At any given moment in life, no matter how great things are going or how challenging it all seems, change is something that the vast majority of us crave. It’s a common human experience to step back, evaluate the state of things, and be able to pinpoint a few areas in life where improvement would be beneficial.
Many times, the things we want to change are those parts of our life that feel like they hold us back from reaching our full potential—and we’re not always entirely sure why.
Whether it’s a struggle to stay motivated professionally, health goals that are hard to reach, a desire to enjoy improved relationships, or a fear of trying new things… we all have certain things to focus on that feel like legitimate hurdles.
Wanting to make those changes at all is a good step towards positive personal development. This is a vital part of life and growth in many ways. That said, the routes to achieving a better, and perhaps more holistic version of ourselves can look drastically different from one individual to another.
While some people are more comfortable reaching out to a life coach for help when a little, or even a lot, of self-improvement is needed, others may actually benefit more significantly from a self-coaching approach. So the initial question would be: do I need a life coach?
It all begins with a look at what a life coach does and evaluating how that fits, or doesn’t fit, with the goals you’re considering setting for yourself. This type of evaluation will likely reveal if you would make more progress hiring a professional, or would benefit more from tackling the task of life coaching on your own.
What a Life Coach Aims to Do For You
Hiring a life coach is a highly personalized process that takes many customized goals and details into account. However, there are some general parameters you can count on, and objectives you can expect, when you hand life coaching over to a professional.
A life coach specializes in helping their clients create focused change, no matter what their current circumstances may entail. This usually begins with an introspective evaluation that helps a life coach guide clients towards new mindsets, and perspectives.
Ultimately, these new lenses will help them change their habits and discover sources of strength and motivation they may not have realized they possessed.
In many ways, a life coach is responsible for helping those who hire them to make better decisions and understand the why behind the how when it comes to reaching goals. A life coach takes time to really get to know their client’s strengths, weaknesses, wants, and desires to help create positive pathways leading in a better direction with more ease.
A life coach’s job is to tell their clients not what they want to hear, but what they need to hear to make effective changes a reality. They point out habits and behaviors that have become engrained but may be stumbling blocks when it comes to being the very best version of themselves.
Accountability, perseverance, and follow-through are all characteristics a life coach will strive to highlight for their clients throughout training.
While a life coach will create a customized plan to help their clients reach goals, the lessons learned along the way should be able to seamlessly fit into many areas of life.
Signs That Indicate a Life Coach is a Good Idea for You
Have you ever wondered: “do I need a life coach” or “should I self-coach myself?” Having a few defining elements in place can make that decision easier. If any of the 5 following characteristics apply to you, hiring a professional to help you on your self-improvement journey may be a good idea!
1 – You Have Goals but It’s Impossible to Follow Through
In reality, there are endless amounts of potential within all of us, but for some people, accessing it requires a little help. If you find that you’re a person with a ton of ideas and goals for the future, but absolutely no clear vision as to how to reach those objectives, a life coach may be the best way to change things around.
Follow-through is key to turning goals into a reality and if you’re not equipped with the skills to set a plan yourself, having a professional step in and help can make all the difference.
A life coach will take time to evaluate your goals and behaviors to create a plan of action that’s manageable. For those who have struggled with follow-through their entire lives, this promises to be a refreshing and supportive change of pace.
2 – You’re an Expert at Procrastination
Action, discipline, and an organized timeline are all generally required to reach long-term and short-term goals alike. Unfortunately, none of these pair well with procrastination.
If you’re someone who would define themselves as an expert procrastinator, hiring a life coach is a must. In this scenario, a life coach will not only help you create a plan for reaching your goals and making positive changes but will then combat your procrastination tendencies by keeping you accountable for sticking to that plan!
No, it may not be comfortable to be held accountable to a timeline, but when real change is necessary, it’s essential.
For personality types that have a reason for putting everything off, hiring a life coach is a good way to override those tendencies and even begin to learn new habits for overcoming procrastination on your own.
3 – Dealing with Stress and Change Feels Overwhelming
Recognizing that there are areas of your life that could use improvement is a good thing. However, for some people, it’s also a major stress inducer.
If the mere thought of trying to formulate a plan for self-improvement has you stressed out and overwhelmed, it’s a clear sign that a life coach is a good decision. There’s no reason to let the process of positive change become something negative in the name of stress.
A life coach’s role is to help you create a plan that works, and includes stress reduction techniques along the way!
When change has a way of making you feel burnt out before it’s even happened, a life coach can help you integrate more streamlined processes into daily routines that reduce stress and anxiety and improve positivity as a result. When you have this kind of support in place, it’s innately a reason to feel less stressed overall.
4 – You Lack Some Much-Needed Self-Confidence
Yes, a life coach is someone you hire to pinpoint areas of improvement and help you design a path to get there. However, their role also involves finding your innate strengths and growing them in the name of self-confidence.
The progress you make towards your goals is directly related to the faith you have in yourself to achieve them.
While a life coach’s guidance is beneficial, for those individuals who struggle with self-confidence, getting an outside perspective on how incredible they truly are is priceless. It shines a light on unique talents and gifts they alone possess that the world could benefit from.
5 – You Find it Hard to Shake That Feeling of Being Stuck
Whether it’s a diet that never sticks or relationships you just can’t seem to get right, it’s not an uncommon scenario for people to feel they just can’t get out of the rut they’ve found themselves in. When this is a feeling you just can’t shake, a life coach could be the key to getting you up and on your way towards success.
Having a professional evaluate the processes you’ve implemented and feel you’ve failed at is a good way to gain insight into mistakes you might not have even realized you were making!
Solutions could be far simpler than you’ve ever imagined and hiring a professional to highlight some small changes that make a big difference could be the one element you’ve been missing all along.
Signs That Indicate You Might be a Great Self-Coach
Just as signs are pointing to the fact that a life coach could be the solution you’ve been looking for, there are just as many that indicate you could be well-equipped to life coach yourself! Before you go hiring a pro, take a minute to see if you already have the resources in place to self-coach your way to success.
1 – You’re a Natural Planner
If you’re a natural-born planner, chances are you have a ton of goals you would like to reach, and simply struggle to find the time to work on them. If this is the case, self-coaching may be right for you.
Those who are natural planners don’t generally struggle with procrastination, it’s more a question of prioritizing a self-evaluation. If this sounds like you, self-coaching will likely be a good route to making positive life changes.
Start with giving yourself the gift of a little time to make a plan, put it on paper, and get to work. You’ll likely find you already have the motivation within yourself to begin taking steps towards progress without needing any professional influence.
2 – You Easily Recognize Your Own Bad Habits
Not to be confused with self-deprecation—recognizing habits that could be detrimental long-term is a key quality amongst those who are adept at self-coaching. Being able to self-evaluate in this way is essential when you need to put small practices into place that reverse habits and behaviors over time.
While a hired life coach would be asked to point these out to a client to overcome them, it’s possible to do the same for yourself. Those that can easily identify areas of struggle are already in a position to begin creating a feasible plan of action.
3 – You Struggle, But Your Self-Confidence is Still High
For some people who struggle with self-confidence, even small hurdles can feel like giant setbacks. For these individuals, a life coach is a built-in support system to not only keep them on track when things don’t go according to plan but to boost their confidence along the way.
On the other hand, if you’re the type of person whose self-confidence is strong, but you’re struggling with issues like all humans do, self-coaching is likely a route that’s going to work.
High self-confidence instills the motivation you need to move forward even when things aren’t easy. It’s that voice inside that tells you to keep going because you’re valuable even when the going gets tough.
4 – You Can Pinpoint Your Fears and Are Open to Facing Them
A major responsibility a life coach takes on is helping clients face their fears so they can grow as an individual. Those that are already very much aware of their fears and open to facing them head-on are well equipped to be their own life coach.
Much like hired coaching, self-coaching requires a push to step outside your comfort zone as a way to test the limits of your capabilities. Every fear that’s faced is a chance to either take on a new interest or further define your boundaries.
If you’re willing to do this on your own time, you’ll be achieving what a life coach would otherwise provide—just on a more independent platform.
5 – You’re Skilled With Time Management
You don’t have to be perfect at organizing your schedule, but a willingness to create a timeline for reaching goals and then sticking to it is half the battle when it comes to self-coaching. If you feel you already have this ability, you may not need to hire a life coach at all.
For those who struggle to stick to a timeline, a life coach is put in place to make achieving goals manageable. Those who are naturally inclined to create a schedule that works for them need only to refocus their energy on schedules that revolve around specific life goals.
Ultimately, this is doing for yourself, what a life coach would otherwise be hired to do for you.