Is life coaching effective for getting my life on track? Isn’t that like therapy? I’m not depressed why would I need a life coach? What’s a life coach?

These are some of the questions that you will discover in this article. There’s a general misconception that life coaching is a form of therapy and that like it’s far cousin one has to be going through emotional distress to even consider seeking out a coach. You go sit on a long, reclined couch to discuss your problems until you can move yourself forward to resolve the challenge you might be experience at the time.

Coaching has nothing to do with your past experiences, what your parents did or did not do, neither does it have anything to do with a failed marriage 10 years ago that is holding you back from dating. In fact coaching doesn’t really care about anything else then right now.

There are as many different styles of coaching as there are different type of personalities. Coaching discovers where you are at the present moment, goes through a deep exploration of who you are, finding your strengths and putting them in practice to the extreme.

Most people are held back due to fears, this is where coaching reigns supreme, rather then push it aside or ignoring it, the coaching process works with you to uncover the origin of the fear within your mind to dissolve it, and therefore achieve your maximum potential. It provides a road map to your destination, establishing mile markers along the road and most importantly an accountability system to stay on track.

The most important thing about the process is the coaches ability to actively listen, identify hidden obstacles in your psychology, the word judgment does not exists in the coaching practice, everyone is exactly where they should be right now based on the information they currently have in their mind.

Have you ever talked to a friend about a challenge you might have? Have you noticed how eager they are about giving you advice and tell you what you should do, even when you haven’t finished sharing your story? People can only give advice based on their own interpretation of reality and where they are in their lives. Coaching works with you to find your own answers based on your background and skills. Thinking of it as a sports coach who helps each athlete perform at their best of their own ability. That is coaching.

If you are experiencing depression or anxiety coaching may not the path for you. However a combination of therapy and coaching has been known to be an effective combination. Here are some examples of related coaching practices:

Relationship coaching
Marketing coaching
Business coaching
Executive coaching
Health coaching

And so on. Many coaches offer free discovery sessions to experience the process and identify if coaching could be of a value in your life. I encourage you to take advantage of it and find out for yourself.