Life Coaching is no 'fad'
by Marlon Nolan
Life Coaching is a growing phenomenon and, as an industry, is starting to take off with the British people. In the USA, Life-Coaching is said to be the second-fastest growing industry, behind IT. Wow!
That is great news for people like me, offering a service as a Life-Coach. After all, the trends that sweep through the US can often repeat here. The truth is Coaching is nothing new. The area of work, boardrooms, and sport has used coaches to help create successful people into more successful people for a few decades. Today, more and more Training & Development Managers are successfully persuading their organisations to use Coaching to support individual progress in the work place.
Coaching at work is often referred to as Executive or Business Coaching. Sometimes, it is even confused with Mentoring. Mentors are often best employed to advise and lead an individual in order to enhance their development into a role the Mentor has had direct experience. Coaches are not in the business to 'advise'; neither do they need direct experience of the coachee's desired goals.
That's great progress for coaching per se, but what about Life-Coaching in particular? More and more Britons are using Life-Coaches. We are living in the age of a new millennium. A time and place when and where spiritual and personal growth & development is taken seriously. We are all in the business of creating our own opportunities and successes that make us feel alive - a fresh perspective on our self and self-confidence.
So, why the article? Simple, there are still people who aren't fully aware of Life-Coaching or have already generated a negative picture of this service. You know who you are.
Of course, I haven't carried out a national survey, but it's the feedback I've received over the years. For every 10 people who will or have used a Life-Coach to achieve positive results, there are 1 or 2 who are sceptical. I know you can't win them all. They're sceptical because they think its another fad; a phase we're going through because the USA is embarrassing the trend. The banks told Sahar & Bobby Hashemi, (the successful creators of Coffee Republic), that we are a nation of Tea drinkers and coffee will never take off here. The banks dismissed the Hashemi's idea of a coffee shop as a 'fad' - it will never take off. Coffee Republic is Britain's original coffee shop and one of its most successful. And many thousands of us have benefited from this 'fad'.
I'm here to bust the myth that Life Coaching is another 'fad'. Life Coaching is taking off all over the developing world. The International Coaching Federation is the world body that accredits Life-Coaches. Its members are growing all the time.
Life-coaches, themselves, bring different styles of coaching to their clients, but many share the same core approach. Often, a Life-Coach is serious about the clients' intentions, and purposeful about getting results. A good Life-Coach will even give you a proverbial 'kick up the arse' if you are not achieving. This is important to know because often Life-Coaching is mistaken for the US 'let's-be-positive today' approaches, ('Let me hear you say "yeaah" - types'). Of course, its part of the plan, but its not about saying; 'I am the greatest', or 'I am a positive person' twenty times then punching the air like a mad man. (In my opinion, affirmations don't work, anyway) It's more constructive than that.
Being life-coached is a business that takes a full interest in getting results, fast. It's about taking realist responsibility for what you want, and how we're going to get it. It's for everyone from parents who have raised a family for 16 year who want to achieve something new, to successful CEO's who simply want more success.
It's not always about those who want help. Life coaching can help you build success on existing success. You don't have to loose your way in life to hire a life-coach. But, most of all, it's a valuable lesson to experience yourself stretch your comfort zone, and come out the other side with new results and a slightly new angle on yourself. That can never be underestimated.
Effectively, Life-Coaching is about learning and achieving tangible results. Based on real British grit and determination. Life Coaching is about getting up, and 'getting on with it'. Taking purposeful action.
Our history is littered with a no-nonsense approach to life. Life coaching is no-nonsense. It's not 'wishy-washy'. It's not 'razzmatazz'. It's not 'gung-ho'. Instead, it's finally taking what you want, seriously. Stepping out and making real progress daily. It's learning the power of reflecting on past behaviours to modify future behaviours. It's about not accepting anything less than what you agreed to achieve.
The next time you hear or read about a Life-Coach. Remind yourself that this is a reflection that individuals in our society believe they deserve progress and development in their lives. So, do the right thing. Call a Life coach near you, let them know you care.
Marlon Nolan is a Life-Coach and founder of Hummingbird Life-Coaching. He can be found at www.hummingbirdlifecoaching.com, or contacted on: 0870 243 2094.
Marlon B.Nolan Hummingbird Life Coaching
