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Despite being a relatively new industry, there are already a lot of rumors, myths and misconceptions about life coaching that people suffer from. Have you heard of one of these?

1.Life coaches are only for celebrities and top executives – while both of these groups are known for employing life coaches, they aren’t the only ones by far to do so. Life coaching is applicable to almost anyone with a goal or issue that they can’t quite solve on their own: from organizing a closet, to training to climb Mt. Rainier, life coaches can provide the support, motivation and accountability to help anyone succeed.

2. Life coaching is a pyramid scheme – this one baffled me when I first saw it; apparently, there are those who believe life coaching is a get rich quick pyramid scheme because the field is open to a broad range of backgrounds, and life coaches often have services specifically to train new coaches. While I suppose it’s true that anyone can say they are a life coach, in reality, it won’t take long for a client to know if they are getting their money’s worth or not, and lack of clients will stop any coach’s success short. Coaches provide a service, and because coaches and clients work together to determine personalized goals and strategies, there isn’t really a way for coaches to fake results with their clients.  As for coaches training more coaches, it’s one of the more hands-on aspects of life coaching about the field. Practical experience is a must, and what better way to learn if you want to be a life coach, than to meet and work with one.

3. Life coaching is all about touchy-feely issues and emotions – again, as an industry so broad, with the majority of its popularity in the business sector, it surprises me that this is still a misconception about life coaching. While some coaches do specialize in personal issues like relationships, inner peace, spirituality and the like, these factors do not by any means define the profession.

4. Life coaching is a replacement for counseling or therapy– now this one is tricky. While life coaching can replace counseling or therapy in a person’s life, it does not provide the same services as counseling or therapy. Life coaching focuses on the present and the future, not the past, as these other disciplines do. While coaching does help facilitate breakthroughs and the improvement of the quality of a client’s life, it is through a much different way than either counseling or therapy.

5. There’s no government regulated certification; anyone can say they’re a certified life coach — as many life coaches do much of their marketing and networking online, it’s easy to see how this one started, however, just do your homework folks. While it’s true there is no single approved source for coaches to receive certification, this does not excuse potential clients from using common sense. There are multiple national and international organizations that offer respected professional designations in the field.  Check references, go through referrals, request a trial appointment if you’re not sure.

In short, there may be people out there claiming life coaching is like therapy, or it’s the last secret of the stars, or what have you, but if you do a little research, and keep an open mind, you’ll get past the fluff and find out if life coaching can help you with what you would like to achieve.