How To Choose A Life Coach

Are you Thinking of Hiring a Life Coach. Then read all about how to choose a life coach on this page! Welcome, I’m Gordon, The Happiness Guy.

You know where you want to be. For some reason you can’t quite get into the habits you need to arrive at your new destination.  You might be thinking about getting some help. Choosing the right life coach to help get more happiness, balance and success in your life is a big step in itself.  

You need to be absolutely certain the person you decide to hire has the personal experience and the professional skill-set to empower you to do it too.  Somebody who can motivate, educate and inspire you to take the action to move you towards a happier and more fulfilled life.

Before you embark on a journey with a life coach I strongly urge you to look for proof of their skills, qualifications and successes.  Don’t expect a coach to inspire and motivate you if you don’t gel. Are they sharing their approach on line to give you a feel for if they are likely to be right for you? 

Check all of this out before you hire a coach or mentor. I go into more detail in the video below.  If you prefer to read what I say then I’ve also put an outline transcript further down the page.

Have a watch and if you think I might be the right coach for you and if it feels right, take the next step and ask for a free exploratory session here. 

Choosing a Life Coach – Get The Facts

My name is Gordon McCrorie The Happiness Guy and this is a video on how to choose a life coach.

Given that I am a life coach I fully accept that I might be  a tiny bit biased because this video outlines what I consider to be important.  You might think one or two things are important, that I have missed off. I’ve not missed them off intentionally; these are just all the things that I thought would be a great place to start. 

So without further ado: How do you choose a life coach?

Look For Proof

Well let us think about if you wanted to go on holiday.  You’d probably look at something like trip advisor. And you’d think how does this hotel do and what are the comments like?

I’d start with reviews and proof. If you are going to embark on something that is tough and often sensitive then you want to know you are in really safe hands. So look for high numbers of reviews, high quality reviews and look at what their customers and clients have written about them. Is there anything that resonates with you and your situation?

The Right Coach For The Right Job

A career coach; somebody who is really good at career coaching might not be great at relationships; somebody who is great at relationships might not be great at career coaching. A life coach – find out what they love to do; find out what their specialities are. Make sure that they are matched to you and your needs.

Not Everybody Is An Expert

Next, what about qualifications and experience? With life coaching there is often not that high a barrier to entry. What that means is that almost anybody can become a life coach with very little or technically no qualifications / insurance etc.

Next, imagine what happens when somebody goes to a life coach training company and pays them a lot of money; nobody is going to fail the exam. Not when they have paid thousands of £s to a life coach training company because it is not in the company’s best interests to fail people.  It’s not like university where people fail. What I’m saying is that quality can vary. 

I have an honours degree in exercise and health science as a starting point, before I did anything else. So that’s a four year university qualification, plus then a bunch of other things. I have spent thousands of hours reading and learning. 

You can also check for professional qualifications and training. So we might all of heard about Neuro Linguistic Programming but has your coach completed comprehensive qualifications?

Personal Experience Counts

And moving a bit further than just qualifications, what about experience?  How long have they been a coach and what was their experience prior to that? Was it relevant, and how about their life experience. I’m not saying that somebody who is 22 or maybe 25 couldn’t be a life coach. It’s not impossible, but it’s less likely they will make a great coach than somebody who has seen a bit of the world and has gone through some stuff themselves.

So it’s worth considering qualifications and life experience.

Demonstrate Approach

Can you “get to know” the coach in advance of meeting them in some shape or form? Can you get to understand your own challenges through their eyes? I’m thinking of free content; have they got some great quality blog posts or have they done lots of videos on different things. I think that can allow you to feel more confident if they can demonstrate their expertise.

Exploratory Session Reduces Risk

What next? I think coaching is a really personal thing. I would always want to meet who I may be working with before I say yes to working with them.  Who wants to go to work and pay somebody they don’t like or get on well with? So I think the client shouldn’t be put at a disadvantage because of that. Ask, does the coach offer a free exploration session. 

Currently I do offer one, maybe I won’t always do that. It is the way that I have approached life coaching so far. It’s a way for the client to get a feel for what coaching with me is like without risk to them and their money so I’m happy with that. Not all coaches offer free exploration sessions but I think you should certainly ask.

The Right Coach and Mentor Will Get You There Quicker

Think about what you really need. Is it a coach or a mentor or both?  A coach will ask you great questions, and help you design a formula and strategy and things like that and help keep you accountable. But a mentor has actually done it; and I think sometimes having a mentor in almost all cases is better. A mentor knows how to actually do it; they are really going to be certain and they will lead you through it. And that can often be a lot faster when you have a mentor with specific experience in what you need. 

Do you want a coach or do you want a mentor? Or do you want a bit of both?

Leading By Example

It’s is a bit of shame, but some life coaches don’t have their own life together. So imagine being taught to stop smoking by somebody who smokes or being coached to get in physical shape by somebody who is obese or overweight. 

There is a lack of congruency with that. It isn’t authentic. You need to know that they are really good; not only do they know how to do it; but they have implemented their own processes for themselves.

So knowledge is one thing, anybody can read a book. But can they get themselves to do it is a real testament of whether they can get you to do it. If they can’t get their own “stuff” in order what makes you think they can help you do the same. So, have they got their own life together?

Rapport is Key

Lastly, how did that exploratory session go? How did your conversation go? How did you get on together? Does what they say resonate with you and do they “get” you?

The Essential Questions

So these would be my top tips. Get some reviews or proof of expertise, find out their qualifications and experience, see what free content they have and consume it. Do they offer a free exploratory session, if so fantastic. Do you want a mentor or a coach, or both? Have they got their own stuff together and does what they say resonate with you? And do they really seem to want to help, let’s throw that in, because you want somebody who is passionate about helping you overcome the challenges you face.

So they are my top tips on selecting a life coach. My name is Gordon McCrorie and I am The Happiness Guy. I really hope this has been helpful for you. Good luck, be brave and take action! If you’d like to know more about me, have a look here.