Prestigious Life Coaching Certification Realities: Become a Life Coach and Get on Food Stamps

There are a lot of coaches training programs that are mass producing “coaches”, each offering their own version of a prestigious life coaching certification. But really, what does a prestigious life coaching certification mean to you? Does it mean you have become a life coach who can help anyone? Does it mean you have become a life coach who has a steady schedule of paying clients? According to an International Coach Federation (IFC) published membership survey, about 4 out of 10 coaches earn less than $10K per year. That’s because 50% of members of the ICF are only coaching somewhere between one and six clients per month. More than half of these coaches said it took them up to 2 years to get their first paying coaching client.

What is Currently The Most Prestigious Life Coaching Certification to Get as You Become a Life Coach?

What is considered the most prestigious life coaching certification? What is the biggest barrier to getting prestigious life coaching certification?

The International Coach Federation (ICF) is considered the most prestigious life coaching certification. The ICF is dedicated to advancing coaching by setting high professional standards and providing independent certification.

The biggest barrier to getting the most prestigious life coaching certification from the ICF is getting the 2500 hours of paid coaching that’s required before they will even look at your application. How are you ever going to get ICF certification and become a life coach who gets more than minimum wage?

The Prestigious Life Coaching Certification ‘Puppy Mill’: Become a Life Coach That Makes More Than a Poverty Level Income

Based on the ICF’s membership survey, it seems obvious that there are a lot of coaches out there who are products of the coaching equivalent to a puppy mill. It’s not uncommon to become a life coach, only to recognize that you are poorly equipped to compete in the market. Just look at average coaching salary stats. After spending thousands of dollars, many of these coaches find that they need to invest in more coach training so they can improve their knowledge bases and skill sets.

Be careful when you are signing up for coaches training programs. Almost all of them will give you some type of certification, but make sure that you are getting what you need from them, and not thinking you are getting a prestigious life coaching certification when actually you aren’t. So rather than looking at what others may consider a prestigious course, become a life coach who makes your own judgment about what is prestigious based on what will move you forward in getting clients and making a difference for them.

Colette Seymann

JTS Advisors Designated Accountability Coach