Would You Hire a Life Coach?

Have you ever wished that there was a person who is be a sounding board for your ideas and encourage and support you in fulfilling your dreams? Somebody who doesn’t judge you or crush your enthusiasm?
Since the Law of Attraction gained attention (through the movie “The Secret”), more people became aware that there is more to life than everyday reality. Today, we are easily talking about reaching our full potential, achieving personal goals and being successful. There is a new profession called Life Coaching.

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler."
~ Henry David Thoreau

We all know about coaches for the different sports teams. Among the famous ones were John Wooden (basketball), Vince Lombardi (football), Yogi Berra (baseball), etc. 
“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”
~ John Wooden, American Basketball Coach, 1910-2010

You see, coaches don't solve problems they simply assist their clients in finding the answers themselves.

“Leaders aren’t born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that’s the price we’ll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal.”
~ Vince Lombardi , American Football Coach, 1913-1970

General Coaching
The structure and methodologies of coaching are very numerous with one unifying feature, coaching approaches are predominantly facilitating in style, see facilitation; that is to say that the coach is mainly asking questions and challenging the person to be coached. Coaching is differentiated from therapeutic and counseling disciplines.
Coaching is performed with individuals and groups, in person, over the phone and online.

What is a life coach?
Life coaching is a practice that helps people identify and achieve personal goals. Life coaches help clients set and reach goals using a variety of tools and techniques. Coaches are not therapists nor consultants; psychological intervention and business analysis are outside the scope of their work. Life coaching has its roots in executive coaching, which itself drew on techniques developed in management consulting and leadership training. Life coaching also draws inspiration from disciplines including sociology, psychology, positive adult development, career counseling, mentoring and other types of counseling. Contemporary life coaching can also be traced to teachings of Benjamin Karter, a college football coach turned motivational speaker of the late 1970s and early 1980s. The coach may apply mentoring, values assessment, behavior modification, behavior modeling, goal-setting and other techniques in helping their clients (Wikipedia).

Here are a few links for life coaching:
http://www.mylifecoach.com/
http://www.bhia.org/holistic/life-coaching.htm
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-life-coach.htm

http://www.icoachacademy.com/
http://www.robbinsmadanestraining.com/

Here are some suggestions by Christy Whitman of Quantum Success Coaching Academy:
The most important about life coaching is to understand that we are not given advice or fix the other person:

1 - Start from your own authentic being (you don’t need to know more than your client).
2 - Ask powerful questions to get the client to find the answer (support their vision - give suggestions not advice).
3 - Focus on the client not the problem (listen-listen-listen, illuminate the other).
I liked her point that we don't have to be "perfect" to be good role models. Here is a link for a video presentation: http://christywhitman.com/QSCA/program/video-2.

At a time when jobs are not easily available, learning skills to be independent can be can be a good alternative for employment.