The following question has been asked by someone via email:

Question: I want to become a certified Life Coach through your training program!

Answer:

Kisses&Hearts Coaching is not a certification program or school for becoming a life coach. I coach young women 1-on-1 and help them accomplish whatever goal they may have. Of course that goal may very well be to become a life coach, though so far my clients have all been interested in different career paths. However, K&H is branching out and it’s very possible that I will create exactly what you are interested in, a certification program for becoming a life coach, at some point. Not anytime soon though, sorry! (Unless I get hundreds of emails from young women begging me to create it and thus it becomes my priority!)

Meanwhile, there are many other certification programs. Googling is really the best way to find and compare them. They usually cost $800-$3,000. I want to point out that none of them are necessary (you don’t need a certification to be a life coach) and also none of them will provide you with your own clients, which is the hardest part of this profession. A good certification program will provide you with some coaching tools to use when you are working with clients, and some practice (this is usually done by pairing up members and letting them practice coaching each other). A good certification program should also help you come up with your own niche (i.e. what kind of clients do you want to work with?) and your own pricing.

The coaching certification programs might provide you with some general ideas about how to get clients, (to be honest, these ideas are things any average person would come up with). So getting clients is something that will be completely your responsibility as a self-employed entrepreneur. Most life coaches are like struggling actors. Just like even the best acting schools can only give you some skills but can’t give you a talent or a successful career, it’s the same with coaching certification programs. I want to make that point very clear because most people thinking about getting into coaching think it’s an easy path to money and clients or their own self-realization. They think they just need to get their certification and they will have arrived. Not even close! A certification is more like the starting point.

For this reason, if you do decide to do a certification program, figure out what you really want to get out of coaching and whether you have the passion to stay with it and find your own niche and clients. Life coaching can be an amazing career for those of us who are wise, brilliant, dedicated, and have found our own voice, but it is definitely NOT a quick path to money and clients.

For those of you reading this and who are interested in a K&H certification program, you can always shoot me an email. If I was to create such a  thing, it would be a huge undertaking. I’d have to write lesson plans, do group web seminars, provide 1-on-1 phone coaching, etc etc, and it would probably be priced  @ $800.

Kisses,

Len@KissesAndHearts.com

You’re about to work with me and you’re wondering how to prepare.

Here are the 3 questions to answer.

1. Who are you secretly jealous of?

2. What are you secretly afraid of?

3. What is your biggest obstacle?

These questions will open your mind to your innermost desires and weaknesses.

I am so excited to hear your answers!

Many life coaches are terribly burned out on life coaching and afraid to admit it! Raise your hand if you’re experiencing this? Yes, you!

What started off as a promising career where you thought (and perhaps occasionally did) that you would have tons of fun and that you’d make tons of money, has spiraled into a yucky marketing/networking/etc that didn’t bring you any clients and even unsatisfying sessions with client(s) you once enjoyed. Financially, you’re no better than you were a year ago or 5 years ago! And now you’re just tired, so tired of it all. And yet, you know you love coaching in some primal way. So what to do?

The truth is that you have to, and crave to, get your mojo back, the excitement and freshness, but you can’t do it if you aren’t willing to STEP OUT for a while.

1. If it’s not fun anymore, take a vacation from coaching! Do something else for a while. Stop coaching!

Seriously, tell your clients that you are taking a vacation from coaching and are not sure when you’ll coach them again. Believe it or not, your clients will be that much more impressed with you. When you get back, you’ll both be fresh again.

If you still want to coach a little bit, tell your clients that you are raising your fee by 100%. That way you can weed out the clients who are willing to stick with you and pay you more. A lot of the burn out that we coaches experience is because we are not paid nearly enough for the amount of energy we put into our coaching. This is a great way to appreciate yourself more, and it sends a great message to others.

Get a regular job or go back to school to support yourself. It’s ok to go back to 9-5, even if you promised yourself you never would. A big part of what made life coaching so exciting is the promise that you will be self-employed and enjoying a relaxing schedule of your own making. But is that a reality or are you constantly worried about money? If it’s not, just admit it and realize that you’ll get there one day. Now is the time for something else. See #2.

2. What is fun for you? What’s fresh?

It’s MOST important to move on to doing what’s purely fun for you without any strings attached. Be kidlike and explore new options!

Whatever your budget, you will find fun things to do and think about if you direct yourself in that direction.

This is the time to grow and discover a new you. See #3.

3. Who do you want to become?

Write out some adjectives describing people you truly admire in almost that envious sort of way. Not admire like “Oh they are a good person” but admire as in “Man, I wish I was like her/him. They rock!”

Now, answer this question: How can I become that kind of energy? See what comes up for you.

Example: Maybe you’ll discover you want to take better care of your physical appearance because beauty inspires you. You can get excited about that and start doing research about how to go about it. You’ll see how easy it is to come up with moving ideas.

You’ll discover that you didn’t loose your joy for life after all. You still know how to be happy!

I hope this article has helped you! You’ll know when the right time is to go back to coaching because you will just HAVE to!!

Kisses,

Len Sone

Self-Empowerment Expert and Certified Life Coach

http://len-sone.com

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This article is meant for Abers but others may be able to understand/follow it as well.

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Dear Len,

my dream burns bright within me. I have followed the energy of what excites me vibrationally via focuswheel-ing and appreciation lists (my 2 fave processes) and today got a very specific idea in my imagination. At first I felt “this is it” and was so happy and excited, but then I started to feel major anxiety about it. What is up with that? X, Amy*

ANSWER:?

Dearest Amy* (and fellow Aber),

You’re a true wizard! You’re not an ‘action slut’ but a deliberate creator. What an honor! It is a small # of people who understand that. You have been able to comprehend something that not many people do, even the ones who go on and on about Law of Attraction but don’t truly accept that it’s entirely an emotional/thought journey. That’s Wisdom, and wisdom is a huge accomplishment! So, *BIG APPLAUSE*!!!!!

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Now, about the issue at hand: you must continue the focuswheel+appreciation process! Here’s why.

You’re uncomfortable because you’re not stable yet. You are VERY close but not quite there vibrationally.

If you remember Abraham’s emotional scale, you are now in ‘overwhelment’ and “impatience”. Yes, you felt great joy briefly, but that is not your overall vibration. Basically, you got in the vortex and then it spit you out. So, still some work to do. And not much because overwhelment is pretty darn close vibrationally to joy.

First, back up a little bit. Come back to things you have under control now. Feel the comfort of things you’re already good at. Beat that drum until you feel confident again. There is no hurry, and this won’t take long.

Confidence is what’s lacking here, so think about whatever makes you confident now. Start with small things, easy things. “I can make pancakes. I have a nice bathroom.” Anything that makes you feel good and proud.

From your new confident vantage point, you’ll see the whole situation more clearly. Maybe that specific idea is actually not IT but it had many of the wanted elements. Or maybe it is IT but now you’ll be able to see it in a new light, and as something you can truly belong to, without intimidation. It all becomes clearer when you are in THE VORTEX.

Your IB is in the perfect reality, the total answer to your asking. So it really doesn’t matter if that specific thing is it or not. Because, you can get to the perfect match. The only reason why you are now attached to that specific thing is because you want your desire to happen ASAP and you fear that it will take forever to come up with another idea. Don’t think of it that way. Keep returning to the knowing that you want to attract what’s already in your Vortex. It’s not a case of someone needing to give you something. It’s a case of following your own bread crumbs to your own creation. As you know from Abraham, the thing you want is being held for you indefinitely. So in other words, you can’t miss the bus. That’s important because, as i wrote, you are tempted to jump the gun a bit. And, I really want you to know that you don’t need to fear losing the manifestation. It will wait for YOU. You are going to get what you want!

Get back in the vortex. Things will get clearer and then, boom- manifestation. And don’t hold on to that specific thing too tightly because what your IB has planned for you may be 10x better. One thing you can trust in is that your IB adores you. So trust Her creation.

You are VERY Very close.

Love,

Len

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.”