I often get emails and phone calls from people who want to get the 411 on Life Coaching as a career. Some common questions are:

- what's it like?
- how does one become a life coach?
- can you do it full-time or do you have to get another job?
- what's good about it, what's bad about it?
- how much does it pay?
- what's the difference between life coaching and personal coaching?
- what's the difference between life coaching and therapy?

I’m going to do my best to answer all your questions and give you the real 411 (the good and the bad), so you can get a realistic idea of what life coaching is like.

In my opinion, life coaching is the best career there is, but just like everything else, it takes devotion and inspired effort. It takes time to become successful at it. Above else, it takes love.

First of all, life coaching is not licensed. This means that anyone can do it, and there’s no need for any degree or even certification. Now, there are many companies that offer certification (and even colleges are starting to have programs for it), but it isn’t necessary to get one.

Technically, you can become a life coach today. You can print up some business cards and call yourself a life coach. Many people do exactly that and are actually fantastic coaches. The skills you’ll be using depend on your own self-study of personal development, not something you’ll learn in traditional school. I think intuition plays a major role in helping people: you need to understand people and read between the lines. Most of all, you need to be convincing that you can help them with their problem and/or goals.

The positive aspects of this career: You work for yourself and you make your own schedule. You can work from home and usually do, as most sessions with clients happen over the phone. The money is great per hour (on average $100/hr),
which means you can work less hours. You also get to have your own business, which is fantastic. There is so much freedom in this career and it’s incredibly rewarding to help people. The sessions are usually fun and creative, and they often end up benefiting you as much as your clients.

If you care about self-improvement, you’ll learn a lot doing this. It’s also empowering to be building your own business. And how many people get to sleep ’til 2PM and do their work in their pyjamas? Well, life coaches can do this! (I do it all the time!)

The negative aspects of this career: You have to find your own clients, which isn’t easy, especially at the beginning. Just like any salesman (or woman), you have to sell yourself and your service (life coaching). So, how much you earn will depend on how many clients you can get. This can be difficult for many coaches as we are often sensitive souls who don’t want to be selling ourselves nor are good at it. However, we usually have to develop this skill or we’d have no clients. Another negative aspect is the cost of running your own business, which is very small in comparison to other types of businesses, but can take a toll when you’re first starting out. There is the cost of phone bills, having your own website, of marketing, of
business cards, of autoresponders and mailing lists, etc.

Another negative aspect of life coaching is that sessions can be draining. You won’t like all your clients equally (you’re human) and some sessions may totally depress you after talking about your client’s problems. However, if you
learn to select the right clients for you and lead the session in a positive direction, this shouldn’t be a frequent problem. As with everything, the anxiety and pressure to perform well will subside the longer you are doing this.

As you can see, most of these negatives are really just lessons to learn. Everything worth doing has challenges along the way, but that shouldn’t ever stop you from doing what you love.

Usually, life coaches start off with another job (any job) that supports them financially until their coaching starts to bring in enough money. It can be a slow process, but again, once you do have enough clients, you will work less and earn more. You’ll also start to get more referrals and you’ll be more marketing-savvy as more time passes.

All of this will depend on you.

Another common question is whether life coaching is the same thing as personal coaching. Ok, basically life coaching separates into two types: 1. Executive coaching, and 2. Personal coaching. Personal coaching is where you help individuals with their personal and professional lives. In executive coaching, you generally help business owners or executives
reach their business goals. Different people are attracted to different kinds of coaching, so choose what you would enjoy most. (I am a personal coach and I love it!)

Coaches often choose a niche. For example, you can be a relationship coach who helps single women find true love. Or you can be a coach for teens. Or you can be an executive coach for small clothing stores. The possibilities are endless.

A great way to learn about coaching is to get sessions yourself. As you work with a life coach (or perhaps more), you will begin to see how it works. Although coaches work differently, there is always the general idea of asking our clients, “where are you now and where do you want to go?” We help our clients reach their goals. Unlike therapists, we don’t talk about the past traumas much, although sometimes we do talk about the past if it will help us understand our client’s patterns. However, a good coach always keeps their client focused on the future (and not just any future, but their ideal future).

I can tell you that I would never leave life coaching as it is perfect for me! I hate working for others and I am a natural teacher of self-empowerment. This is definitely a career for those who are self-motivated and like freedom.

I hope this has answered your questions!

And I hope to have sessions with all of you and I know you’ll really enjoy them!

Kisses,
Len Sone
Self-Empowerment Expert and Life Coach
http://kissesandhearts.com
“Be Yourself. It’s the only thing you can be truly successful at.”

QUESTION:
Dear Len!
I am a petroleum engineer from Afghanistan now in Canada, I came to Canada as a skilled worker ,because I wanted to escape the Islamic totalatarian regime in Afghanistan,I am 34 yrs old man and i have a life ,where everything seemed to against me, being non-practicing person, member of human right org,s the pressure/fear and last my mothher passed away when i was coming to Canada.       
I have lived life that didn’t give me a chance to polish myself back home.
Now in Canada, I would like to start a new life, free from anxiety,,fear  and apprehension but my past painful memories deprive me of that. It is a known fact if someone is subject to anxiety and dperession , his/her mental capibilities shrink.
I have problem in focusing , paying attentionn, that’s why I score poor in my school, I have started my schooling in Canada to up-grade my skills.
I would like to improve my brain function, focus, attention.
Otherwise  i may not be able to get job, if if i am not that technically sound.
Please provide me some advice that could help me in becomig technically sound and my brain start functioning sharpely.In this materialistic a sharp person has more chances to get a job and to progress.
Thanks

ANSWER:

Dear Bob* ,

my sage advice in one word: RELAX!

We are all taught that our work situation depends on our skills and talents, our mental capacity, but that just isn’t true. The only thing that really matters in our finances and career is our vibration. When we’re happy and having fun, everything in our life works. When we worry, nothing does. Law of Attraction is THE LAW to pay attention to.

And the thing is, you’re worrying a lot! You’re worrying about the past, about your work, your school…. and about your worrying. That means that your vibration is very low, which means that you’re attracting many negative things in your life, because like attracts like.

The only thing you need to improve is your vibration, and the only way to do that is to decide to relax, have fun and let worries go.

Let your mantra be: More fun, less worry. More fun, less worry. More fun, less worry.

Make a list of things you enjoy doing for fun and do them more often. Watch movies, play soccer, read poetry, sleep, whatever is fun and easy for you. When a negative thought arises, let God (the Universe) handle it. The old wise saying, “Let go and let God” really works wonders for someone like you, someone who has been worrying a lot. It’s time for you to step aside and let go of trying to manage everything.

If you don’t believe me, try it out for a month. Simply make your only job to have fun, and let the universe take care of the rest. You will become happier, your vibration will rise, and as a result, you will be attracting better situations including better jobs and more money. And it will all come to you easily.

Another thing to think about is whether you even enjoy your work as a petroleum engineer. If you don’t, change it into a career you can really love. You are still very young, and you are beginning a NEW Life. Don’t waste it! This is your chance to create the life you always dreamed of.
Maybe in Afghanistan you couldn’t be your true self, but now you can. Now you can follow your genuine interests like, for example, taking acting classes because you always secretly wanted to be a famous actor, or business lessons because you always pictured yourself as a successful businessman. If money is short, find another way; do what you can with what you’ve got until more money comes- and it will! Let Canada be your new home and your new teacher; there’s a good reason why you moved to a different continent. CHANGE.

It would help you enormously to stop trying to act like a serious and responsible adult, and be a kid again (or maybe for the first time). Dream, nap, play, run.
Life is really fun when you let it be. But it’s your choice. The thing about life is that the stronger your intention to have fun, the more fun life becomes. It’s not an instantaneous process because YOU have to change, but life is really just a mirror of you. So if life right now seems all serious and full of pressure, it’s because You are serious and pressure yourself.

Another perk to having more fun is that it improves your brain function, focus, and attention. All the things you wanted to improve in the first place. But that’s just icing on the cake. The real gift is that you’ll be having fun!

I recommend you read “Ask and It is Given” by Abraham-Hicks. It will go more in-depth about Law of Attraction. You can also access more of my articles on my website: http://kissesandhearts.com

Finally, I leave you with one of my favorite quotes:

"Life is too important to be taken seriously" - Oscar Wilde

Have fun,
Len Sone
Self-Empowerment Expert and Certified Life Coach

http://kissesandhearts.com

“Be Yourself! It’s the only thing you can be truly successful at.”

(*name changed for privacy)

On our path, our calling, there are many fears to conquer. I believe it was Doreen Virtue’s angels who said that the greater our mission, the greater our fears will be. Indeed, I’m finding that many of us “Lightworkers” have to get over our shyness and embarrassment to really have an impact. One of the common challenges is to find clients and an audience. Not easy! And mostly because of our own hangups. So how do you deal with that stuff? Well, that’s why I have the 90 Day Assertiveness Training. I really want to help you guys have support while you’re getting over these humbling experiences of, say, pitching your products and getting rejected. Or, heck, just asking that hot guy/gal on a date.

Big Smile Like You’re on Top of the World

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 Those games we played as kids, now called role-playing, still work wonders for people’s careers and personal lives. I ask my clients to roleplay with me by pretending they are on top of the world.

 One of my wonderful clients, Megan, didn’t think she could get a position she really wanted. Too much competition, she said. So I asked her to pretend she just got the job and tell me about it. It was a slow start but… woah, once she got going… she really let herself go and had more fun than she had in a while. And guess what happened? Within an hour, the CEO of the company called her and said she’s hired! Megan couldn’t believe it!
 
These are the kinds of things that happen when you roleplay with a life coach and mentally allow yourself to feel the excitement of success!

Whatcha waiting for?

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Assertiveness Training is designed to help you deal with… well, breaking your barriers. And that’s not glamorous because life asks us to go beyond our comfort zones. That means, getting over embarrassment and rejection. Getting over guilt and shame. But, good news! You don’t need to do it alone. I’m here for you. Supporting you is my job.

[Sign-up by emailing me at Len@KissesAndHearts.com]