So, maybe you’re intrigued enough about working with a life coach to want to give it a try. How do you go about finding a life coach who’s a good fit for you?
In this article, I’ll show you a complete, thorough process you can use to find a life coach. With this process, like everything in life, I encourage you to do it in a way that works for you, that fits your personality and situation. You can spend as much or as little time on each step as you’d like.
1. Think about what you want
Before you try to find a life coach, you may want to take a little bit of time to think about yourself, what you want in life, how you like to work, what you want from coaching, and what qualities you want in a coach. You may not truly know what you want in a coach until you’ve had some experience working with coaches and you’ve gotten get a sense of what works for you and what doesn’t.
Also, finding a good coach for yourself depends, to a significant degree, on unpredictable factors like luck and chemistry. So, you won’t be able to figure everything out in advance when it comes to coaching, but some self-reflection can help you to direct your search more efficiently.
If you have any deal breakers, it’s good to keep them in mind from the start. I like coaches who are gentle and sweet. A coach who has a harsh, drill-sergeant style wouldn’t be an option for me.
You may want to check out the What is coaching? section of the site, particularly the list of services coaches provide, to help you think about what you want in a coach. You may also want to read about the subtle differences among coaches that can have a huge impact on your experience working with them. You can think about where your preferences lie in each of the areas.
2. Get a preliminary list of coaches
Your goal in this stage is to compile a list of five to fifteen names of coaches who have the potential to be good coaches for you. You’re not looking for the perfect coach for you right away — that puts too much pressure on your search and you can’t really know who’s a good fit for you until you actually talk to the different coaches.
You can ask your online and real life contacts for recommendations, if you’re comfortable asking people for that sort of thing. You can also get names from coaching directories and databases or through Internet searches. Want more details? You can get the full scoop on getting names of life coaches.
3. Get to know the coaches on your list from afar
You can learn about the coaches on your list through their materials, websites, newsletters, blogs, Twitter feeds, YouTube channels, Facebook pages, interviews on other sites, and whatever else they have to offer. If they’re giving free teleclasses, you can take them and hear what they sound like, get a sense of their approaches, observe how they treat people.
If you’ve got a month or two, you can learn a lot about the coaches on the list with little effort — just sign up for their newsletters, blogs, and updates and let the information come to you. You’ll also get clearer about what you want in a coach as you read materials from different coaches and get a sense of what different coaches do.
4. Winnow down your list to a few serious contenders
At a certain point, you’ll feel ready to create a short list of the best three to five coaches with whom you’re seriously considering working.
5. Have free introductory sessions
Most coaches offer free introductory sessions where you can get a feel for who they are and what it would be like to work with them. After you have a call with each of your contenders, you’ll have a much better sense of who’s likely to be a good match for you. When you’re ready for this step, you can read more about interviewing coaches/having free introductory sessions.
You may want to use the list of services coaches provide to help you keep track of what each coach you interview has to offer.
6. Choose the lucky winner
Using some combination of logical reasoning, trusting your gut, and dice rolling, you pick the coach who gets the honor and privilege of working with you.
It can help to think about how you felt when you talked to the different coaches, how much you like, trust, and respect each one. For information about the logistics of hiring a coach, you can check out this article.
Even after you’ve made your choice, you may want to save your research so you can access it later. You may find yourself shopping around for another coach one day. It’s no big deal if you find that the first coach you choose turns out not to be the best fit for you. You can quickly and gracefully exit the situation and try again.
It’s your life. You want to find someone who’s right for you.