“A life coach does for the rest of your life what a personal trainer does for your health and fitness.”
– Elaine MacDonald
Two years ago, I had never heard the term “life coach”. The more people I spoke with throughout my travels, the more I heard about the coaching profession. I thought to myself – I’ve had teachers, sports coaches, mentors, personal trainers…I’ve had guidance in all aspects of life except for, well, my life!
That’s when I hired my first life coach.
What is coaching?
- A relationship used to push the bounds of your comfort zone to reach your full potential
- The support and guidance to be your true self and create the life you want.
- Helping you learn and find your own answers.
- Building self-confidence, overcoming fears and improving self-awareness.
- …and so much more!
What’s the difference?
Coaching: a good coach helps you learn and grow from within by being curious, asking questions and guiding you to your own answers. They focus on the present and future.
Consulting: a consultant focuses on the problem to provide a solution through expert advice. They bring expertise and assistance to meet goals, often providing an instruction manual to cross the finish line.
Therapy: a therapist is a licensed healthcare provider who often focuses on overcoming or resolving past traumas in order to create a better future.
Mentoring: a mentor is a source for guidance to provide insights, support and advice from their experiences. Mentors are often volunteers who help the mentee through a particular goal or stage in life.
Teaching: a teacher provides their own knowledge of a subject to others who want to learn more about that particular topic.
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our Light, not our Darkness, that most frightens us.”
– Marianne Williamson
What are the benefits of coaching?
Pulling from my own experience, there are many benefits to coaching. I discovered the difference between my learned values and my core values. I overcame fears and found new motivation to create a different lifestyle. Working closely with my coach, I created new habits to help maintain a positive mindset and break my burnout cycles.
More than that, I uncovered fears I didn’t know were holding me back. When we overcome our internal fears and shame, embrace vulnerability and take the leap, we have incredible power!
I truly believe that every coaching relationship is different and provides benefits specific to each client. If you want to learn more about the benefits you might find, check out these articles here and here.
What do we offer?
Simply Hudson offers a hybrid model catered to our clients’ needs. You’ll get the best combination of our consulting and coaching expertise to learn more about yourself, hit your goals, and develop actionable steps to build your business, career or life vision. We aren’t one size fits all – you can count on us for an individualized program that fits your needs!
Stay tuned for future articles on the different types of coaching and how we integrate them throughout our individualized programs.
For more information on the differences between coaching and consulting, check out this article.