Life coaching, like any business, is tough.  You need good life balance coaching skills just to manage your own resources to really be successful.  Thankfully there are only three variables you absolutely must manage to enjoy longevity and success as a life coach.  These life balance coaching essentials are time, energy and money.

Life Balance Coaching Essential #1: Time Management

Time is probably the most common life balance coaching challenge.  If you can manage it with yourself, you have a better chance of managing it with your life coaching clients.  Time is precious, and once you spend it there is no way to retrieve it.  Choose to spend your time doing the things that are most important, not necessarily the most urgent.  Emails, phone, sometimes even meetings will keep you from doing what you need to do to move forward.  So next time you catch yourself doing something that you are comfortable doing, stop and ask yourself, “Is this what I really need to be doing to take the next step?”   I’ve caught myself writing a blog article instead of a proposal for a speaking engagement and tried to justify the choice to myself.

Life Balance Coaching Essential #2:  Energy Management

Sure you need a lot of energy to effectively coach your life coaching clients, but true life balance is more about the inner game.  It’s a mindset such as, “I have nothing to lose.”  My dad used to say, “Drop me anywhere from an airplane with a parachute and I’ll survive.”  He didn’t spend energy worrying about food, shelter or clothing.  He focused his energy on what he wanted to accomplish.  Managing your energy in life balance coaching also means budgeting energy to spend on making relationships successful.

Life Balance Coaching Essential #3: Money Management

And the last, but certainly not the least, challenging life balance coaching essential is money.   We are a consumerist society.   What would our society be like if we only spent money on things that would gives us a three-fold return on our investment?   But the truth is, most people won’t do this.  A life coaching client was telling me of her financial woes.  She felt like she didn’t have any choices, and her family was on the verge of financial disaster.   They were only saving $300 per month.  Upon further questioning she told me that she and her husband each had $200 per month budgeted to spend however they wanted.  She was surprised when she realized that $400 per month was just slipping through their fingers when the rest of the budget was so tight.  One rule of thumb is to only spend money on things that will give you a three-fold return on your investment.

By managing the life balance coaching essentials, we really open up the possibility of achieving a life worth living.  Once you start managing your own resources, you’ll be better prepared to help your life coaching clients manage theirs.

Colette Seymann

JTS Advisors Bi-Designated Strategy and Accountability Coach