Should I call myself a life coach?

If you’re a natural life coach wanting to become a professional life coach, you might be wondering “Should I call myself a life coach?”

• Aren’t there too many life coaches in the world?
• And what if you don’t resonate fully with the title of “life coach”?

In the early stages of my career, I had the same concerns about becoming a life coach or not.

This self-coaching meditation and mindfulness exercise, which I call the Wisdom Well Method, helped me to resolve the dilemma of whether to call myself a life coach or not.

Here is an extract from my journal. It may shed some needed light on the question for you…

Dear Wisdom, should I call myself a Life Coach?

MIND:

“There are so many life coaches in the world; I’m not even sure I like the term ‘Life coach,’ but I want to serve and communicate to others that I’m here, able to listen, guide and inspire.

“Should I call myself a life coach or something else instead?”

WISDOM:

“There are no accurate job titles for the sovereignty of the soul when it’s moved by love to serve.

“What matters more than what you title your work is the love you put into serving others at the highest.

“Life = Love as divine movement

“Coaching = an ordinary ‘way to get from here to there’ or the kind of life coaching you offer which is about creating safe nonjudgmental space as an equal partner to help clients incubate enlightened seeing and being.

“What matters is the intention behind the words you choose. Every profession has dark and light expressions, life coaching is no different.

“There is surface ego-focused life coaching and deeper wisdom-focused life coaching. Both have their place. You get to decide what life coaching you offer.

“Don’t let the title ‘Life Coach’ get in the way of following the call of inspiration.”

COMMENTS ON THIS WISDOM WELL SELF-COACHING MEDITATION

This Wisdom Well meditation extract reflects a time in my life decades ago when I was questioning being called a Life Coach and “becoming a life coach.” I couldn’t find a better title for my work.

Whether you’re at the start of your journey to being a professional life coach or have worked for years, you might question the title “Life Coach.”

One advantage for using the title ‘life coaching’ to describe your work is the growing demand.

In 2021-2022 more than 50,000 Google searches a month in America alone are looking for a ‘life coach.’

A disadvantage is that the title doesn’t always accurately express the quality and depth of the service you offer. And there is more and more competition in the coaching space these days, with a lot of people working without any training or certification.

So what can you do?

Your inner wisdom might also guide you to settle on a term, at least for now. Because ultimately, the label is just that, a label, and you can make sure that you offer much more than surface-level life coaching.

• You get surface-level authors and life-changing authors.
• You get surface-level teachers and life-changing teachers.
• You get surface-level life coaches and life-changing life coaches.

You get to choose which you want to be!

Years ago, as my skills developed, I was awarded an MCC Master Credential from the ICF International Coaching Federation – I changed my title to ‘Master Coach.’

You might also work towards Master Life Coach credentialing.

Go beyond the title

Remember that your clients are more interested in where you can take them.

When somebody wants to go to a tropical island, they want to see photos of the beaches and destination, not the airplane that takes them there.

Our clients want to know where we can take them.

Life coaching is only a way to get there.

When marketing your services, focus on clearly telling clients about the dream destination your services take them to.

Ask yourself:

• “If my coaching program worked well to serve my client at the highest, where would they get to?
• What transformation would occur?
• What changes would happen?”

That’s what you put up-front in your marketing messaging, social media bio and website headings.

The title ‘life coach’ has secondary importance.

Go beyond your title as a life coach, master coach, enneagram coach, business coach, spiritual coach or any other kind of coach – focus your communication on where you take people.

If that’s not clear to you, make it a priority to find out.

A big coaching toolbox and expert guidance should help.

Read more about two big decisions you need to make when you become a life coach.

May your life coaching services be filled with wisdom and depth, creating safe, nonjudgmental spaces as an equal partner for people to find their inner strength and inner guidance, transforming their inner obstacles by building their Wisdom Wells.