How to become a Life Coach in USA? - Coach Dr Paras
“Coaching is the universal language of change and learning.” - Unknown
As the days pass along, I recall my initial days of getting into life coaching. It has been close to a decade and I still don’t fail to reign in the power it holds, not just in helping other people but how it has been a lucrative affair for me as well.
I remember my first life coaching session when I decided to become a certified life coach. I remember the coach making me sit down, listening to what I had to say, and then responding with compassion and curiosity.
The accuracy and the right partnership and support baffled me. I knew that I wanted to leave a similar impact on other people’s lives as he did on mine.
And, so the journey began. Fast forward to today, it has been 8 years in the running and I don’t regret one thing that I have achieved in this time.
I have talked to numerous clients with problems concerning their personal and professional life and the one thing everyone said was that they didn’t feel heard. I knew what they were talking about, so I knew how to extend a helping hand and being a sounding board to my clients.
Ever since those initial days of getting into life coaching, I knew that I wanted to educate and support as many interested individuals as I could.
So, when someone came forth and asked, “How to become a life coach?”, I knew not to disappoint them.
Assuming that you have come down to this article, I am assuming that you are looking for the same too. So, without further ado, scroll down for all the information you need to know about becoming a life coach and the basics involved in it.
Typically, a session starts with a general introduction where a life coach tries to understand the blockages in one’s life and tries to clear and mend them throughout the session.
Some complex situations can require multiple coaching sessions while a few others can be tended to in a single one.
4 Steps To Become a Life Coach
Keep in mind that becoming a life coach isn’t as easy as printing it on your business card and then calling yourself one. You need to actively take the necessary training, understand the skills required, and then get to onboarding clients.
Typically, you can diverge into a life coaching profession with the current qualifications that you have. There are no restrictions. The only thing that drives you to become a good life coach is attention to detail and dedication to what you are doing. Below mentioned are the 4 fundamental steps one can follow to become a certified life coach.
1. Find Your Niche
This can seem a little confusing to some because “Isn’t life coaching a niche in itself?” Well, our lives are divided into different parts – personal life, growth and development, professional lives, romantic lives, etc.
So, as a life coach, you can specialize in one of the specific niches to grow your portfolio and onboard clients that you know you’d be good with. There are life coaches that even help clients deal with their health and nutrition issues to get their lives back on track.
However, don’t limit yourself because as a life coach, you will find yourself diversifying into multiple niches depending on the client’s complexities in life. So, now and then, you will divert from your central focus and that’s fine too.
As more times pass, it becomes a lot easier for you to feel comfortable talking to your clients and help them transform their lives into a better place.
2. Develop Your Coaching Vision
Coaching vision helps you identify your business view and understand the spectrum of people that you will serve and how.
This is typically the initial phase of starting your life coaching journey. Typically, when deducing your coaching vision, there are a few particulars that one needs to keep in mind:
- Identify the personal interests and strengths that can further help support the clients in the future
- Determine the coaching niche that one would be good in
- Identify the specific coaching tools that would help your client
- Focus on the amount of time you can pursue this as a profession
- How much money do you want to make as a full-fledged life coach?
- Understand and self-reflect on one’s roadblocks and find ways to overcome them
Although it can seem futile in the beginning, having a clear vision helps an individual choose the life coaching courses and training that best aligns with their interest.
It asserts the motivation, goals, and expectations from the training and helps one become a successful life coach in the days to come.
3. Get The Required Life Coaching Certification
With the vision and niche sorted, the next step is to look for the right courses and certifications. Getting fundamental training is key if you want your potential clients to trust you with their problems.
However, you need to also keep in mind that becoming a life coach isn’t restrained by a certification. You can typically become a life coach without proper certification. Getting a certification solidifies your stand in such a competitive market.
Getting the right certification binds a life coach by ethical guidelines where there is more rigour to the process. It is often a case-by-case situation because there are life coaches that have no formal certification and still earn in six figures and there are official life coaches with certifications that are struggling to make ends meet.
Your credibility depends on how well you treat your clients and help them with the issues they have come to you with.
When looking for a rewarding and worthy life coach certification to enroll into, make sure that you focus on credibility. It should be verified by a popular regulatory body like International Coaching Federation (ICF)and European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC). They are known to only accredit courses that abide by ethical guidelines and offer good-quality training programs.
Most of the certifications and courses are hour-based. This means that you have to finish the allocated hours of training to get the certification. Also, since life coaching programs are so rarely found, it isn’t surprising that the authentic courses are pretty expensive, and rightfully so.
If you have been looking into the steps to become a life coach, this is a quintessential one that you can’t skip out on.
“Coaching helps you take responsibility for your life, let go of what others think and become your true self. It is about creating the life that you want and deserve.” - Emma Louise Elsey
4. Understand The Skills Involved In Becoming A Life Coach
A life coach’s skills aren’t limited to “just conducting the sessions.” Although it is likely the most important part of their onboarding process, there are a lot more skills that a potential life coach needs to master.
From administrative to marketing skills, all of them equate to the journey of a successful life coach and I will be highlighting some of the most important ones based on my personal experiences.
How Long Does It Take To Become A Life Coach?
The duration of your life coach training will decide how long it takes for you to become an accredited and certified life coach ready to take on clients. Typically, most of the accredited training courses last between 3-9 months and you need to commit to that.
However, if you are in a rush and want to get things done easier, there are non-accredited life coaching courses that take less time. There are several accredited courses that can be completed within a few hours too.
How Much Does It Cost To Become a Life Coach?
A life coach certification may cost between $700 to $6000 depending upon the level and length of the certification program.
With Life-Leadership coach, Dr Paras, you get to learn from ICF-accredited life coaching courses. I do believe in offering training and support that will benefit my students in the long run in helping change and transform the lives of others. For someone who closely believes in the power of coaching, integrating life coaching courses and programs was definitive.
A life coach can help you through:
- Active listening
- Paraphrasing
- Questioning skills
- Leveraging the correct coaching tools
- Guiding the clients through mental roadblocks
- Creating awareness and reflective space
- Unlocking a client’s full potential
FAQs
1. Is it worth becoming a life coach?
While you might struggle to become a life coach initially, every part of it is worth the pain. Not only do you get to help people with your support, but you also get to witness massive and positive transformations in people’s lives. You can’t trade that feeling for anything.
2. Can I become a life coach without certification?
Yes, you can. However, I’d recommend getting proper certifications and accreditations from international bodies like ICF and EMCC can help you to brush up on your skills and learn authentic coaching at global standards and make your portfolio stand out in such a competitive market. Getting proper certifications and training reflects on how well you can help your clients in the future.
3. Does life coaching require a license?
Again, no. However, since you are going to earn money from your services, I’d recommend getting the business legally looked out for. Typically, you should have a legal team that can draft your agreements and other documents. However, since there are no regulatory bodies overlooking life coaching services, you can go ahead with your skills.
4. What do life coaches charge per hour?
Typically, the per-session fee of a life coach depends on their skills. It can start from anywhere between £40 to £500 per hour. However, that is a very nominal fee and will change depending on the experience, location, and purpose of the session.
5. Is there a demand for life coaches?
Yes, the life coaching market is booming right now. With more and more people de-stigmatizing asking for help and moving towards availing Life coaching services, the demand for life coaches is on the rise.
6. What life coaching courses can I study?
If you want to get into accredited courses (which I’d personally suggest), my training academy offers ICF-accredited courses. The Matrrix ICF - ACTP Program is a leading life coach training program that can help you get started with life coaching without any apprehensions.
7. What courses are similar to life coaching courses?
At Matrrix, we offer a host of coaching and certification programs besides life coaching. If you are interested, NLP certification and Mindfulness Certification programs are two of the top courses we highly recommend to our students.
Conclusion:
Choosing the profession of a life coach can be extremely rewarding. Not only can you help align people’s lives and paths, but it also reflects on your personal growth. However, I can’t deny that becoming a life coach is a tumultuous journey, one that requires dedication and consistency.
Instead of running after this profession because of its lucrative pay, focus on the ideologies of helping people. If you excel in what you do, getting clients will become a cakewalk. However, always keep realistic expectations. You need to start with baby steps and then gradually work your way up from there.
With me, Dr. Paras, I can help you understand the elements that go into becoming a good life coach. From learning the practical to the implementational skills, you get to turn everything around for your benefit. I can help you learn the basics of life coaching, understand how to grow your presence, and also familiarize yourself with the ethical conduct involved in the process.
Still wondering how to become a certified life coach? Leave us a line here to book a free consultation.
