Life Coach
What is a life coach?
A life coach is someone who aims to help and empower others to make, meet and exceed personal and professional goals - including excelling in the workplace, becoming happy and fulfilled in the home, exploring the self and the world, and achieving ambitions. James developed "Mind Coach for Life" to do exactly that- to empower you to achieve your goals in everything you do.
By harnessing specialist techniques based on core psychological principals and natural intuition, James provides clients with the tools to confidently face difficult situations, push past emotional barriers and eventually view life with fresh, hopeful and enlightened eyes.
Just as sports coaching enables athletes to hone themselves into the fastest, strongest, most tactical competitors in their disciplines, life coaching helps people from all professional and personal backgrounds improve their strengths and build upon their weaknesses to make the most of their lives.
At the heart of"Mind Coach for Life" lies the idea that clients must be given the power to help themselves. Offering advice, opinions and judgements would undermine some of the basic principals behind life coaching, which include:
A) Subjectivity: we all have different perspectives of the world - no one perspective is 'right' or 'wrong', but some perspectives are restrictive and can stop a person becoming who they want to be.
B) Empowerment: it is within everyone's capability to adjust the limits of their own perspective. With the help of life coaching, anyone can learn to open their mind if they wish.
C) Guidance: there is a difference between an instructor and a guide. An instructor shows a person exactly what to do, whereas a guide provides the tools and support a person needs to do something for themselves. A life coach is a guide, not an instructor.
What happens during a life coaching session?
Life coaching sessions will typically be 60 to 90 minutes duration During the session, James will ask you about what you want to get out of life, what areas you're unhappy with and where you'd like to see yourself ending up.During the session he will encourage you to explore how to make positive changes in your life offering support and feedback to help you to stay focused on your goals.
What is NLP?
Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) is thought to be one of the most effective and accessible self-help methods to come from modern psychology. Many life coaches use NLP techniques to help 'reprogramme' clients' patterns of thinking and behaving.
The fundamental difference between counselling and life coaching is that counselling usually investigates the roots and causes of potential mental health problems, whereas life coaching focuses mainly on the future to encourage personal-development and self-improvement.
What can "Mind Coach for Life" help me with?
Mind Coach for Life utilises effective techniques to help you in all aspects of life. If you've ever struggled with anything - whether it be sticking to a diet, learning a language, moving out of your comfort zone, standing up for yourself at work, keeping a stable love life, or achieving those things you always wanted to do.
- Personal life - perhaps you feel like you're not making the most of life. There's so much to see, do and learn in this world, but often a lack of confidence, time and will-power can cause us to stay inside not doing anything. Mind Coach for Life uses specialist skills to motivate you to do the things you want to do, so you can finally fight the urge to procrastinate.
- Business life - starting and running a business is tough work. Sometimes we get so absorbed in hard work we neglect ourselves. Mind Coach for Life can help with confidence, leadership, decision-making and work/life balance.
- Performance - improvement is at the heart of NLP life coaching. Whatever your skill, NLP life coaching could help improve it. Whether you're an athlete, an artist, a writer, a performer, or a musician - adopting specialist techniques will help you to push your limitations and exceed expectations.
Life Coaching and NLP
People communicate feelings in different ways. Most of these feelings are actually communicated unconsciously, be it through tone, volume, pace, facial expressions, body language and words. NLP practitioners are trained to recognise these subtle, unconscious clues so that they can understand how their client is feeling. A practitioner can identify the self-imposed restrictions the clients have put on themselves through unveiling the client's mental map and working with them to move forward.It is easy for people to set themselves up for failure if they are constantly thinking negative thoughts. Comments such as, "I'm not good enough", or "other people are better than me" can limit an experience and the chance of accomplishment.
What to expect
Initially, James will ask what you want to change and the problems you want to overcome. He will pay close attention to what you are saying, how you say it and tailor the session to your responses. James will then work through a range of exercises with you in order to piece together your "life map". He will begin to introduce new thought processes in order to help you widen your boundaries. It is common for James to give you a number of exercises to practise at home. This will help you get accustomed to the techniques learnt in the NLP coaching session. While the main neurological changes will have occurred during the session, they may take time to settle in. It is normal for the changes to progress over time, as you get back into your daily routine.
How can NLP help?
Neuro-linguistic programming is often regarded as "a tool-kit for the mind", because of this; NLP is used to improve all areas of a person's life. It is known to be particularly effective for improving the following situations: It is thought that NLP is such a popular technique because it focuses on the future. It works to explore future possibilities and solutions, rather than encouraging you to dig up past memories or experiences. NLP coaching is about adding opportunities and widening perceptions, rather than dwelling on the negatives.
Anxiety and Stress
NLP coaching can be an effective method for fighting feelings of stress and anxiety because it identifies the thought patterns that may be causing the pressure. As soon as these unconscious thought patterns are recognised, they can be challenged.
Health and Well-being
One of the most important ideas underpinning NLP is that the mind and body are closely connected. When exercising for example, people will experience positive mental and physical energy. By improving the way we approach and think about the world, we can improve the health and well-being of our bodies.
Fears and Phobias
NLP is well-known for its effectiveness in helping people cope with fears and phobias. Like with anxiety and stress, NLP can reveal the thought process behind the often 'irrational' fear. NLP can help to change how a person thinks and feels about what was causing them fear, so that they are no longer afraid.
Relationships
Relationships are based on communication and problems often arise when people are not communicating or expressing how they feel. NLP can help a person become more aware of how they communicate. Understanding this can help people accept that others may have different views. One opinion is not wrong or right. With NLP coaching, practitioners hope that by developing empathy skills, a person will find it easier to build strong and long-lasting relationships.
Confidence
It is common for people to see an NLP practitioner for relief from their own fears and limitations. The techniques used can help the person break the old habits and beliefs and gain new opportunities. NLP is effective in boosting an individual's confidence by teaching them how to make decisions based on their dreams, rather than fears.
Business
NLP is an excellent tool for understanding people and their ways of communication. In terms of business, learning these tips from an NLP coach will help a person improve how they communicate and improve their ability to empathise and negotiate with colleagues, employees and managers.