What is Life Coaching?
Before I can answer the question of “Is Life coaching a scam?”, we need to understand what life coaching really is. So many people consider themselves a life coach and almost everywhere (especially online), you will see people trying to promote a life coaching program or service to you. If you have ever wondered what it is, then here is the answer.
Life coaching is a profession that focuses on personal and professional improvement and effectiveness.
Most of us want to flourish in every area of our life and sometimes we need professional help to get there. Sometimes we need to see our life from another person’s view to spot the reasons why we cannot get over the current obstacle that we are in. Whether the obstacle is personal or business oriented, we all will get to a point in our live where we feel hopeless.
Life coaches can help us to address the problem, work out a solution and then to work on this solution to get over the problem. All of us have the potential to do great things, but society has pushed us into a jar to limit our belief system.
My problem with life coaching
Everywhere online you will see people that promote courses for other people to become life coaches. The reason for my concern is that life coaching is not as much a career as it is a lifestyle and it is not yet regulated. Life coaching is not really something that you can study for because if you do not walk the talk, then your talk is worthless.
The worse thing that can happen is that you can get a life coach that is struggling harder than you to get over a specific situation. The ideal life coach is someone that has already passed the obstacles that you are facing. If they have not done it themselves, then how can they teach you how to do it?
Even I can go and take a course online and become a life coach in 1 month. The reason why so many people are becoming life coaches is because of the money. Some life coaches get paid more than $3000 per hour, so I can see that many people are flocking to training centres to become life coaches.
One of the biggest obstacles that might block a person in any area of his life is mental disorders such as depression, chronic insomnia and anxiety disorder. A Life coach cannot teach you how to get over one of these disorders because they are not a psychologist.
If a life coach should detect any of these disorders, then he or she cannot help you.
They need to be certified by the ICF
This is the first thing that you should look for and it is also the most important. The ICF stands for International Coach Federation and this is where people can become an accredited life coach. If a life coach is not registered with them, then I would not buy his or her service.
There are also 3 levels of coaches that you get. First you get the ACC (Associate Certified Coach) then the PCC (Professional Certified Coach) who has more experience than the former and lastly you will get the MCC (Master Certified Coach) who has the most experience.
To become an ACC you need at least 100 hours of client coaching experience under a mentor. To become a PCC, you need to have at least 750 hours of client coaching experience. As you can see, it is not just a small course that you take and you are qualified. It can take you years before you reach the MCC level.
This indicates that life coaching is a serious business and you should not take it lightly if you want to become one. The ICF also has a set of standards to which the coaches should adhere to.
Only you can change your life
If you are not willing to do the changes necessary, then not even the best life coach can help you. If you want to change your life, you need to change your habits and your believe system. Our believe system determines the actions that we take and the actions that we take determine the habits that we develop.
If you do something over and over again it will become a habit and it does not matter whether the habit is good for you or not. If you want to succeed at something, then you need to be good at it. To become good at anything, you need to practice over and over again.
One thing that I learned from life coaching is to constantly measure yourself because if you do not do this, then how will you know if you are progressing? As a general rule you need to improve with 1% each day and I know this is small, but it lasts longer. After a year you will be 3.6 times better than you were before and who know how much better you will be after a couple of years.
So is life coaching a scam? I am going to say no, but you need to be careful when you choose your life coach and remember that a life coach can only do that much. Life coaching can give you the tools you need to succeed at almost anything in life but it all starts with you.
Hi Valie,
Great article and some very solid valid points. Anyone can become a life coach. Especially online and perform consultations via email or skype. Because of this, it can really en dup being the blind leading the blind.
It is feasible possible that an alcoholic can coach someone on how to give up alcohol for example.
I had no idea about the accreditation system, defo look out for that if purchasing life coaching.
I have seen so many life coaches that re promoting their own service online that it makes me wonder if they are legit. This is the bad thing about the internet because anyone with no experience can create a product or service to sell.
I liked what you said about life coaching. In reality, we need to find it within ourselves to get up and do the work. These coaches can have a lot of power in getting you motivated to do stuff, but that’s honestly something you can get for free on youtube or something. Great article, keep up the good work.
I agree JP
Life coaching can only take us that far, because it does not matter which path you take because you will need to put the work in.
I don’t think life coaching is a scam. You really can’t say it is a scam. There are people out there who will scam you but you don’t through the baby out with the bath water. If you don’t know what you are doing you can be the ruin of some ones life. I’ve been a pastor and I am a certified counselor. One of the things I do is when a person comes in that is beyond my help I refer them to a professional because I am not a psychiatrist or psychologist. Their are people that com in looking for a catharsis and there are no easy roads to life’s problems.
That is a great and honest to goodness web page. I like that you put at the end the way to become a real life coach by showing that it takes time and learning. Good job.
Hi Oscar
I agree with you 100%. Life coaching is a serious matter and you should not take it likely if you are considering it to become one.
Life coaches should also know their place in a person’s life and they must not go further into fields where they do not have training on.
Hi Viljoen,
Your article is thought-provoking. Like many other things, I think some people in life coaching are legit and others are not-so-much. You are right about the credentials. A bonafide life coach will have training and time with a mentor. I used a life coach in my city a couple years ago when I was considering a change of career. It was a good experience. She challenged me and helped me find direction for myself at a time in my life when I was spinning my wheels and paralyzed by indecision. But, at the end of the day, no one else can make the change for us. We have to do it ourselves. Some people need help. Others don’t. But its up to us.
Thanks for the review!
Alyssa
I across multiple websites where so called “life coaches” offer their service at a very high price. I have written this review to see whether there is a regulation in place to make sure that the life coaches are skilled in what they are offering.
A course online that certifies you as a life coach in one month? Now that is trouble! I agree that the Job should be left to psychologist who have the neccessary training required in the understanding of how people function ( and i’m pretty sure it took them longer than a month to get their degree). So true, “only you can change your life”. Great post.
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Ponce
It hasn’t been that long ago that I just heard, or maybe paid attention to, Life Coaching. I really didn’t know that it was that popular and that some are making that ridiculous amount of money doing it.
At first when you mentioned it being regulated, it kind of put me off. UNTIL, I read on. I can see why and how there are so many scammer out there that you have to be aware of.
I have to be honest, I really wouldn’t mind going to a Life Coach if I could afford it. Thank you for sharing with us what to look for in a reputable coach.
In an age where anyone can proclaim to be a life coach – you really have to judge and trudge carefully through the Internet to differentiate between a legitimate and successful coach and just someone with a pretty social media account. Having known a few of these “coaches” I really don’t see the point of paying exorbitant amounts because most of the time, they are portraying an artificial dream lifestyle, one that they themselves do not even possess. Why should you waste your hard earned money on someone who’s in debt and pretty much had a lot of self esteem issues? A lot of times these coaches are often in some kind of program themselves being scammed by a more experienced or successful “coach”. Posting quotes and the works of others do not a coach make. Leave it to the professional psychologists I say.
Hi Ruth.
I completely agree with what you are saying. When it comes to emotional things such as depression, there is no better way to get advice from a psychologist. Life coaches can be useful when it comes to teaching better ways for productivity and mindset.
You need Joe Roach Life Coach!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k93P9alyp4o
Hi,
The only Executive or Life Coaches people should hire are licensed psychologist, or people who have received their PhD in I/O psychology. It takes 4 years of undergraduate, 2-3 years of graduate school, 4-6 years of Doctoral studies, and 1-2 years of residency in order to become a psychologist in many states. These professionals have the necessary educational background, research experience, and hands on training related to mental health, neuropsychology, social psychology, and other related subjects within the psychology field.
Even ppl who are Ipec certified life coaches do NOT have the relevant knowledge or expertise in consulting clients with life coaching.. they do not develop relevant competencies needed to consult thoroughly and accurately. Their reliance of “laws” such as – the law of attraction – are too heavily relied on, as well as broad Freudian beliefs (which most prob don’t even realize they are using Freudian ideology) lol…. I hear the phrase, “its in your subconscious mind for why you do things”… no “dude”, it could be mental health or Cognitive/Neuro related, and your Ipec coaching probably doesn’t go over actual clinical “theories and techniques” that psychologist learn, nor do they probably teach you about the brain, roles & functionalities, and clinical data that supports findings.
Another thing I hear is, life coaches are for “mentally healthy people” only. Well, hate to break the bad news, but there aren’t too many mentally healthy people out there. Everyone has their baggage and issues, we all know it. But many people don’t receive or get the help they need… therefore, ppl may be “stuck” in life, b/c they have an untreated mental health issue, or perhaps, they are struggling with personal issues from their past, that are hindering their work performance or personal relationships… sorry Ipec coaches, but they likely don’t teach you how to fully recognize this, nor treat it… therefore, you’re giving INACCURATE GUIDANCE to ppl who are stuck in life for probably something you aren’t trained to help the client with.
Point of rant – life coaches need to only be hired by licensed psychologist or ppl who have obtained their PhD in the psychology field.
Sincerely,
– dual masters graduate student applying for PhD program.