Anybody with the passion, the willingness and the heart to help people can become a life coach. The problem though is that they are not enough to make you a qualified more so an effective life coach. You need training and mentoring. But life coach training can cost with range of $3000 to $6000.

What if you do not have that much money? Does this mean your dream of becoming a life coach is over? Well, not quite. There are ways of having an affordable life coach training.

Scholarship

Just like in schooling, you can also avail of a scholarship to help you pursue your dreams of becoming a life coach. There are different companies out there who are willing to help you as long as you are qualified and have the eagerness to be one.

One approach is if you are currently working as an employee of a certain company. You can inquire whether you have scholarships or programs that would provide you with what you need. Most companies nowadays provide such privileges to their employees since the whole company can benefit from life coaching.

If a scholarship program or training is not existent in your company, you could bring it up with your boss or bosses and suggest the need for one. Most often than not, these programs will be 100% free of charge.

Another approach to this is applying for a scholarship to any of the top coaching academies. One of these institutions is the International Coach Academy.

International Coach Academy is one of the world leaders when it comes coach training. They provide quality, affordable and accessible training. The International Coach Federation certifies the Professional Coach Training Program they have. Best of all they provide scholarships to people who deserve it. Their scholarship program gives scholars a 50% off from the training fees.

Looking For A Mentor

Another way of having an affordable life coach training is by having a mentor. If you are determined enough, you can look for somebody, a life coach, who is willing to take you as an apprentice. This may not be formal training but it does not mean that it will be less effective. Always remember that experience is better than any teacher or trainer and your life coach mentor has this.

Of course it is not that easy to find someone who, in just a snap of your fingers, would jump in and become your mentor. You need to gain their trust as well as you need to show that you really are determined to become one. A "real" life mentor, once has seen that you have the passion and determination, will help you in any way he or she can.

Self-Training

If none of the above works for you and you still would not want to give up, then this is your last resort - self-training. Self-training would require you to have different source of information one of which are the books. There are a lot of books that pertain to life coaching but you need not to buy one. These books are readily available in your local libraries.

Another source of information is the Internet. The information superhighway has a plethora of information regarding life coaching. You just need to be cautious though of which information you would use or not depending on where you got them. Choose sources on the Internet that are credible.

Becoming a life coach is not as easy as it seems. And the truth of the matter is, life coaching is not for everybody. A person needs to posses some particular characteristics or traits required before he or she is considered to have the potential of becoming a life coach.

Why A Life Coach

Why indeed do people want to become life coaches? There are two possible answers to this question. First is that being a life coach is very rewarding when talking about money. If you are an effective life coach with a constant stream of clients flowing in then you can rake in a lot of money.

The second answer on why people want to become life coaches is that life coaches can get a feeling of fulfillment and satisfaction. As a life coach, you have the ability to make lifestyle changes on your clients. You can help them develop and improve. You become a part of your client's growth and achieve great results in his or her life.

Characteristics of a Potential Life Coach

As have been stated life coaching is not for everybody. A person must have certain qualifying characteristics for him or her to be able to become an effective one.

First and foremost, the most essential characteristic of a potential life coach is the eagerness to help people. In the job of life coaching, a genuine urge to help will be very important for the effectiveness of life coaching. Without this eagerness, a life coach will just easily lose patience and give up on their clients.

Second, a potential life coach must be a good listener. If you are the type of person who talks and talks 24/7 then life coaching is not for you. As a life coach, it is very important to listen to your clients. You will get all the information that you need through your conversations and if you do not know how to listen, then you will not be able to make an effective program for the client.

Third, a potential life coach has the characteristic of the willingness to be trained. A person can't just become a life coach just because of his or her eagerness to become one. A life coach will have to undergo several trainings to be able to learn different methods that can be utilized during sessions with clients. The training process takes time and may take some fair amount of money.

Your Future As A Life Coach

If you fit all the criteria above then you have the potential to become a life coach. So what is in store for you when you become a life coach?

Monetarily speaking, life coaching is a good source of income. Being a life coach is a very lucrative business. In fact, a lot of people make a living out of being a life coach. But before taking that leap there some things you should consider:

- Is it worth leaving your current job and become a full time life coach?

- Can life coaching maintain your current way of living?

- Are you willing to take the risk of running your own business?

These are the 3 questions that matter before becoming a life coach. But if life coaching truly is your passion then by all means do not let anybody stop you and soar high.

Intelligence

Life coaching is a relatively new method of teaching people and helping them achieve their goals. Some use it for business while some use it for personal gains. Nevertheless, the endless pursuit of human achievement and contentment has proven a very important thing to ponder.

Man has ever been in constant inquiry of what to do in life, finding a reason of existence and using words of wisdom to live by. Sages and wise men have sprung from the center of civilization, imparting declarations of thoughts for other men to inculcate in their way of living.

One of these wise men is Takeda Shingen, a well-known samurai of the mid 16th century. He focused on the mere existence of a human being as a thinking being. In one of his famous lines, he said, "Intelligence is the flower of discrimination. There are many examples of the flower blooming but not bearing fruit."

This gives rise to a concept reaching beyond mere intelligence of man just being able to think clearly and do the right responses in adherence to society. The intelligence he speaks of is a proactive intelligence, a type of intelligence in which humans are able to go the extra mile in using his mind. This is the kind of intelligence wherein man is capable of applying his knowledge and having that imparted thought bear fruit.

Man here is tasked to have an objective of being productive. Many people think well and think fast and straight, but many fall short of thinking why he is thinking over something. Had it been that people use their minds and help others think better as well, then it becomes quite different. There is now a co-active coaching done and that both help the helper and the beneficiary in terms of learning from each other.

The Modern Samurai

Whenever someone thinks of a samurai, one cannot help but conjure a thought of lightweight armors, sword fighting, and honor system, all of which is in preparation of the upcoming battle. The enemies are always present to bother and pester, but the thought of being prepared for battle and meditating that each day is a day to die makes the samurai a strong person emotionally and spiritually.

Modern times include all the people from all walks of life, living in this contemporary setting where almost everything is automated and makes manual labor almost non-existent. Because of this, the people are pitted to use their minds in order to survive this competitive world where even friends have the tendency to out learn and outmode other friends.

A modern man who thinks that he should only interact and complement the society's demands definitely needs proper intelligence to communicate. That man may have thought of the right idea, but the real question now lies as to how they would implement it in their lives and to be good sharers as well.

Like a samurai who is a servant to his master. He is guided by his principles to maintain his honor. The modern samurai is a person living amidst technology, serving his own type of master: himself. Without application of his intellect, he will still be able to serve others but will not be able to find any meaning to his existence and why he is doing something for others.

He should first learn how to serve himself to know that the self has been taught. How can someone coach others if he cannot learn to coach himself first? That is the way of the modern samurai - learning to teach the self to be aware what to teach others. That is bushido life coaching.

A lot of people want to become life coaches. Life coaching is both a monetarily fulfilling as well as an emotionally satisfying job. But becoming a coach is not as easy as it seems. You need to have the right attitude and the proper training to become an effective life coach. Most often than not, someone who is interested to be in this line of job need to attend a life coach school. So how do you choose a life coach school?

Life Coach School

There is a myriad of life coach schools all over the world but only a percentage of them can really be considered as schools that provide quality training. There are certain criteria that you should consider when choosing a school to train in.

First thing that you should consider is its training program. Although there is no governed education and training for life coaching, there are certain self-appointed groups that are recognized all over the world. These are the International Coach Federation (ICF), the European Coaching Institute (ECI), and International Association of Coaching (IAC).

These organizations provide different training programs of great quality. The school you should choose is an institution that adheres to the standards provided by any of these organizations.

Another aspect that you should consider is experience. How long has the school been in the life coach training business? A school that has been established for quite some time would have had the experience as well as the expertise to train their students' effective life coaching techniques.

Feedback is also another factor that you should consider when choosing a school. Know what are the advantages and disadvantages of the school from the points of view of their trainees. Most often than not, feedbacks are unbiased.

Last but not the least, when choosing a life coach school, you should take into consideration the training fees. Life coach training can range anywhere from $3000 - $6000. Make sure that the fees you may incur for the training can be accommodated in your budget. It would also be good to inquire whether the school provides scholarships or other programs that may help their trainees financially.

The School Can Only Do So Much

No matter how good a life coach school is but if a person does not have the right attitude to become a life coach then everything becomes meaningless. There are a lot of people who wants to become life coaches but some of them are there for the wrong reason - money making. Yes it is true that life coaching is a lucrative job and a lucrative business. And yes there is nothing wrong with money making.

But you should keep in mind that in life coaching, you are holding the future of a person in your hands. If you are doing it just for the sake of money making there is a big chance that you will just do the job half-heartedly.

To become a life coach you need to have the proper attitude. You need to have the passion as well as the heart to help people. Make the money making part your secondary goal. Helping people should be the top priority.

With good training from a life coach school plus the right attitude, then you can be a very effective life coach who could make a positive change in other people.

At your first encounter of the term ?life skill coach' you may think how absurd it is to be able to coach some other persons' life. But it is definitely possible to do that. There is more to coaching than the term it self. A lot of people are in the limbos of their lives now and they need someone to put them back on track and that's what life coaches do.

Being The One

Not just anyone can call them selves a coach and go leading other people. To be one, you have to undergo training of a Life Skill program. Once you are certified to have the knowledge and the experience you become a professional on the field.

There are personal characteristics that are important to be a successful coach. First off, is that you have to be mentally and emotionally stable to help others. You should be able to deal and get along with different kinds of people. You should be accepting to them and is able to express your self clearly to convey to them what you really mean in order to avoid confusion.

It's not that easy to coach, since you would have to be socially detached to be objective but sufficiently involved to be able to ?feel with' your client. You must gain a balance between the two so that whatever comes out from your mouth would not be biased and lead them to some decisions that aren't well thought of.

Being The Light

Coaching does not mean you tell the person what exactly to do in his life. It is more of guiding him and making him see the different facets of his problem. You help him with all aspects of life whether spiritual, physical, mental, emotional, social, professional and even aesthetic.

You don't answer their problems but instead you ask them thought provoking questions for them to be enlightened and see the possibilities of their situation. It's like lighting up the path for them so that they may see the clearer picture that they are in. You help them achieve their goals and dreams, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you do it for them.

You aren't their attorney, doctor, maid, professor beautician, priest, accountant, fitness trainer and the likes. You don't do therapy either. You play a much different role from the list. What you do is help your clients make sounding decisions in their lives. Recommending clients to other professionals such as those above is done too in the case that they need to see one.

At The End

Once you have successfully coached, it may not seem obvious to you but you actually have given your client skills that he needs in life. They get to think more effectively and make decisions wisely than before. You also give them a sense of companionship throughout their struggles. This companionship is basically enough to keep them holding on but you give more than that.

They achieve self-awareness and a sense of fulfillment. They acquire a balance of the different aspects in life that used to be like an unsolved jigsaw puzzle for them. All of these are possible because of their participation and the little nudges you give them to bring them back to their personal tracks in life.

There's nothing comparable to the fulfillment you get in helping out others at the same time its not that easy for you either. Are you ready to coach a life? Now it's about time for you to make the decision! 

The Social Thinking Being

Human beings are social beings, living out each of their lives in the company and presence of others. There is no known claim that a person can live on his own without degrading himself less of a human being. Each person, being social as he is interacts with the people he comes into contact with.

The normal process of learning would be for each person to impart something; a thought, a practice, a belief, a philosophy, or the mere absence becomes the learning experience for the other to start seeking for answers to be properly integrated into the self.

Throughout the lifetime of a human being, he will be able to share himself and be shared with by others. The influences that subtly change a person into what he is during the present is what he got from coaching for life by those he had been with.

Coaching for life is quite simple to comprehend. It is the way an individual's personality having an effect with those people in his environment. The closer they are physically, and socially will probably have a greater impartment and thus would have a greater change in the attitude and behavior.

Though not necessarily impertinent in the sense that it overshadows another person's fundamental behavior, it deviates and shifts the behavior of a person. It becomes a two way process for the involved people, and a two way process to the individual.

The Paired Two Way Process

Coaching for life could cause either positive or negative results to the other individual. The same goes for that same person by the people around him. Depending on what is more influential; a specific mindset is subjected to a myriad of possible outcomes in terms of belief, attitude, and philosophy in life.

Morality is only a supplemental factor in determining what type of person arises from the many interactions he may get throughout his lifetime.

Like a river run dry, any new rainfall will definitely fill up the dry riverbed, but the water that would fill the riverbed may be murky due to the accumulated dirt when it dried up. Over the course of time, water coming from the mountains, filtered and cleansed will start to replace the murky water that once occupied it.

Our characters are analogous to this dry riverbed. We are always an empty vessel in constant need of social interaction and the quality of character building depends on the people who carry the "water" that would fill us. Coaching for life is an essential part of staying human, being able to think, feel, reason out, and take action with the events that come our way.

It Never Ends

Even those who have physically passed away still have their philosophies immortalized by those who have been affected deeply. Coaching for life may extend beyond the grave through the legacies these dead personalities leave behind for others to ponder upon. A classic example would be the teachings of faith by Jesus Christ, Mohammed, Buddha, and similar religious entities to their followers.

Several hundreds, perhaps thousands of years have already passed and yet, their words and teachings are still kept as guides for spiritual growth and personal contentment.

Coaching for life for these personalities have been immortalized to such extent because of their great impact to the people who accepted their philosophies and beliefs as their own.

Spiritual life coaching is one field of life coaching that concentrates on uplifting the spirit of the client. This method is widely common now days. This approach affects the different material aspects of life by dealing first with its immaterial aspect, the spirit.

Spirituality may be a vague term. Its meaning can be subjective, depending on the person who uses the word. It can either be religious or not. But definitely it comes from within a person. Coaching in this field is tapping that inner spirit to become active and in turn change a persons' life.

Mechanics

This type of coaching focuses on what is essential in your life. Your inspiration to live may have died or you are dried out due to the toxicity and stresses of everyday life. This approach would fill up that yearning inside you once again and the revival of your spirit is achieved.

Its product being tranquility, peace of mind, motivation, fulfillment, and simply the balance in life can be achieved.

Evaluation

At the beginning of the process you will be asked to evaluate your life. Here you get to see the vital areas of your so-called life and rate it on how exactly you are doing along with it. Your coach will guide you through this process of evaluation in order for both of you see what would be the best approach for you.

Discovering Yourself

After you evaluate, you would discover a lot about your life that you didn't consciously know before. Here you will see the waterloos of your life. You get to discover your highs and lows, those points to work on, your personal assets and characteristics.

You would also get to see your behaviors that you need to get rid off, improve, or keep. Self-awareness is achieved and a sense of individuality is gained. In this process, it is not your coach that discovers you, but it is of your own doing that you discover yourself.

Guiding Points

Your coach won't be the one to answer your life's problems. He is just there to guide you through it by pointing out the problems that you have to work on. Thought provoking questions is asked to you to analyze and see the real deal of your difficulty. He layouts the different alternatives or solutions, but then you are still to be the one to decide.

Renovations And Innovations

Lastly, a spiritual coach can help you renovate your life, in the sense that your old spirit that has acquired damages can be repaired. It is really hard to get rid of old habits especially if you had them for years, but with having a life coach this is very much possible.

Innovations can be done too, in which your broken spirit isn't just repaired but also improved to the best it can be. You can acquire new behaviors that are actually good for you. You get to improve on different fields in life. In effect of having a renewed spirit is the price of having a new life too.

Spiritual coaching is not relying on your coach to pray for you or do mantras or perform spiritual ritual acts on you. It is your spirit that is worked on, thus your own willing participation is needed. Basically, it is making you see the diamond behind the coal of your spirit.

Oriental Value

Whenever I get to watch Japanese-inspired samurai movies, it catches my attention that the main character has a purpose in undertaking what he is supposed to do, even if it means risking and sacrificing his own life. This purpose of finishing a certain task is not only bound to duty but to something more important, something deeper.

I usually am able to discern that the purpose of being is rooted in honor and self respect. My conscience gives me a coaching in life for honor to be sought.

A samurai is not only concerned with his personal objectives but it is intertwined with a sense of self preservation which is more than what can be perceived tangibly, even by other people. Honor for the samurai is his most cherished and well-kept treasure. Without it or losing it would mean shame and a loss of dignity.

It is the pride of the samurai to continue to exist in this world of interaction. Honor is the badge of self-respect he commands from other people. It is indeed important.

There was also a time, which I remembered during one of my previous jobs wherein I was administering a myriad of online gamers who paid for gaming service. Each day that I worked as a game master, I made sure that there were no exploits or cheats done by the players that would compromise the integrity of the game, as well as the other players.

Self-Implication

However, it couldn't be avoided that there would be anomalies and corruption even in such an ideally conceived work. I was not the only game master working. I had colleagues, some of which had different sets of principles. It came to a point that some sort of dishonesty happening between unethical players and immoral game masters. I was knowledgeable of the "under-the-table" transactions of some of the players to have their online gaming characters hyped up.

Even if I could also make easy money from joining the bandwagon, money was not important to me, and so I confronted these colleagues of mine and talked with them about it. It seemed that there would be no compromise that is going to happen so I decided to resign because I couldn't blindly work in an honorable manner when my colleagues wouldn't.

It just implies that I value my sense of self-respect and honor. I would rather go do an action if it would mean that I would gain the two before mentioned. Of course there are times when I make the wrong decisions, but not because I deliberately compromised and gave up my honor for something shallow such as money or fame or the like. Honor, like that of a samurai is important to me. It is my badge of respect that I can command others to impart with me as I do with others as well.

I shall preserve and maintain this treasure that I have, and that which others may never get or steal from me. It may diminish with mistakes that I do in my life, but as long as my sanity commands to strive for the betterment of this, I shall remain internally self-fulfilled.

If there would be something I may do to increase it, I will do as long as I am able to carry out the task properly. Honor will be one of my root principles as I live in this earth. Honor as a coach in life is intangible yet; it is one of the most concrete things speaking of my identity.

The Realization

I remember that day when my girlfriend and I parted ways almost two years ago. For a couple who had been together for almost 6 years, it was very disturbing to think that I would be starting the next day being single. I did not know where to start. I had been accustomed to having her beside me all the time, being with her practically almost every moment I was not engaged in my academics and extra-curricular activities.

I didn't know who I was anymore. Six months of grief and feeling of loss passed. I had been constantly seeking refuge and solace in my church as I attended midweek and Sunday services, but none seemed soothing and assuring. I had no one to rest my weary shoulders. I needed someone coaching lives and telling me what I should do.

It was only when I had started to practice my Quiet Time (personal talk and devotion with God) did I find the answer. I woke up at 5:30am to devote my personal time to Him alone, and in that moment I opened up the Bible, a message struck me and moved me intensely. The message was always there waiting for me to read it and understand His message. The message was all about me. It said that I am His child, who was created in His image, love and glory.

It knocked much sense into me. Here I was, all too busy to find a very shallow meaning of how I would be able to carry myself being apart from what I was so used to that I forgot Him; that all things that I am was about Him; that what I have and what I should be doing should be for Him. I realized that I am His son, who is a manifestation of His glory and greatness.

I realized that I have to seek Him first and his righteousness. With that, I would be given what my heart desires in His good time. I was able to know now my purpose of existence.

The Inspiration

A new desire for Him instead was born from within. In order to know myself better, I would have to know where I came from and what my purpose was. That would be recognized and renewed each day that I seek God. With it I have a purpose: to be an instrument of getting others closer back to Him and spreading His word of the beauty and wonders of having passion and faith, and His promise of everlasting life and blessings far more abundant than what we, as humans are limited to comprehend.

It didn't take much time to seek Him. He was there - always was. He was just waiting for me to stop and actually look His way and acknowledge His presence. The rest was history. Sometimes we already have the answers but we fail to look at the places nearest us.

We tend to look for something quick that we forget that when we speed up our pace, it becomes harder for us to focus on things that whiz past us quickly.

By living our lives with Him and his righteousness do we become life's coaches? We may not know it but as long as we have inspiration of Him in us as our fuel, it wouldn't be that hard for us to actually go about and not notice that we ourselves are becoming instruments in coaching lives.

There is a certain point in time when a person becomes dissatisfied with his or her life. He or she might be thinking that there is something more for him or her out there. It could be about the job, about love, about financial disposition or about life in general. If you feel this way then you may be in need of a life coach.

Life Coach and Life Coaching

A life coach is the same as a baseball coach, a basketball coach or a football coach. The coaches teach and train the players to change faulty habits, develop and improve so that they may become better players. A life coach is similar to them. He or she coaches people to change faulty habits, develop and improve the different aspects of their lives for them to determine and achieve their goals in life.

Life coaching is the process of developing and improving a person's life. It is a partnership between a client and a coach for a certain period of time. The partners will have sessions that will focus on the client's needs and other issues.

Through these sessions, the life coach will help the client develop different strategies and solutions to improve. This is an interaction between two persons and it is not only the life coach who will be making the decisions. The client will be actively involved especially in the decision making process.

Why Do You Need Life Coaching

The point in time when you want change (as have been mentioned in the beginning) can quickly come and go. But this will be recurring from time to time, which can become a bother. So what are you going to do about it? Is it okay to let this happen for the rest of your life? Is it okay not to do anything about it?

Is it okay to feel dissatisfied? With a life coach, you will be given a helping hand that will guide you to take that big leap and change for the better. He or she will be there to aid in determining the right path for you to take to improve and feel satisfied with your life.

Benefits of Having A Life Coach

A life coach will help you ponder on what you want, why you want it, and how you can achieve it. He or she will aid you in taking the steps from where you are now to where you want to be. A life coach will give encouragement and provides support, confidence as well as motivation for you to achieve your goals.

Will You Really Benefit From It

Anyone can benefit from life coaching. It does not matter where you are or who you are, for as long as you want changes and improvements in your life, you will benefit from having a life coach.

Life coaches have been effective when it comes to the different aspects of life. This includes financial success, career, health, personal skills & confidence, happiness, satisfaction and fulfillment. It all depends on you on what aspect of your life you need help with.

Conclusion

So do you really need a life coach? The only one who can answer this now is you. The basics of life coaching and life coaches have laid down before you and it is up for you to decide whether you need a life coach or not.