The demand and supply of life coaching

Is there someone who helps you when you face difficulties in your life or when you need a piece of advice? Your parents, your friend, maybe your life coach?

Life coaching is becoming more and more popular among people who want to become successful in a short time or need help with making decisions. They are lost and need someone to show them the right direction, someone who has experience and knowledge to guide them. With a life coach everything becomes easier and achievable.

So, what is life coaching?

As Wikipedia says: “Life coaching is the process of helping people identify and achieve personal goals.”

Do you need a life coach to achieve your goals? Or, can you do it on your own?

The demand

If you’re familiar with the term “life coaching”, then you’ve already seen some life coaches who promote their services and empower you to “go and get it”. When I first heard about life coaching I asked to myself — “Why do people need life coaching?” And, I googled it.

I wasn’t surprised when I got about 63 million results for my query. Then I tried to understand where the demand for life coaching comes from. There are various reasons and signs mentioned in life coaching websites which show that you need it. Here are some identifiers:

• You’re stuck, lost, scared and unhappy. You’ve lost your hope and can’t find motivation.
• You doubt yourself and don’t have a plan or a vision. You need to boost your self-esteem and restore your confidence.
• You want to make more money and be successful. Maybe you want to have your own business.
• Stress, anxiety, depression — no need to give more details on these.

Sounds familiar? Thought so.

We can see that there’s always been a demand for it, because we all face these problems from time to time. Does this mean that we all need life coaches in order to find our way, to get out of depression, to plan our actions, or to change our lives?

The supply

The history of life coaching starts with an American business planner Thomas Leonard, who was the first to develop coaching as a profession in 1980s. In 1995 he started the International Coach Federation (ICF) as a non-profit organization.

The list of the top life coaches includes the names that we’ve all heard about at least once, or even follow their activities on social media. But what exactly do they do and why is this business thriving?

To find the answers to these questions, I examined the content of several websites and picked out some of the most highlighted things that they do:

• Save you stress and frustration
• Give you self-confidence and belief in yourself
• Make you take action and create a vision
• Challenge you to step out of your comfort zone
• Help you get rid of the things that hold you back and reach your potential

And, if you think you need any of these, then maybe it’s time to think about hiring a coach?

“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” Buddha

The students were ready, so the coaches appeared and started a business from it. Besides, there are life coaches that teach others to become life coaches by providing trainings and certifications. Predictable, right?

What do we have to offer now? A lot of certified coaches who want to persuade you that you need them to improve your life and you can’t make it on your own.

Have you tried self-coaching?

There’s nothing wrong in having role models, as there are many people you can learn from by observing their actions and achievements. But there are also many people who want to tell you what to do.

According to different sources, life coaching helps you achieve your goals faster and without the necessity to think about the solutions. They can give you the solution but not the ability to find it yourself. Yes, it may save your time, but it can also be a waste of your time. What will you do if you face another problem? Will you go to the coach again?

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think, we become.” Buddha

Become your own life coach.

It’s easy to find your way if you truly know your desires and goals. The hardest part is to define them and plan your activities. The voices in your head often keep you from acting. It’s important to listen to them and try to understand.

Dig deeper into your feelings and thoughts to bring clarity to your life. Understand your fears and get rid of them. Look at your life from different perspectives and start acting like there are no limits or boundaries.

When you are at peace with yourself, you’ll always find motivation and a clear vision of where you’re heading to, without any excuses.

It’s up to you to decide whether you need life coaching or no. You’re in control of your life and your thoughts.

George Bernard Shaw said — “The price of ability does not depend on merit but on supply and demand.”