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How life coaching could turn your life round.

When was the last time you felt that your life was totally sorted, that all the plates were spinning evenly and that you had things perfectly in control? I expect that for most people reading this, it won’t have been for a while. Dealing with the demands of motherhood can leave you feeling breathless, overwhelmed and exhausted.

This is where coaching comes in. It gives you a calm, objective view on your life and a structured plan for improving it. Think of a life coach as a mother with no agenda, a best friend with no problems of her own and a management consultant without the City price tag, and you start to get the idea.

Hannah came to me a few months ago, in a state of exhaustion. She’d been suffering from insomnia for years. She needed to lose weight and get organised but didn’t know where to start. We worked on a consistent approach to managing her sleep and worked out a diet and exercise regime that suited her lifestyle. Several months down the line, her insomnia is gone, she’s lost over a stone and has got her life much more organised. Along the way, she also found her relationship with her partner start to improve - an unexpected bonus.

Hannah isn’t alone in needing a helping hand. Let’s face it, we all have some issues. What are yours? Perhaps you’ve lost your sense of identity and wonder what happened to the happy-go-lucky woman you once were. Maybe you feel inadequate about your parenting skills. You may have gained some weight since you had a baby and despair of getting back into shape. Or perhaps you’re finding that your business has thrown your life out of kilter. If any of these sound familiar, you’re in good company; mothers up and down the country are struggling with the same problems.

But aren’t these things that your friends could help with? If you’re exceptionally lucky with your friends, they might be, but for most of us, it doesn’t quite work that way.  First of all, when you’re chatting to your friends you’ll never get the chance to talk exclusively about yourself for the best part of an hour without reverting back to your friend’s life and problems.  A coach will give you her undivided attention for the whole session – something that with the best will in the world you just won’t get from a friend.

Secondly, a friend will never be as objective as a coach. The sole agenda of the coach is to make you as positive and happy as you can be, untainted by any personal views about how you raise your children or live your life. A friend is much more likely to tell you that you really don’t need to lose any weight than to help you with a diet and exercise plan.

Finally, what marks coaching out from talking to friends is that it goes much further than just talking around a problem; it’s all about taking action, setting targets and getting results. If you’re struggling with your weight, for example, your coach will help you to set realistic targets and to find a lifestyle that helps you to achieve them.

So how does coaching work? Some coaches work with clients face-to-face, but many, myself included, coach by telephone, which gives them additional flexibility – no need for a babysitter or a trip across town. Most coaches insist on a course of appointments, once a week or once a fortnight, for maximum benefit, and most offer a free trial session so you can see if it’s right for you.

And how do you go about finding a good life coach? There are thousands of them out there, from the weird to the wonderful. The profession isn’t regulated, so some have done no training at all. My advice is to check on what training they have done, whether they have a coaching qualification, and whether it’s from an organisation with some sort of external accreditation. You might want to ask if they specialise in a particular field; many coaches work in specific areas that may be of direct relevance to you. Most importantly of all, speak to them yourself and find out if you like them and could work with them. A trial session can help with this, and a good coach won’t do a hard sell at the end.

If you think coaching could turn your life around, why not act today and take over your life before life takes control of you? You deserve no less.

Patricia Carswell is a life coach who works exclusively with mothers. To talk to her about coaching or to book a free, half-hour trial session, you can contact her on 0845 838 6399, patricia@coachingformothers.com or via her website, www.coachingformothers.com

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