Are you thinking about becoming a licensed life coach? You're definitely
going to want to watch this video. I've got some tips that will save you both
time and money in the process. I've noticed a trend and maybe you have as
well that there's a shift in the personal development industry toward a
more positive approach. I'm coming from 25 years of experience as a clinical
psychologist. And that's a pathology-based approach. In other words, we would
try to diagnose what's going on with someone, what's wrong with them, if you
will. And that tastes kind of funny to a lot of people. The trend in recent years
seems to be more toward positivity and focusing on skills and attributes that
will help us to move forward. This has opened up a whole lot of opportunity for
people like you who really want to help people to have a more excellent life but
you're not a licensed psychologist or you're not a therapist or you're not a
trained counselor. That's okay. Because the personal development industry and
life coaching doesn't require any of those particular credentials. Now, this is
both good news and bad news. Because anyone can get into it. Well, that opens
it up for you but it also opens it up for a whole lot of other people who may
or may not know what they're doing. That's why it's important to consider
certification or licensure as a life coach. Let's talk for a moment about what
the difference is between certification and licensure. Usually when we talk about
licensing, we're referring to a state or a government entity or body that gives
permission or their blessing to engage in a particular activity. To be an
attorney for example. You have to have licensed from the state that says that
you've passed all of the credentialing and all of the training and of the
requirements so that you can actually operate in that field without hurting
people. That's kind of what it comes down to. The same thing is obviously true of a
medical provider. To be a doctor, you have to be licensed to do that.
You see, licensure gives some assurances to the end consumer of the product that
this person knows what they're doing and they're not going to hurt me. This is
important especially for vulnerable populations. Like people who are
suffering from some kind of mental illness or a disease process in the
medical industry. That's why it's so important. It's also important for safety
reasons. If you have a plumber come to your home, you want to have a licensed
plumber, right? So, that you have some assurances that that job is going to be
done in a way that doesn't endanger you, your family or your property. So,
licensure is all about protection. In life coaching, there's not a licensing
process in most states. Whether that's right or wrong is not the topic of this
particular video. I just want you to notice that that's what opens it up but
that also creates some level of risk for people who are looking at either
becoming a life coach or securing the services of a life coach. Certification.
Let's talk about that for a moment. That has to do with demonstrating that you've
passed a certain training process that allows you to use a particular approach
or set of materials. There are a lot of individuals and entities out there who
are providing certification to use their proven programs and processes and
systems. This gives another level of confidence to the end buyer that what
they're getting is something that's actually been tried and proven with
other people. I for a certification in the programs that
I teach. You can also get them from other coaches or professionals who have
already developed programs. So licensure and certification are kind of different
that way and I think it's important to make that distinction. Why would you want
to pursue either of those? It's basically to give you and your clients more
confidence that you're operating within a realm that is within your capabilities
and your training and your experience. So that we can ensure better outcomes.
There's one more distinction that I want to make for you here today before I give
you three specific things that you can do to become a licensed life coach. Or in
the sense of what we've already talked about probably more of a certified life
coach. And the other distinction, I want to make is between coaching and
mentoring. Coaching and mentoring. If you get a mentor, it's someone who has
already been where you want to go. If you get a coach it's someone who knows
something that they can use to support you in getting where you want to be
whether they've been there or not. That distinction is important because as I
work with life coaches, sometimes one of the hang-ups is, "Oh, but I've never done
what I want to coach people to do." Okay, well do you know something about the
principles that could help them get there whether or not you've been there
yourself? See, that's the difference between a coach and a mentor. Mentors
someone that you can look to because of their example and they've already
covered that ground. My son made a distinction for me about this. He was an
elite runner in high school. In fact, he was a better runner than his coach. And
that might be obvious when I used that example. Can that coach still help him?
Absolutely. I look at my favorite NBA team the Utah Jazz. And Donovan Mitchell?
I guarantee is a better basketball player than Quin Snyder, his coach. Does
he still need the coach? Yes, he does. Coaches can provide value even if they
haven't been there. So get clear about that.
In fact, that leads us to the 3 steps that I was going to share with you. Step
number 1 is get clear in your own mind about a number of things. There are 7
crucial clarity's that I like to go through with my coaches that I'm
coaching. Including being clear about who you're going to serve, how you're going
to serve them, what you're going to provide as a service. All of those
clarity's are summarized in a webinar that you can connect to. We'll get into
this in detail. It's a full hour on those 7 clarities. You can connect to that
at liveonpurpose.coach/webinar. We'll put a link down in
the description for you. That webinar will help you with the clarities. All I'm
saying for this video is you've got to be clear about those things in order to
establish an effective life coaching practice. The second step might be
obvious to you after the conversation we've already had. Enroll in a
certification or licensing program to get the training and experience that you
need to be able to say that you're a certified life coach.
Remember, I'm making a distinction here between licensure that's granted by the
state or the government and licensed to use intellectual property which we might
also call certification. Enroll in a program that you trust. Find someone
who's doing this in a way that you personally can resonate with. That's the
kind of training that will help you to move forward and assist those people who
are just waiting for you to pull the trigger on this and get some services
available to them. Enroll in a course and do some shopping here too. Okay? Look
around, see who's doing the things that really make the most sense to you and
are most consistent with your own goals and strategies. Now, do you have to enroll
in a course? No, you don't? you can do this all on your own.
And a lot of people have. The problem with doing it on your own is that you
might have to reinvent the wheel about some things that have already been
established or tried and and proven with other clients.
Now, here's step 3. And don't bypass this one. Take courageous and bold action.
It's time. If you searched out this video, you've already given this some thought
and you're looking for permission maybe. I'm going to give you permission as if I
can. But I will give you permission to get out of your own way.
Take some courageous action. It's not about you. It's about all of the people
that you can bless and serve when you stop waiting for whatever to happen in
order for you to do this. Take some bold and courageous action. And as you do so,
build in some accountability. Which means you might need a coach of your own to
coach you through this process. Find one that you can trust and engage their
services. That's part of your accountability. You might also consider
forming a mastermind group or getting together with other people who are doing
a similar thing to what it is that you are choosing to do. That way, you can hold
each other accountable and you can share ideas and you can move forward in a
powerful way. If you like what you're hearing here and if what I've been
teaching on this channel resonates with you, I would be happy to join forces with
you to help you get your life coaching practice launched. Connect first to the
webinar that I mentioned. liveonpurpose.coach/webinar. I hope
to see you there.