Let me guess: you’re the person all of your friends come to for advice. You get texts in the morning, calls in the evening, and pop-ins at work. Everyone wants to know how to handle this or what they should say to that – and you are the master of advice. But at what point should you look into this as an actual career? When should you decide that you want to be in the helping profession – and even more – do you even know how to become a life coach?
It’s not up for me to decide whether or not life coaching is your passion, but I can help you navigate what is required in order to move forward in the career (hint: it’s not much at all!). Life coaching is an exceptionally rewarding job, and I think you’ll find it more than exciting to get paid doing what you love. So if you’re wondering how to become a life coach, this is for you!
Enroll in a Certification Course
The easiest way to become a life coach is to enroll in a certification course. There are hundreds – probably thousands – of certifications to choose from. The International Coaching Federation offers life coaching certifications, and they also strive to hold other independent certification programs to certain standards through accreditation. Unfortunately, life coaching is not regulated, and therefore anyone can say they are a life coach. Therefore, it’s important to do intense research into the program and instructors you are considering enrolling with. The ICF is one resource that can help identify thorough programs from those less impressive.
Get a Masters Degree
At Blush Life Coaching, we require every coach to have their masters degree in counseling, social work, or equivalent. Many counseling and coaching techniques overlap – and having a masters degree in counseling can help coaches understand whether their clients are best suited for coaching and therapy. Plus, having two years (plus) of extensive client work can enhance life coaches’ tools, experience, and skills. A masters degree in mental health/psychology typically takes a minimum of two years and provides the foundation needed to sit for various mental health licensing exams, such as the LPC or LMFT. While a masters degree is not required in order to become a life coach (in fact, nothing is required!) and is definitely not for everyone, it’s a great option for someone who wants to dive head first into the field.
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Decide On a Niche
Once you’ve decided upon your path of coaching education, it’s essential for you to decide on a niche. While the majority of coaching or counseling programs will prepare you for working with clients of all backgrounds, ages, and genders – it’s important for you to understand why you wanted to get into coaching in the first place. Was it to help busy moms find time for self-care? Was it for apprehensive adolescents to find their confidence upon entering high school? Was it in order to connect with high performing executives to help them reach their full potential?
Answering this question will help you flesh out your branding, your message, and create a healthy batch of clients. Client referrals are crucial to the coaching industry – so without a commonality between clients, it could be hard to catch fire via word-of-mouth endorsements.
Create Content
Now that you have your niche in place, it’s time to share it with the world! It’s best to start with mediums and topics you are most comfortable with. To start, which kind of medium are you most compatible with? Do you prefer chatting into a video camera, or writing out content? What about social media? Hone in on a platform you know will be easy for you to get started, and take it from there. Write about topics that interest you and your potential clients. Make sure to emphasize what you know you can offer them, and try to educate them along the way. Showcasing your talents will be a great way to prove to clients you know how to help them better than anyone else.
Clearly I’ve decided that blogging was my most powerful tool – and I even went so far as to publish a book. I’m telling you, coaching is fun!
Get a Life Coach
This is probably the most important step in becoming a life coach. If you haven’t secured life coaching for yourself, it’s critical that you find a life coach before you try to become one yourself! Not only will it be an educational experience (how best to learn the coaching relationship than actually participating in one yourself?), but you’ll also greatly benefit from coaching during this phase of transition. While building a coaching business is rewarding and loads of fun – it can also be challenging, and you will need all the help you can get!
Blush Life Coaching loves to hire previous clients as coaches. We feel that joining as a client gives our coaches insight into our style of coaching, our message of empowerment, and displays the coach’s commitment to the power of coaching.
