coach, most people know where and how they want to grow. They view the role of their coach as chief strategist, collaborator and motivator. They want to work with someone who understands what they need and will help them identify the set of steps to keep them moving ahead in a measured and sensible way. They expect a coach to be their ally – someone to assess their progress and help them overcome setbacks. They expect to learn new habits and practice a more positive mindset, and they see their coach as that person to provide it – and an essential ally who is by their side and in their corner.

NAVIGATING LIFE TRANSITIONS

While the big dreamers and high-achievers of the world were the early-adapters to life coaching, an ever-expanding population has come to realize that the benefits of coaching extend well beyond big-goal achievement. We’ve reviewed the core skills a well-trained coach brings – the business strategy, motivation, accountability, and countless science-backed practices and habits to expedite progress and goal achievement for their clients. We’ve also drawn the dividing line between a therapist and a life coach – a therapist’s work being more clinical with an emphasis on family history and mental/emotional health; a life coaching being non-clinical and more future-focused with an emphasis on goal-setting and achievement.

But beyond the big-goal work is an equally important space a coach is well-known for - and largely why this profession is working so well for so many. It is the mindful, strategic support to navigate life’s big transitions - with less stress and anxiety, greater calm and more clarity. If there’s a common experience we all share, it’s that life hits us with uncertainty throughout. There will be births and deaths, marriage and divorce, illness and career change. Thrilling wins and great losses. And while the therapist approaches from a medical practice and know-how – the diagnosis and possible treatments – the well-trained life coach brings empathy, compassion, and years of practice in areas like growth mindset – helping clients find a greater sense of calm amidst the chaos and more thoughtfully manage their own ups and downs. The best coaches will ask the right questions, listen carefully to the answers, and then collaborate as a team to create a healthy path forward with greater hopefulness, confidence and clarity.

At the end of the day (and this blog post) our late great poet John Donne’s words still hold true. Not one of us is an island unto itself. It’s tough to make it alone, let alone to succeed. We need each other. We need support, encouragement, love and companionship. We need camaraderie! And – if we’re very lucky – once removed from our beloved friends and family – we’ll find that well-trained human being who is there to share just the right mindset and tools and motivation we need - when we need it the most. And we’ll hire that life coach.