Coaching is aimed at helping people meet goals in their personal or business lives by guiding them in the right direction — much like a sports coach might do for a sportsperson — although the methods used by individual coaches will vary greatly.
It might seem that the concept of turning to a coach outside of a sporting context is something that many people would shy away from — but the more you think about it, the more you may realize that people have been turning to friends and family for help and guidance for years. Coaching is just a professional extension of that help.
Most of us turn to a friend who we consider to be ‘wise’ when it comes to certain circumstances such as making key decisions or overcoming problems. But our friends may not always have the answers or may not be sufficiently objective about a situation to give decent advice. This is where life coaching has role to play, by helping people see their life from a different perspective and giving them the confidence to move forward.
Coaching is a form of counseling which uses a series of individual sessions — which are sometimes carried out over a telephone or even via e-mails, as well as through face-to-face sessions — to help people solve their problems and achieve ambitions. It draws from a number of disciplines, including sociology, psychology, and numerous forms of counseling.
The aim of coaching is to help people break their negative belief patterns, act more decisively, and set clear goals towards achieving what they want from life. Most coaches are highly trained as generalists but many also specialize in areas such as relationships, stress, personal growth, business, careers, motivation, finances, creativity, and family — among many others.