Life coaching is not for everyone. If you live a perfect life, life coaching is not for you. Coaching is also not for those who are clinically depressed, or anyone who suffers from an anxiety disorder or any other psychiatric problem.

Life coaching will support you if you're ready to take full responsibility for your life. Coaching is for you if you're ready to vote with your life energy for what will make you happy. Life coaching is for you if want to choose your own life, take action and create a life you love.

People usually hire a coach when they are at a cross roads at some stage of their life, or their personal circumstances have become confusing – often the person feels stuck or overwhelmed.

Like consulting, coaching is outcome oriented, dealing with vision and action. The major difference is that a coach does not provide expertise and solutions. A coach operates from the belief that clients have all the resources they need, including the ability to discover and utilize those resources. The coach will use their questioning and observation skills to help you get clear about your existing obstacles and a new direction and strategy. A coach will not TELL you what to do or push you towards an unwanted direction.

Like therapy, coaching is client centered and individual. While therapy goes in depth about various issues, usually dealing with the past, coaching is more action-oriented and focuses primarily on the present state and desired future outcome or result.

A certified life coach usually doesn't get too much involved in the story, rather the underlying issues. (such as erroneous or limiting self beliefs)

Masterful coaching is about asking powerful and sometimes difficult questions, and this evokes emotions. Since emotion drives human behavior, any coaching program that dismisses the emotional component will fail over time. The objective is to understand your emotions as reliable information sources, which help move you towards a personal plan that you are truly committed to and excited about. This is crucial in making any plan realistic and sustainable.

Some coaches work in person, while others prefer to work over the telephone, so it is well suited to professional clients' busy lives. Some coaches also use e-mail as a means of communication. Often the coach doesn't live in the same community or even the same part of the country as the client. To many, this is seen as an advantage. It puts the coach well outside the system within which the client lives and works, and provides a sense of distance, objectivity and perspective. Coach and client usually design the system that works for both.

The International Coach Federation (ICF - www.coachfederation.org) is the leading organization that sets and monitors the international standards for professional coaching ethics, training and practices. As a member and Professional Coach of the International Coach Federation a coach adheres to the ICF Standards of Ethical Conduct.

Every coach has his or her own personal style. Some use a synthesis of different strategies adopted from current professional coaching models (The Inner Game, G.R.O.W., Co-Active Coaching, Neuro Linguistic Programming and Positive Psychology) together with insights from business and philosophy.

Core coaching competencies include listening, intuition, feedback, curiosity, action, learning, feedback, perspective and self-management.

The intention and goal of a personal coach is to:

Create a compelling vision for your future with clear action steps

Help you get clarity around specific goals

Provide you with the tools and strategies to create the results you want

Challenge and motivate you to take action toward your goals

Improve your critical thinking ability to enhance your decision making skills

Provide feedback, support and accountability

Help you identify and overcome mental barriers and self-limiting beliefs

Improve your self confidence and authentic sense of self