You don’t have to take accredited life coaching courses if you want to become a life coach, but you should. You don’t need any training to become a coach, but let there be no doubt, some training is essential to your success in the coaching field.

You Don’t Need to be Trained or Licensed to Become a Coach

You can just say that you’re a coach and hand out a sign declaring yourself a coach, and you will be a coach. There are no legal requirements or rules to become a life coach. There are no government agency licenses to acquire or professional standards test to pass. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.

The coaching field is mostly unregulated – many coaches originally entered the field without even one accredited life coaching course or any training, but times they are a changing!

Coaching is Competitive and Getting More So Every Year

Because coaching is a relatively new field, it started out as a huge untapped market. Those individuals who jumped into the field in the early days had relatively little competition. Even a decade or so ago, the competition was less than other fields.

But all that has changed as more people recognize the benefits of coaching and more coaches enter the field in an attempt to help clients and earn a good living. Coaching is getting even more traction in the digital age as it become easier to ply the trade over the Internet and through video technology.

The consulting services industry, which includes coaching, adds over 500,000 jobs each year – a growth rate of nearly 5%, which is one of the largest growth rates across all industries.

Sounds like a great industry to be a part of – where there is growth of an industry, there is a growing target market. But there is also an increasing level of competition.

Accredited Life Coaching Courses and Certification are Not Competitive Advantages

Ten or twenty years ago, taking accredited life coaching courses and getting certified might have been considered competitive advantages. But, not today. With the proliferation of coaching courses online and the increased demand from consumers for coaches to be highly trained, accredited training, and wide range of courses, and certification are all essential if you want to make it in the coaching business.

Get Trained Get Certified and Get Going

It’s easy to take accredited life coaching courses online, so you have no excuse. If you are thinking about becoming a life coach, or if you are already one who lacks any certification, it’s time to take action.

Look for a coaching program that has been accredited by a governing body, preferably the International Coach Federation (ICF). Searching for the right coaching program is a personalized search – you want a program that fits your needs, schedule, and budget. You want an accredited program which offers what you need, has a great reputation, and is offered at a price within your budget.

Accredited life coaching courses from an ICF accredited program will provide you with the skills and knowledge needed to start your coaching career. These courses will also meet the high standards set by the ICF. After taking the right program and earning a certification, you will be prepared to meet the challenges of the coaching profession. You will be prepared to provide the outcomes your clients seek. You will be a great coach!

Hope you took some great value out of this post today! I’d love to hear your feedback, so make sure you leave a comment with your thoughts or questions. And also, you can click on the Twitter button below to retweet this article… Thank you!

Fred Philips
Business Coach
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