Feeling stuck, like you want to move forward in your life but just can’t make the progress you’d like to see? You may want to work with a life coach. The benefits of having a life coach are many, and if you want to finally achieve the goals you’ve been seeking, you may want to tap into them sooner rather than later. 

What is a life coach? 

A life coach is a trained professional that helps people set goals in their lives and then take the right steps to achieve them. These goals can be professional or personal, including help with relationships, career success, health and fitness, financial success, bucket-list items, and more. 

Working with a life coach can help you: 

• Clarify what things you’d like to accomplish
• Identify obstacles that are holding you back 
• Develop strategies for overcoming obstacles 
• Identify your unique strengths and gifts 
• Provide support as you work toward your goals 
• Help you maintain what you’ve achieved long-term 

Who works with a life coach? 

Anyone can work with a life coach. But we find that people who are in transitional times in their lives often find the most benefit from working with a life coach. If you’re looking toward a major transition, such as getting married, getting divorced, starting a new career, or are just ready to make some changes in your life, working with a life coach may be right for you. 

You may have heard of powerful business leaders, prominent politicians, celebrities, or influencers who work with their own personal life coaches. Anyone who wants to reach peak performance and life fulfillment can benefit from working with a life coach. 

What’s the difference between a life coach and a therapist? 

The work that life coaches and therapists do often overlaps. After all, both professions are centered around helping people live better lives. However, there are some important differences. In general, a therapist works on healing trauma that originates in the past, and a life coach helps you focus on building the life you want in the future.

A therapist: 

• Can treat mental health conditions 
• Must have a degree and be licensed 
• Must adhere to strict ethical codes 

A life coach: 

• Cannot treat mental health conditions 
• Does not need a specific degree or license, though any reputable life coach will have undergone extensive training
• Is not required to adhere to specific ethical codes or health privacy laws 

Example goals a life coach can help with 

A life coach can help you achieve almost any type of personal or professional goal. Some common examples of goals that a life coach can help you reach include: 

• Enhanced creativity 
• More active social life 
• Better, more fulfilling relationships 
• More success with dating 
• Overcoming fears and anxieties 
• Professional success 
• Career changes 
• Building greater financial security 
• Finding the right career path 

Benefits of Having a Life Coach 

Before you invest in working with a life coach, your first question is probably, “Will this really help me?†The answer is yes, as long as you’re committed to doing the work and are open to coaching. No matter how great your life coach is, if you’re resistant to the process, you will not see results. 

There are many benefits of having a life coach. Here are just a few. 

1. Accountability – Having someone to hold you accountable helps keep you on task and on track. We see this “accountability partner†setup in all sorts of goal-setting and achieving situations, from weight-loss camp to in-person learning (what do you think grades are for?)  to Alcoholics Anonymous. When someone is watching us, we’re more motivated to “do the right thing.†

1. Fresh Perspective – It’s tough to see the forest for the trees, sometimes. When bumping up against the same problem again and again, we may fail to see what’s right in front of us – a negative pattern that’s holding us back, a solution we haven’t tried, a hidden talent we don’t realize we have. Working with a life coach can bring clarity to situations that look muddled in our own minds, helping us see a path forward that we may have overlooked before. 

1. Help with Goal Setting – Sometimes it’s tough to know exactly what we want – and need. The drive for improvement can be frustratingly vague. Especially when it comes to long-term goals, it’s hard to visualize what you want far off in the future. A life coach can help you narrow down what’s really important and define the steps to get there. 

1. Unbiased Feedback – Knowing that your coach is unbiased helps you take their advice, feedback and support more seriously. A life coach’s picture of you is based on your actions now, not a lifetime of knowing you. So if you were geeky kid or a troublesome teenager, your life coach won’t let that color their perception of you. Your friends and family can’t say the same. Your coach will give you the most accurate, up-to-date reflection on your current life. 

1. Much-Needed Push – Need help getting out of your comfort zone and into the “new you†you want to be? A life coach is there to push you when you need it and know your limits better than you do. We often underestimate what we are truly capable of. Your coach can help you expand your boundaries and see what you’re really made of. 

Ready to optimize your life? 

Dr. Jeff Ditzell’s Life Optimization Coaching Program was developed to elevate our clients’ lives both personally and professionally. If you’re ready to level up and commit to a new standard of success in your life, schedule online or give us a call today to schedule your first appointment. 

We offer a full range of complementary mental health services to help you get your life on track from the inside out, including individual and family therapy, ketamine infusions, medical marijuana, buprenorphine treatment for addiction, and more.