Are you someone who dreams of inspiring and helping others on a daily basis? Maybe people tell you that you are a great listener and communicator? Perhaps you’re brilliant at finding solutions to problems and making effective plans of action? If so, then training to be a life coach could be the perfect way to take your skills to the next level!
What is a life coach?
The fundamental role of a life coach is to help clients identify their goals and ambitions before working closely alongside them to strategise a clear, achievable plan for reaching them. These goals could relate to careers, relationships, confidence, fitness, or lifestyle. As we all know, exceeding our expectations and excelling in our jobs and personal lives requires encouragement and support. Therefore, as well as implementing changes in routine, a life coach provides their clients with the vital motivation and advice needed to meet their specific goals, as well as helping them overcome any hiccups along the way!
However, life coaching is about more than just hitting targets. It’s about empowering individuals to discover their own strength and potential, and changing any negative beliefs and mindsets that may be holding them back. As a life coach, you would be a crucial cornerstone in your client’s journey of self-discovery and personal development. You’re fostering ideas, beliefs, and techniques that they will carry with them long after your sessions have finished.
What does a life coach do?
The day-to-day job of a life coach is as interesting and varied as the clients they work with, which can range from individuals to whole teams of colleagues. It is important to remember that no two clients will have the same goals, strengths and difficulties. Therefore, life coaches need to be highly adaptable and capable of listening to and assessing the needs of each individual, developing a bespoke strategy for every client. Having said this, some life coaches do choose to specialise in a particular field, gender, or age group.
It’s also important to note that life coaching is fundamentally different to counselling or therapy, as it centres around helping people work towards very specific goals and targets. This means it does not carry the same stigma, despite involving some similar elements of restoring and maintaining confidence and self-belief.
When working with a new client, a life coach will conduct in-depth discussions in order to identify their goals as well as assess their current situation and any potential obstacles or limiting beliefs. This will involve listening and asking the right questions in order to make the client feel comfortable enough to open up.
Next, the life coach will work with them to create a clear, achievable plan of action. This will include incremental steps and small, manageable tasks designed to help the client maximise their potential and reach their targets, whilst providing them with the structure, encouragement, and support needed to keep them on track. Life coaches aim to create a plan that teaches clients self-help techniques and gives them an understanding of their own capabilities. These are valuable life skills that they can take away with them!
Whilst it is possible to work as part of a team of life coaches or as part of a company, they are often self-employed, meaning that they will need to build and establish their own client base. Therefore, working hours may vary day to day and week to week depending on how many clients they have and when they are available. However, the benefit of being a freelance life coach is that you can be in charge of deciding your own hours and fees, and make your job work for you!
Do I need qualifications to become a life coach?
Whilst life coaching is unregulated in the UK, meaning that anyone can offer their services as a life coach, unsurprisingly clients are much more likely to choose someone who has relevant qualifications, training, or is a member of a professional body. A lot of the job is based on building trust and rapport, therefore having these qualifications will give clients confidence in your services, make you stand out and help you build a successful business.
Here at Oxbridge, we offer a Level 3 Life Coaching course that will fully prepare you for your new career. It covers a wide variety of topics and techniques used within the industry, such as the different models for setting and achieving goals, tactics for implementing change, how to use positive psychology to coach your clients and so much more. Our course is also endorsed by the ACCPH (Accredited Counsellors, Coaches, Psychotherapists and Hypnotherapists), but there are other accrediting institutions such as the ICF (International Coach Federation) and AC (Association for Coaching).
Whatever course you go for, remember that they can vary in price and structure, so make sure you assess it thoroughly and check out testimonials from life coaches who have already taken part. You can read of Darren’s journey to becoming a life coach with Oxbridge here!
As well as giving you a great foundation for your career, a life coaching course is a great opportunity to put your existing skillset to work and maximise your potential. It could also act as a springboard to expanding your career into other wellbeing services, such as counselling or mindfulness. At Oxbridge, we have a range of courses that would provide an ideal progression route. These include:
- NCFE CACHE Level 3 Diploma in Counselling Skills
- Level 3 Diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
- Mindfulness Level 3
- Drug and Alcohol Counselling Level 3
- Counselling for Children Level 2
- Neuro-Linguistic-Programming (NLP)
The benefit of choosing an online learning course is that you can study anywhere, anytime, and anyhow. This means your journey to becoming a life coach can fit around your existing commitments and lifestyle. You are in charge!
How much do life coaches make?
Life coaches are often self-employed, and while the field is growing at a significant rate, the earning potential of a life coach varies significantly based on the size of the client base and their experience.
To give you a rough idea, a recently-qualified life coach could expect to charge £40-£50 hourly and client sessions would ordinarily last one to three hours. However, with significant experience and glowing testimonials, a life coach could charge up to £100 per hour... or more! To put that into perspective, if you see one client a day and charge the lowest rate, you'll be earning around £30,000 per year.
Aside from the money, becoming a life coach is an incredibly emotionally rewarding career. You are helping people achieve their targets, gain confidence and become the best versions of themselves on a daily basis. Talk about job satisfaction!
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What are the benefits of being a life coach?
- You’ll have job flexibility - Most life coaches are self-employed, meaning you can choose the hours you put into your career. This provides a great opportunity to achieve a happy work/life balance.
- You’ll work with interesting people - If you’re a people person, this job is great for you. Every day you’ll be able to work with interesting people in all manner of exciting situations. You may find that you can learn as much from them as they can from you.
- It’s highly rewarding - It’s already been mentioned, but it bears repeating. Being a life coach is an incredibly rewarding job, especially when your clients achieve their goals. The joy and satisfaction they gain from getting promoted or meeting their weight loss target is infectious! Every day you are helping people progress and excel, and your work significantly impacts their lives. It doesn’t get much more rewarding than that!
- Every day is different! - Because no two clients face the same problems or aim for the same targets, every day is a unique experience as a life coach. Diversity in your daily routine and in your place of work provides a stimulating challenge while keeping your career choice interesting and fresh.
If you’d like to take the first step towards a career as a life coach, Oxbridge can help you secure the qualifications you need. For more information, head over to our homepage or give our experienced course advisers a call on 0121 630 3000.