Are you floundering, unsure of what to do with your life?
A life coach can help. They can help you find purpose and direction but also offer so much more.
Discover whether life coaching can benefit you.
What is a Life Coach?
A life coach is a professional dedicated to helping clients succeed. They offer guidance, support, and accountability to help clients identify their true desires, set goals, overcome obstacles, and tackle challenges.
With the help of a coach, clients can make better decisions while taking actions that align with their goals and values.
Types of Life Coaches
The term “life coach” is so broad that many specialize in specific niches, such as:
- Business/Executive
- Health & Wellness
- Financial
- Career
- Relationships/Divorce
- Interpersonal/life skills
- Self-improvement
- Spiritual
Some coaches offer holistic services, focusing on the big picture, while others can assist in multiple areas of life.
How Can a Life Coach Help Me?
A life coach can help you find direction, challenge your limiting beliefs, and discover your true potential.
They can assist in many areas of your life, from helping you make and stick to a budget to motivating you to work out.
We spoke with life coach clients, who shared how coaching helped them.
Discover Your True Potential
Tiffany McGee, an insight coach and co-founder of The Vessel — a platform focused on personal growth and emotional well-being, says a life coach shaped her into who she is today.
“Years ago, I felt stuck,” she shares. “I had a stable career, but something was missing — a sense of purpose. I sought out life coaching, hoping to uncover what was holding me back and discover the next steps for a more fulfilling life.”
“My coach didn’t just help me set goals; she guided me in confronting the fears and limiting beliefs I didn’t even know I had. She challenged me to think beyond what I thought was possible for myself. One specific breakthrough was realizing that my need for external validation was preventing me from pursuing what truly mattered to me.”
McGee shared that these life coaching sessions helped her see she was holding herself back from living her true purpose. She redefined her career path and found the courage to leave her corporate job to do something she loves.
A life coach can help you achieve the same.
Overcome a Specific Problem
Some life coaches offer support and assistance for a specific problem rather than a holistic lifestyle change.
Dr. James Hook, a wellness professional and MD at Neurogan Health, hired a life coach to help him excel during medical school.
“I learned how to avoid so many pitfalls that medical students fall into,” he shared. “As the field is very demanding, one has no choice but to study consistently to master all the concepts to prepare for the career ahead.”
Hook said his life coach ensured he attended class and helped him make studying a part of his daily routine.
Life coaches can help with any of life’s little problems. They can help you overcome a breakup, build a budget, prioritize your well-being, or stick to your workout schedule.
Provide Tools for Success
Max Shak, owner of Nerdigital.com, sought coaching during a period of professional and personal stagnation. “Despite achieving measurable success, I felt like I was running on autopilot, disconnected from my deeper goals and values. I wanted to align my business ambitions with a more fulfilling personal life and better leadership practices,” he explained.
“Life coaching gave me tools to reframe challenges, prioritize effectively, and establish a growth-oriented mindset. My coach helped me unpack limiting beliefs that were holding me back, especially around delegation and embracing uncertainty.”
He added that his life coach helped him focus on intentional action, which made a lasting impact on his company and personal relationships.
Find Fulfillment
Agata Szczepanek, Career Expert and Community Manager at Live Career, says her life coach helped her find professional fulfillment.
“I discovered much about myself through my coaching sessions, which felt liberating,” she shared. “My coach helped me explore what was driving my dissatisfaction and guided me to reconnect with my core values, like creativity, purpose, and continuous learning.
“One of the biggest revelations was realizing how disconnected I was from these values in my previous roles. For example, I learned that while I enjoyed aspects of teaching (I started teaching English as a foreign language in 2009), I wasn’t passionate about my path—it wasn’t tapping into my love for storytelling and communication.”
Szczepanek said her coach helped her find the confidence to make a bold career shift. “The coach guided me to see my strengths in a new light and encouraged me to consider opportunities I hadn’t thought of before. It was eye-opening and empowering,” she added.
Life Coach vs. Mentor vs. Therapist
When hiring a life coach, it’s crucial to understand their limitations.
Life Coaches are not mentors, nor are they therapists.
Many clients conflate the terms, seeking a life coach when they really need a therapist or hiring a coach when they’d do better with a mentor.
Mentor
Mentors are typically older workers in a similar profession who can help you navigate your chosen industry’s unique needs and requirements. As seasoned professionals, mentors can advise on specific problems because they’ve been where you are now.
Mentors can also help you identify potential career paths in your field or industry and recommend steps for achieving those goals.
Coaches are more general. They don’t necessarily have an insider’s view of your industry, so they can’t advise you on specific requirements or situations. They’re more focused on you, the person, rather than your career trajectory at a particular company.
Career coaches blur the line between mentor and coach. Career coaches help you find the path right for you, regardless of industry, while mentors focus on your career development within an industry.
Therapist
Coaching is never a substitute for therapy. Therapists have educational backgrounds in psychology and are licensed to practice in their state. They can help patients overcome trauma and identify/treat mental illnesses or other mental health concerns.
Coaches should never attempt to diagnose a mental health condition or engage in psychotherapy. Coaches look forward, helping clients discover what they want out of life. They don’t look back to uncover hidden trauma or try to determine how someone’s childhood affects their present behavior.
Coaches can work hand in hand with therapists, providing much-needed support that therapists don’t offer.
Clint Kreider, LMFT with Harmony Junction Recovery, used a life coach to help him fight alcoholism and the resulting emotional fallout.
“I had tried traditional therapy but felt I needed a more forward-focused approach—someone to help me set goals, hold me accountable, and reframe the way I viewed my life,” he recalled. “My coach provided a structured path emphasizing action and personal responsibility, which complemented the emotional work I was already doing. The sessions helped me visualize a life beyond addiction and gave me practical tools to start building it.”
What Should I Look for in a Life Coach?
Everyone needs something different from a life coach. When looking for a coach, consider their values, style, and how well you connect with them.
Values
Finding a life coach who shares your values is essential to success. A Christian seeking spiritual guidance shouldn’t hire a Wiccan life coach, and someone who only seeks natural remedies shouldn’t work with a wellness coach who promotes any type of remedy.
Research a potential coach’s values to ensure you’re a good fit.
Style
Everyone learns differently, and every coach has a slightly different style. Do you do best with homework or one-on-one discussions? Do you prefer texts or phone chats? Would you rather have group coaching sessions or individual sessions?
Some clients need an aggressive coach who holds them accountable, while others want a more gentle approach.
Research a potential coach’s methods to ensure they are the right fit for how you receive information.
Connection
A personal connection is vital to a positive coaching relationship. You must like talking to your coach and feel comfortable sharing personal information with them.
Sometimes, two people just don’t connect, and that’s okay. Keep looking, and you’ll find someone you can freely engage with.
What Can I Expect from My Coaching Sessions?
Although each coach has different methods, you should expect a few standard things from coaching sessions.
Most coaches will ask you invasive questions. They need to dig deep to help you determine what you want.
Depending on what type of coach you hire, your session may include several things, such as:
- Relationship building (the client-coach experience)
- Refining/understanding goals
- Setting tasks/schedules/routines
- Creating an action plan
- Discussing habits
- Reviewing materials
- Accountability
- Reflection
- Homework
Most sessions last about an hour.
Finding a Life Coach
You can find a life coach online or via recommendations.
We recommend our excellent coaching partners:
- Melanie Allen, owner of Partners in Fire, a certified life coach specializing in finding happiness, leadership/life skills, and financial coaching.
- Learn more about Partners in Fire Life Coaching Services!
- Mindy Pickel, a relationship life coach specializing in helping couples reconnect via how they give and receive love.
Ask your friends and family for recommendations; you may be surprised how many of them have used coaching services.
Finally, you can search Bark and LinkedIn for a life coach who best meets your needs.
Life Coach Certifications
Life coaches don’t need formal training or certifications. Many rely on their professional and personal experiences to help their clients. Tony Robbins, the world’s most famous life coach, started without a college education.
Though there’s no formal requirement, many life coaches earn certifications from various institutions and programs.
Many of these institutions are accredited by the International Coaching Federation (ICF), and some businesses will only hire executive coaches who have completed an ICF-accredited program.
iPEC
The Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC) is one of the most popular ICF-accredited life coaching institutes. It offers programs in overall life coaching and specialized paths for executive coaching, health and wellness coaching, and sports and performance coaching.
Earning a certification through iPEC can be cost-prohibitive, as the program costs over $13,000.
Accreditation Not Required
Though some people feel better about hiring a coach with ICF accreditation, it’s not required for the job. Hundreds of life coaching programs offering better training have opted against certification.
Many coaches have the life experience, work skills, and personality to excel at coaching without ICF accreditation.
The ICF only ensures that coaching programs meet its baseline standards, some of which are absurd. They require in-person hours with a mentor, and applicants must already have at least 100 coaching hours to qualify—meaning every accredited coach had to start coaching before receiving an accreditation.
In addition, the cost can be prohibitive to independent coaches. The application fee alone is nearly $200, and the lowest level credential costs between $2000 and $4000. That’s for an individual credential for an independent life coach—institutions seeking accreditation must pay even more, which raises the cost of tuition.
I’ve earned two certifications through the Transformation Academy, which is credentialed as a Continued Professional Development organization rather than via the ICF. The Academy chose not to seek ICF accreditation because it required contact hours between the professor and the student, which would take away from the self-paced, virtual structure of their offerings (though students can reach out to teachers for questions/assistance – it’s just not a requirement of the coursework).
How Much Does a Life Coach Cost?
Most life coaches run independent businesses, so costs vary wildly. Each coach sets their own rates.
Newer coaches often have lower prices than experienced coaches with years in the business. Beginners may charge as little as $50 per session, while the best coaches command thousands of dollars an hour.
Most coaches offer package rates, meaning you’ll pay less if you book multiple sessions. You might be able to book five sessions with a beginner for $200 instead of $250, for example.
Some coaches offer communities, group coaching, worksheets, or other products/services as more affordable options for clients on a budget.
Consider Life Coaching
A life coach can help you excel in multiple areas and live the life you’ve always wanted. Isn’t that worth exploring?