How to Choose a Life Coach

What You Need Before You Search for a Coach

Before you ever connect with any coach, get clear on what you are looking for. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

• What is your goal for coaching? What exactly are you looking for help with. Be as detailed as possible.
• How do you want to have your sessions? In person? Video? Asynchronous?
• Do you want to work with a male or female? This might seem like an odd one, but if you can’t be open and honest with a man then you won’t get what you need out of coaching.
• What is your budget? Determine this on both a monthly and a lump sum basis. Depending on how the coach structures their packages, having both these numbers will help you quickly see if it is an option.
• When are you available for coaching? Can you only meet at night? On the weekend? Another thing to keep in mind is what time zones will match your schedule. You might be the perfect fit, but if you can never book a session, it defeats the purpose.

Start Looking for a Coach

Finding a list of coaches to talk to can take hours.

To help you save some time, here are some tips and places you can find coaches:

• Google the issue you want solved with coach at the end.  Examples: “career coach”, “self-discovery coach”, relationship coach”.
• Ask friends for referrals – a great way to get exactly what you need is to ask those who may have been in a similar place in life.
• Use a life coaching directory. Do a search for “Life coach directory” to find them. Or check out ours!
• Check out the International Coaching Federation or other associations related to what you are looking for.

What to Ask Your Coach

You know what you want, you have a list of coaches you are considering. Now it is time to get some answers to make your decision.

Most coaches offer some sort of introductory session. This will allow you to make sure that you are a match. While on that session explore the following questions:

• Confirm their specialty. Make sure you are getting someone that can help with what you are working on. You wouldn’t go to your OB-GYN for a toothache. So, don’t go to a tech start up coach if you want to lose weight!
• What is their training? The training you are looking for may depend on what you are looking to be coached on. For example, if you are looking for a financial coach you want them to have some form of training in finance. Plus, coaching training. Whereas for general life coaching you may want them to have a coaching certificate. If you aren’t sure if their training is quality, then research the company or school.
• What is the coaches’ experience with the specialty? Has that business coach ever run a business? Does your wealth coach have experience building wealth? Just because someone takes a class or even has a degree doesn’t mean they can do it in real life!
• How much do they charge? Are there other ways they get compensated besides a fee you pay? This is really important for areas like financial coaching. Understand how they are being paid so you know if you are getting unbiased help.
• How many sessions or months do they think it will take to accomplish what you are trying to do?
• Is there a “next” level? Is the basic package reasonable, but you can’t achieve your goals unless you do the basic and then do the premium? This is often common in real estate seminars and motivational areas, where level one is free. Level two is $999, level three is $2,999. And it just keeps going!
• How do they ensure that they have time to meet with you? Or you could ask this as how many clients you take at one time. The goal is to understand how easy it will be to have a coaching session with them.

Other Things to Consider:

• Listen or read their free content. Find out if they have been on podcasts, do they blog, or do they have videos? Anything that will give you a better feel for their work and their personality.
• Do a gut check. Yes, that is right, time to check in with your intuition. We all have intuition, and it will push you in the right direction.
• Common check. Are they promising too much? Does it seem realistic? Did something not make sense?
• Are you comfortable talking to them? This is one of the reasons you want to have a preliminary session, to ensure you can easily open to them.
• Look for reviews or testimonials. What experience have others had.

Finally, after you have checked most of these boxes, I want you to sleep on it. Taking the time to not rush in and to really let everything sink in will improve your decision making drastically.

Even if they are pushing you for a decision, take your time. In fact, if they are pushing you for a decision take double the time!

FAQ’s