With These Personal Growth Coaching Tips You Can Make 2010 Your Best Year Yet

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How can you optimize your life coaching business for 2010?  What personal growth coaching lessons will you decide to embrace?  I hope that 2009 was a great year and that you are looking forward to another great year.  But what if you missed your mark?  Will you seek some personal growth coaching to help you transform yourself, or will you hang up your life coaching hat and give up?  Here are the top five tips to help make this year great.

Looking For the Top Five Life Coaching Tips?  Look No Farther

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Personal Growth Coaching Tip #1:  Learn how to embrace sales.  Let’s put it this way, if you want a life coaching business you’re going to have to enroll people.  Enroll is just the polite way of saying ‘sell.”  If you have a negative perception of sales, it will affect your ability to enroll people into coaching.  You can give the greatest complimentary session and have the best rapport, only to loose the client in the close because of your negative beliefs.  It’s time to let those go.

Personal Growth Coaching Tip #2:  Surround yourself with positive people.  Your top five friends determine who you are.  Decide to spend your time with people who ask questions like, “Where can I find new life coaching clients?” and “What new opportunities are available?”  Avoid pity parties and people who want to drag you down with them.

Personal Growth Coaching Tip #3:  Look for new business relationships.  When times are lean, people tend to be more open to joint ventures and reciprocal referral relationships.  Who has your ideal client but a different product or service to offer?  Talk to people and see where you can offer value to services they already provide.  Perhaps you have a friend who specializes in sales coaching and your niche is life coaching for people with diabetes.  You might be able to set up cross referrals.

Personal Growth Coaching Tip #4:  Mind your mind.  Focus on opportunities instead of allowing yourself to waste time worrying.  Most of the time our greatest worries never manifest.  Focus on what you want to accomplish in your life coaching business, your relationships, and what you want to help others to achieve.

Personal Growth Coaching Tip #5:  Take massive action.  This is a proven method of success.  The key to this life coaching tip is to continue taking massive action through the waves of despair that often cause people to give up.  Just like every movie where the hero or heroine transforms from an ordinary person into the person they were destined to become, we all experience a struggle right before we succeed.

Colette Seymann JTS Advisors

Bi-Designated Strategy and Accountability Coach

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In order to become a life coach it’s essential that you learn to overcome rationalization.  Most of the time, a new coach will avoid the very thing that would free him.  Just like people avoid exercising when they are stressed out and students clean their dorm rooms before studying for exams.  It’s not easy to become a life coach who makes a good living.  Whether you are a new coach or a veteran, the trip to the top takes enough guts.

Become a Life Coach Who Doesn’t Rely on Excuses

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The most important step to become a life coach who overcomes rationalization is to identify what’s the story you’re telling yourself.  Be honest with yourself.  Now is not the time for positive thinking.  Real freedom comes from the truth, even if it’s painful at the time.  A new coach might justify lack of income by saying “I’m doing everything I can” or “I need a little more time to refine my skills before I start coaching people.”  Nothing gets better until someone admits that it’s wrong.

The Transition Point from New Coach to Seasoned Pro

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And to become a life coach you need to recognize that if something is not at the level you want it, it’s wrong.  I know that sounds painful, but that pain will transform you from a new coach without an income to a seasoned coach.  When we rationalize, we make the bad feeling go away.  But simply feeling good without changing anything leads to mediocrity.  That is settling for less than who we really are.  The only thing that really makes us feel good is living at our optimal level.

You Need Every Ounce of Yourself to Become a Life Coach

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So how to you become a life coach who implements this strategy.  A great model for a new coach is John Wooden, who is called one of the winningest basketball coaches of all times.  He led U.C.L.A. to win 11 of 12 national championships.  Yet he didn’t focus on winning.  He said that at the end of every game only you know if you win or lose.  No matter what the score was.  If at the end of the day you gave every ounce of yourself, you could count it as a win.

Push Yourself Past Being a New Coach

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So the key to become a life coach who is wins is to face the truth and overcome our natural tendency to rationalize our own mediocrity.  Every new coach has the potential to step into leadership by being honest.  Let’s face it; lies suck the life right out of us.  To really live life at the edge, we must continue to push ourselves to go beyond what is comfortable and never settle for less than our best.

Colette Seymann

JTS Advisors Designated Accountability Coach

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Coaching certification in my mind is an essential part of coaching mastery. While some would argue that coaching training is enough, consider that coaching is now a booming industry which means competition is increasing for a market that is still relatively small. By that I mean that there are still many individuals and companies who either don’t know about coaching, do not understand the value versus consulting, or have used unqualified poorly trained coaches with resulting experiences that have been less than satisfactory. In addition to the influx of coaches there are also many niches being developed which segments available markets into smaller units. What this can create for people interested in hiring a coach is confusion. “Who to choose?” and “Based on what?” are two key questions that are foremost in your potential client’s mind.

The benefits of coaching certification are several but first and foremost having your coaching certification establishes you. It says that you have undergone the necessary coaching training, accumulated the necessary skill sets and undergone the testing that qualifies you as a coach. Other benefits of coaching certification are:

• It enhances your credibility and reassures potential clients that you are professional
• Demonstrates that you have high professional standards
• Shows that you have a code of ethics
• Demonstrates that you have high knowledge and skill sets
• Demonstrates that you take the profession seriously
• Reinforces the integrity of the coaching profession

Coaching certification is something that you should be working toward if you are seriously considering a career in any coaching field be it Life Coaching, Career Coaching, Business Coaching, Marketing, Health, or any of the niches available or that you define. Look for organizations or schools that offer authorized coaching certification programs in addition to coaching training. Of the most recognized The International Coaching Federation, CTI (Coaches Training Institute), and CCI are at the top. There are a plethora of others but the best are recognized by these organizations, notably ICF.

Coaching certification is worth the time and money, especially if you are after working with fortune 500 executives (those circles value certification). It separates you from the rest who don’t go the distance. One other note; certification is, in my mind, necessary but so is the mastery of the business of coaching. Make sure that you also seek coaching trainings and coaching jobs that will train you in building your business model as well as the sales and marketing of your coaching business. Too many leave this aspect out and it’s an over-sight that will cost you in time and money.

Ellen Smith ACT, ATC, PCC

JTS Advisors Accountability Coach

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I just got back from a free coach training seminar, although it was really billed as a ski trip with my daughter. She just turned 7, and although we went on a few trips when she was 4 and again 5…she is now she is a head taller. She has longer arms and legs, and a 20% increase in height and weight. Technically speaking, she is working with a new set of tools.

So how is skiing like a free coach training? Because it reminds me that we are coaches 24/7. And going on this ski trip paralleled what often happens with a new client. There is the initial prep before the first session. Bags to be packed, equipment to be rented, with forms and waivers. Next you get to the first session, where goals are discussed. “Mommy, why is Anita going to ski in a different place?” Turns into a discussion of the over-crowded bunny slopes and long lift lines…resulting in the goal. “I want to ski at the top of the mountain, too.” If you want to go somewhere you’ve never been, you have to be someone you’ve never been.

We work on some strategies for getting up after falling, slowing down when you’re going too fast, and turning. At last we agree she’s ready to try to the beginner slopes at the top of the mountain. To get to the lift, we must traverse the mountain. More strategy, a lot of frustration and some fear of failing, not to be taken personally…this is about her and her goals. I remind myself it’s not about me when she’s yelling at me in frustration because she is down on the ground again. I get into her world, and I pull her with my pole (she doesn’t ski with them yet) where the ground is level. Then I lead her into the snack shack for a cup of hot cocoa and a little rest. She’s feeling refreshed and ready to take the next step.

Sometimes on the way to a goal, it seems like there is little progress. Like waiting in a lift line. Other times, we are on the way…but the process is so slow that we start thinking and getting nervous about what’s coming next. We’ll refer to that as the chair lift portion. I try to get my daughter into a state where she feels confident, and point out the beauty of mountains, remind her of why her goals are important to her. She is really into it. We get off the lift and start heading down.

The initial descent is a little steep. I lead the way. There is a lot of falling, and trying to get up. I am there for support and strategy, but she is the one who has to do it. She yells at me to get out of the way…feedback that she’s ready to do it on her own. She wipes out, feet up the hill. I trudge sideways up the hill to offer support, and a little nudge up. We make it down the initial descent and the slope levels just a bit. Enough though. She picks up speed, and starts flying down the mountain. The shift has occurred. Her voice confirms her feeling of empowerment. Weeee! Nice session. And so for the cost of some lift tickets and gear rental, I got some free coach training.

Colette Seymann

Accountability Coach, JTS Advisors

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Ever ask yourself how to become a relationship coach?  There is a great need out there, and it’s easier than you might think.  IF you use information from the DISC or Values Assessments.

My husband and I recently went through a relationship assessment debrief.  What was most amazing was that he actually felt that the information was amazingly insightful.  Why was I so surprised? 

Well, it’s because we actually don’t always see eye to eye.  It’s not just because he’s over half a foot taller than I am.  And the assessments told us just why.  You see, he is a very high “S” and very high “C”.  In case you aren’t familiar with the DISC, it means that he is very steady.  He takes awhile to change course and only then if all the data supports that decision.  He is also a little pessimistic.  He didn’t really buy into that part, until he asked an expert.  Our six year old daughter.  She not only told him he was, but was able to give him a very good example.

Ok, before you think that I think I’m perfect…I’ll tell you about myself.  I’m a fairly high “D” and “I”.  I like to get things done (my way),  I’m very social (it takes at least 20 minutes to say goodbye at a party),  and according to the view of a high “S” and “C”…I can be a little Pollyanna.  Too optimistic?  Bah humbug!

No one ever told me how to become a relationship coach, but without those assessments it would have taken an expert at least a month’s worth of sessions to get that much insight.  And the beauty of these tools is that it is objective, clear, and insightful…and you can get the results after a 20 minute quiz.  That’s modern technology! 

But what we really gained out of the assessments and debrief was confirmation of what we already knew.  We may deal with the world in very different ways, but that also can provide quite a bit of balance.  And amazingly we have almost identical values.   The whole process was really valuable, and probably would have been really helpful if we had received it as a wedding gift instead of those champagne glasses we hardly ever use.

So if anyone ever asks you how to become a relationship coach…Now you know.

Colette Seymann

Accountability Coach, JTS Advisors

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Do you need coaching certification to become a coach?  Fortunately, the answer is no.  I say that because the ICF (International Coaching Federation), which is the primary certifying body for coaches worldwide, will not even look at your application until you have at least 250 hours of PAID coaching under your belt, and that’s for the first level.  Think about it.  If you are just starting out and coaching 10 hours/week… you are very fortunate.  But even at this rate, it will take at least 6 months.  And for the most prestigious level you will need at least 1000 hours, which would take you a year if you are coaching 20 hours a week… allowing a generous 2 weeks for vacation.

So it looks like if you are relying on getting your coaching certification from the ICF so you can have the confidence to become a coach and fill your coaching practice, you need another plan.  The most practical method would be to find a coaching training program, that includes sales and marketing so when you complete your training you will have the tools to find clients you can coach.  The confidence part?  A good part of that will come with a training program that includes coaching others and getting specific feedback, and the rest is a matter of getting out there and coaching a lot of people.  And if your clients are getting results from your coaching, they won’t worry about whether you are certified or not.

Get a coaching certification in RESULTS.

Since having a coaching certification is not really connected to getting clients, you can choose whether to get certified or not based on your philosophy, instead of perceived need.  Coaching certification is a step toward creating a standard within the industry, which could potentially benefit us all.  Some believe that certification may become more important in a few years from now, so keeping track of your paid coaching time is a good idea… and until then focus on the training you need to become a coach.

Colette Seymann

JTS Advisors Accountability Coach

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To Become a Business Coach in a recession is something that may seem risky, and it can be without training, guidance and a plan. The fact is that coaching in a recession can be remarkably lucrative. Why? Because during tough economic times, many companies are more open to ways that will help them survive and thrive.

To Become a Business Coach does take some work but it’s worth it. The proper training gives you excellent coaching skills as well as the knowledge you will need to develop a business model and marketing plan that leads to success. And the clients you will be helping will be looking to you to set the path for their success. You need to be able to establish leadership through your own success.

When you are training to become a business coach, enroll in an organization that will train you in:

• Training and training materials to ensure your skill set is at its optimum

• Marketing support to enable you to reach your target client effectively

• Toolkit to help your clients with marketing, sales, human resources, customer service, leadership, financial management, systematization, increasing gross profits and decreasing fixed costs

• Continuing education to keep you on top of your game

• Coaching technologies to offer your clients such as leadership, team, strategy, and accountability coaching as well as assessments

Becoming a Business Coach in a recession enables you to help your potential clients – those that are willing and committed to not becoming victims of this economy. 

With sound coach training you will help companies:

• Retain current clients

• Attract new customers and achieve a higher conversion rate

• Hire, train and motivate better staff

• Create better balance

• Become better leaders

• Manage their business better

• Innovate

Are you ready to become a business coach and achieve remarkable success as a result of your clients achieving theirs?   The dreams of becoming a business coach with a thriving business can be yours. All you need is the commitment, dedication and vision. People are waiting for you to build their success. What are you waiting for?

Ellen Smith

JTS Advisors Accountability and Strategy Coach 

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How can you become a life coach…or a better coach? One thing you will have to do is to get out of your own comfort zone.

Think contrast.

If you listen to rock, go to watch an opera. If you love steak and potatoes, go to eat at a restaurant that serves raw vegan food. Does that sound too wild and crazy? Why not study a foreign language, then travel to a country that speaks that language and get to know the locals.

Get out there and do something you’ve never done before, without judgment.

Because let me tell you, if you are comfortable…you are not growing. How are you going to become a life coach…a good one…unless you learn to start flying by the seat of your pants for awhile?

Don’t laugh.

If you are old enough to remember what a record is, then get out of that little groove you have been stuck in and start listening to something else. Sure you will scratch the record, but otherwise you will just hear the same music. It’s easy to stay in the same pattern, year after year. It takes effort to change and grow. And even success can be dangerous, because if you hang on to what worked in the past…failure is in the future.  Don’t become a life coach if you expect to be able to just sit on your haunches.  

Leaders are leaders because they are AHEAD of the pack.  They got there by MOVING, and moving faster and move agilely than the rest.

The real intention is to stir up passions, dreams and creativity that is stuck down in the depths of a mediocre lifestyle, so you can start living your dreams. How many remarkable people do you know? Hang out with some kids, watch them play. They are remarkable. They pick up a discarded paper towel roll and find a use for it. An empty dental floss container becomes a treasured pager. They can sing off key and dance to their own beat, but they are not limiting themselves. They are not afraid to try.

Get some silliness back inside of you and stop trying to be perfect.

And as coaches, how are we going to support, encourage, people to live the lives of their dreams, if we do not lead? To lead, we must go first. It’s often said that if we live our lives to our potential, we will give others permission to do the same. And isn’t that what we really set out to do when we decided to become a life coach?

Colette Seymann

Accountability Coach, JTS Advisors

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Wellness and extreme care coach training can be an important part of what you learn as you become a life coach. Why? Because when you coach a lot of people you are going to run into wellness issues. I’ve coached thousands of people, so I think at this point I’ve almost ’seen it all’ when it comes to challenges of the human condition, but even after coaching 20 or 30 I had run into ‘wellness’ issues.

What is a ‘wellness issue’? It is some problem having to do with the health of your client. This issue can be a disease or sickness they are dealing with, like I’ve had a client with Crone’s disease, and Lupus, and cancer, etc. This issue can also be a psychological problem that effects wellness. I’ve worked with clients that got anxiety attacks, or bulimia/anorexia, or trouble sleeping, etc. Wellness issues can also be self-induced, but not directly connected with an obvious psychological problem, but have nasty physical side-effects, such as alcohol or drug use. I’ve worked with both alcoholics and people that abuse marijuana daily. You’d be surprised at how common many of these ‘wellness issues are’ and how many clients you will have that are dealing with one or many of them. That’s why wellness and extreme care coach training is so important.

Another aspect of what should be included when you receive your wellness and extreme care coach training is the legal aspect of it. When dealing with extreme care and wellness cases, you’ve got to know the law, and how it applies to you as a coach. I look at this as an issue of integrity as well as a self and client-protection issue as well. If someone is of danger to themselves or others, or they begin to profess suicide attempts etc., you need to contact the authorities and refer your client to a mental health professional or medial professionals. There are other important laws that apply to you and your role as a coach that you need to know, and you should be learning all these basic laws and ethical guidelines in your endeavour to receive wellness and extreme care coach training.

What will you do when you’re faced with a client or a coaching call that brings up a major emergency or a wellness / extreme care issue? Will you know what to do? Will you save the day and be the hero that creates a positive turning point in their life, or will you shrink from the challenge? The wellness and extreme care coach training that you get will most probably decide the outcome, and ultimately the answers and the fate of your client, is in your hands.

Jeffrey T. Sooey

Founder, Coaches Training Blog Community

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When you think of coaching jobs, do you think of the ancient cave dwellers? Why not? From the earliest days the older or more skilled taught the younger how to hunt, cook, paint pictures on cave walls, and any other skills that were needed to train others how to be useful and effective members of their communities. As people became older and more experienced, they rose to positions of leadership. Those who were effective at teaching were held in the highest esteem. And long after these elders were able to contribute physically, they were coaching others.

As language developed, people were able to share ideas in more detail. A more sophisticated form of coaching emerged, which focused on helping people achieve greater understanding and awareness. Early philosophy and mythology developed, and the leaders were sought out by those who wanted to gain insight.

Of course we can’t really discuss the modern concepts of coaching without mentioning sports.  In the late 1970’s, people began to adopt the same ideas that gave athletes a competitive advantage in sports to business.  After Timothy Gallway’s, The Inner Game of Tennis was published in 1974, people began to realize that the mental attitude and mindset was often more important than the physical skills. But the book was written 20 years after Roger Bannister broke the 4 minute mile barrier, at a time when the “experts” said it was impossible. Bannister himself trained only 3-4 days a week for 30 minutes. He relied more on self-analysis of his performance and training than on physical training, ignoring the more traditional coaching of that time.

By the 1980’s, coaching was the buzzword in many business circles, and people wrote books and articles in an attempt to define and promote coaching jobs. In the early 1990’s, the Coaches Training Institute and the International Coaches Federation was established to train coaches and ensure the integrity of the practice. About this time, gurus such as Stephen Covey and Anthony Robbins helped fuel the desire for personal development and awareness.

Now most Fortune 500 companies hire coaches to work with upper management, and U.S.A. Today estimates that coaching is the second fastest growing profession in the United States. The International Coaches Federation has members in 30 different countries, and coaching jobs are dramatically growing world-wide.

Colette Seymann

JTS Advisors Accountability Coach

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