How to become a life coach is one of my favorite things to write about because being a coach is something that has positively impacted my life for the better in so many ways!
If you’re wanting to know how to become a life coach, the first thing I want you to think about is WHY.
1. The first step is to consider: Why do I want to become a life coach?
Coaching is a sacred art of relationship where you are helping someone else overcome their difficulties and step into their greatness.
It is not for the faint of heart or someone looking for an “easy” profession.
Life coaching is difficult sometimes. Mainly for the reason that you are working with people’s problems and challenges all day!
Not that that is a “problem” — I ENJOY helping people in this way— but it is something to think about when you are on your journey of how to become a life coach.
You want to think about WHY do I want to become a life coach:
>>Do I enjoy helping people solve problems?
>>Do I enjoy getting intimate and connected with people when they have messy emotions come up? (also will happen in life coaching!!)
>>Do I enjoy pushing people beyond their limits and helping them step into their fullest potential in whatever area you are coaching in?
>>Can I stand for my clients empowerment and transformation even when they can’t see it themselves and even when it is hard?
When you’re really wanting to know how to become a life coach— the first step is discovering your WHY.
Because you want to help others.
You want to improve your own life.
You want to make an impact.
You want to earn an amazing income.
And so on.
Get super clear on what your major WHY is.
2. The second step on HOW to become a life coach is to decide WHO you want to help.
If you got clear on your WHY, you probably have some kind of idea on who it is that you actually want to help with your life coaching business. If not, that’s okay too.
The second step is to really think about who your ideal client or niche is that you’d like to coach and help solve some kind of problem for.
That’s what life coaching is all about.
When you’re thinking about how to become a life coach— it’s not about what you have to offer. It’s more about what unique PROBLEM can you solve?
If you’re having trouble coming up with who you want to serve, make a list of all the things you’re good at and the skills that you possess.
They may be professional or personal skills, whatever it is just write them all down.
>>As you look at the list, what problem can you help solve using the skills that you already have?
>>What excites you with the possibility of helping others using these skills?
You want your offering to be a blend of where your own personal skills meet the unique demands of the marketplace by solving some kind of problem that people need help with.
I also believe that in order to be *truly* successful and fulfilled on your quest of how to become a life coach, that you should also be passionate about using those skills to solve that problem.
Because if you aren’t passionate about it— you won’t want to keep doing it in the long term. And your heart won’t be in it.
So make sure that when you do choose who your ideal client and niche, you choose something that meets these criteria:
- A set of skills you are good at (and if you don’t believe you possess any “marketable” skills, then you can always get certified and ongoing training— more on this later in the post)
- A set of skills in a niche that you are passionate about
- An area where you are solving a unique problem for a specific sub-set of people.
3. The third step that you need to take on your road of how to become a coach is to then decide WHAT you are going to offer and HOW you are going to set up your business model.
There are many different types of business models that a coach can offer to their clients.
There is the 1:1 model where you are doing primarily high level work with just private clients.
There is the 1: many model where you are doing primarily lower end courses with you being the teacher and having many students in your courses.
There is the small group / mastermind model where you are running some kind of small to medium size groups that have many different configurations in the size, length and set up in how they are run.
There are many ways to set up your business model and the best thing to do at this point is to make sure you are discussing this with some kind of business coach or mentor who has experience in this area who can guide you and help you when making this kind of decision.
There are pros and cons to each type of business model and it really depends on your goals and what you desire for yourself in terms of long term and what you want to create, teach, and lead people into.
With that said, the best part is that there are no rules! You can throw everything that I said out the window and create your life coaching business however you want to create it!
Coaching programs usually last anywhere from a few weeks to 6 months to a year long, depending on the structure, the size, and the cost.
Again, the best thing to do here is to hire some help— to get some business coaching to help you set up the most advantageous business model and structure so that you can set yourself up for success in the long term.
Once you establish yourself in your space with one type of program or model, you can always expand to offer more courses, more programs, and offerings to your audience and increase your income and impact as you grow.
4. The fourth and final step that we will talk about here in this simple article on how to become a life coach is to learn how to market and sell your products and services!
You must learn how to market yourself and sell yourself as a coach if you are going to make it and have a successful coaching business.
There’s no way around it— and sorry to say it, but I’ve met many coaches who think that they are just going to get a coaching certification and then have people lining up to sign up with them. Not the case!
Marketing and sales will be where you spend the majority of your time as a life coaching business owner.
You will need to be constantly marketing and talking to people about what you do, asking questions, and doing sales calls to then invite people into your programs.
It is an important step on how to become a life coach, and some people actually ONLY do this part— but all parts of this article are crucial to setting up and learning how to become a life coach in the beginning!
These 4 parts serve as a powerful foundation for you to become a powerful life coach.
Once you have a powerful strategy for each of these— your business is able to grow exponentially.
You don’t have to wonder where your clients are going to come from, or how you’re going to pay the bills each month.
When you know why you’re doing this, what problem your business solves, how your content is delivered to your clients and then have a plan for marketing and selling that valuable program to your ideal client— you can’t NOT be successful.
This is how to become a life coach.
I know it’s a simple overview, but most people overlook these things and this is why they fail. I’ve seen it over and over again and I want you to be successful.
That’s why I’m offering you a free call with me where we can sit down and discuss your own personal business model and plan for you to figure out how to become a life coach for yourself.
If you have questions and want to go deeper into what we covered here today for yourself, then click here to book a call with me.
I’d be more than happy to answer any questions you personally have about how to become a life coach.
In joy & prosperity,
Xo Lauren Love