Hi there!

Interested in pursuing a career as a life coach? I’ll start by saying this: It’s the best decision I’ve ever made. I love every single day, even the hard as hell ones. (There are plenty of them!)

I get asked a lot of the same questions by those considering a life coaching career, so I thought I’d compile my answers in one handy place.

Did you do a certification?

Yes! I’m certified by The Life Coach School. I absolutely loved it and have no doubt that it was the right decision. It wasn’t perfect, but I’m so, so glad I did it.

I learned to become exactly the kind of coach I want to be, and I learned to self-coach, which is a skill that I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life, even if I ever switch careers. (Unlikely…)

Should I get certified at The Life Coach School?

If you buy into the idea of The Model, then it might be the right fit.

If you can’t get onboard with the following, it likely won’t be a fit for you (100% of the work in the program is based on this):

  • Circumstances are the neutral facts of your life.
  • Thoughts are sentences in your head, in response to circumstances.
  • Feelings are vibrations in your body, created by thoughts.
  • Actions are what you do or don’t do, fueled by your feelings.
  • Results are the outcomes of your actions, and always create evidence for your original thought.

What other certifications are out there?

I find Co-Active Coaching interesting, but you’ll have to do your own digging — there are a ton of options.

This is the criteria that I used: Do I find the coaching program’s free content unique, original, valuable, interesting, and in integrity with my values? When I listened to The Life Coach School podcast, it was a hell yes for me.

I figured if I wasn’t hooked by the free content, I didn’t want to give them my money 🙂

Do I need a certification? 

No, you can coach without one. In fact, I see many people hold themselves back from starting, because they think they need to be certified.

I highly recommend getting certified, but don’t use it as a reason not to get started. 

Here’s why I recommend getting certified:

  • It teaches you how to coach (in my opinion, you can’t learn the mechanisms of how to coach just by being coached yourself).
  • It ensures that you have financial skin in the game.
  • It’s a humbling process that I don’t think you get when you go it alone.
  • You meet incredible people.
  • You can self-teach, but a certification program shortens your learning curve a ton. 

Any other pieces of advice about certification?

Glad you asked 😉 Go all in on the decision. I truly believe that’s why I had such a tremendous experience at LCS: I made the decision and committed to it 100%.

I committed to showing up at every single class, doing every single assignment, coaching myself before every class, and getting as much outside coaching as possible. 

I never looked at another certification program again. (What’s the point?)

Lastly, if you’re on the fence, check out these decision making tools

How should I get started?

Start by coaching yourself. You’re your best client. Design a program for yourself that solves your #1 challenge in your life. 

Then coach anyone who will let you coach them. And hire a coach, so that you can see the work in action. (How shameless would it be if I plug my offerings here?) 

More questions?

I invite you to shoot me an email. (Heads up that because of the volume of inquiries, I’ll only respond to those who have shown that they’ve read through this post and are asking questions that can’t be found on Google!)