If your question or query isn’t answered here, ask your question here
What is Personal Coaching? Personal Coaching provides the opportunity for clients to explore what’s holding them back, develop strategies for moving forward and to be held accountable as they take action to hit their goals. It’s a conversation-based relationship that can last just a few hours or several years.
Clients can work on areas such as:
Confidence to take action
Improving relationships
Planning an important project
Strategies to conquer fears
Work/life balance
Health and fitness
Career development or change
How to have difficult conversations
The Coach is trained in how to coach each of these areas and is able, through questions and shared insights, to assist the client to formulate their own strategies for moving forward. A Coach doesn’t "tell" a client what to do. It isn’t advice-giving or training. It is a conversation where the client forms their own decisions about how to proceed. The coach facilitates the decision, and then assists the client to set a game-plan, overcome obstacles, take action and form new, beneficial ways of thinking and acting.
At all times the client drives the agenda of the sessions and chooses where they would like to focus. Through this the client learns to take responsibility for their choices and their results, which gives them more opportunities to succeed.
Why would I participate in a program or event? How long is a piece of string? There are many reasons why you would participate in one of our programs or events. Here are just a few that our clients tell us:
Build your confidence muscle
Grow your self esteem
Find your bliss
Create Work / Life balance
Enhance your relationships
Turn chaos into extraordinary living
Make your dreams come true
Change the behaviours that are not giving you the life you deserve
You simply want to be happy
How long do the programs go for? Because everyone’s situation is different and because everyone creates change at their own pace, we have created programs that range from four, six or twelve months. We don’t subscribe to fast remedies or quick fixes. We believe in transformations that are long term and sustainable. We will assist you to design a program that best suits you.
Telephone Coaching or Face to face for our Melbourne clients
Telephone Coaching for our Interstate Clients
What support do I receive with my Program? You may call us in between sessions if you need coaching on a pressing issue or to clarify something from the previous session or can’t wait to tell us about something great! We allow around 10 minutes for these calls and we ensure that we have time between regular sessions to speak with you and enjoy providing this extra level of service. It’s up to you how much you utilize your program in this way. This is provided to you free of charge.
Feel free to email us during the week to: a. share a win b. clarify a point c. have her review something or d. request coaching on a particular issue.
What’s the Investment? Our aim is to make our programs and events available to everyone. We keep our overheads low so that our fees are realistic. However, don’t choose us just for our low prices. Choose us for our expertise, knowledge and reputation. Select us for our enthusiasm, our commitment to you and our desire to boost your confidence and self esteem. Choose us for the quality of our programs.
Our programs are an investment in your happiness. When you consider how much your situation has cost you so far, our programs might become a necessity, not a luxury. Our clients report higher levels of confidence, peace of mind, happiness, and success. Our programs and events vary and packages can be structured to suit individual budget constraints.
What if I have limited time? The Believe Lifestyle Centre programs were designed for a single mum working fulltime, with our thinking quite simply, if she can do it, then so can you! (Yes, she is a real person who worked with us three years ago and is still going strong.)
You will need to set aside between 2 to 5 hours a week to get maximum benefit. The more hours you give, then obviously the better your results.
Some weeks you may have no time, which is fine. Clients have taken 5 weeks off to go on holiday and still completed their chosen program on time.
If for whatever reason you can’t get to a session, then it will be re-schedule it for you at a later date and time.
What if I don’t have much confidence? Many (more than 80%) of our clients come to us with only limited confidence. But, why would it be any other way? They haven’t learned how to implement any strategies yet, so how can they know how they will do it?
You may be low in confidence, but what you will have is a drive to improve, a curiosity about what makes you tick, and a desire to create more success in your own life. These are the qualities we notice our clients possess!
What if it doesn’t work for me? Like all things in life worth having, there is no guarantee this will work for you. There is, however, a complete system that when followed has assisted hundreds of people to experience more success than they have ever experienced before in their lives!
Ask yourself, what are the moments you feel most proud of in your life? Was it when the opportunity was easy to achieve? Or was it when you had to stretch yourself in some way, and as a result of this you learned that you had more in you than you realised!
Success without fulfillment is failure. Fulfillment comes through growing and contributing to others. This is one of the reasons why coaching is so popular and growing fast throughout the world.
And yes, we don’t know you yet, so we don’t know if you can do this. That’s why we have a ½ hour “Exploration Session” at the start of your coaching journey with us, so we can fully assess your strengths and weaknesses, determine your goals, and design the program that is ideal for you.
How do I get started? After your 15 minute free phone consultation, if you choose to go ahead, then our Consultant will schedule an Exploratory Consultation for you. This can be over the phone or face to face if you are in Melbourne. During your Exploratory Consultation, we will discuss with you even further where you are and what it is that you’d like to achieve. If there is a genuine fit between you, your coach and your goals, you then choose which package will suit you best. From there, we schedule regular appointments either weekly or fortnightly. Our programs are flexible so that you can choose to conduct your sessions to suit your time and budget requirements.
The Personal Development Industry is absolutely booming. So how do you separate the good from the great? How do you weed out the bad and the under-qualified? Deciding that you want to make a change in your life is a big decision. With over 500 Personal Coaching businesses listed in the yellow pages and a Google search returning over ten pages, the challenge is not how to find a coach, it’s how to find the RIGHT coach for you.
When you’re searching for someone to help you make a difference to your life, make sure you answer these seven questions.
What is your coach’s background? Find out if they experienced personal and professional success in their own life, or if coaching is just another thing that they are trying out while they gain their own clarity of direction. It’s important that they have an understanding of your situation and can help you create a detailed strategy on how you can turn it around together.
Some coaches specialise in a particular coaching niche. There are confidence coaches, creative coaches, spiritual coaches, performance coaches, executive coaches, business coaches, life coaches, career coaches, and many, many more. Make sure that your coach specialises in an area consistent with your needs.
What coach specific training have they taken? Some people believe that because they have been good at what they do, that they don’t need to train before they begin to coach people, however, coaching is a very specific skill set. Being a good coach is not about subject matter expertise, but rather the ability to ask incisive questions to draw out the client’s wisdom, in either their personal or professional life.
Coach training programs vary in content and structure, with programs in Australia ranging from one month to two years in duration.
There are no entry requirements for the majority of coach training schools and completing a coach-training program won’t guarantee that someone is a good coach. But it does show recognition of the specialist skills of a coach and a commitment to becoming a coach.
Does your coach 'walk their talk'? It’s important that your coach is an intelligent, motivated person, with strong levels of self-confidence and a robust self-belief – someone who radiates confidence and success.
A lot of people are drawn to the idea of becoming a coach, because they believe they want to help people, but wanting to help someone doesn’t necessarily make you a good coach. A good coach doesn’t work from a position of personal need. He/she works as a coach because they recognise that coaching is a good match for their skills and abilities, and that working as a coach provides them with the opportunity to work in a simulating and satisfying role.
Is your coach a member of any Associations? Coaching is currently an unregulated industry and the current professional bodies play a crucial role in offering independent internationally recognised credentialing for both coaches and coach training schools. They also have an established a code of ethics that all members subscribe to.
Whilst membership to these bodies is voluntary, membership can be seen as a commitment to professionalism in coaching.
The International Coach Federation (ICF), The Australian Board of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (ABNLP) and Australian and New Zealand Institute of Coaching (ANZIC) are just 3 of the professional bodies for coaches. Each seeking to build, support and preserve the integrity of professional coaching.
What do previous and current clients say? Ask your coach to provide testimonials or references from their previous and current clients. Although some people prefer to keep their coaching relationship private, your coach should be able to provide some references that include a client’s full name and occupation or address.
In addition to general positive feedback, client testimonials can also provide valuable insight into a coach’s personal style. Look at the words referees use to describe their coaching experience and see if these are words you would like to use to describe your own coaching experience.
A coach that clients describe as sensitive and nurturing might not be the right coach for you if you’re looking to create discipline, accountability and motivation, but perfect if you are wanting to build on your self-esteem and confidence.
Can you experience being coached by your coach before you commit to a full program? Deciding to undertake a coaching program is a significant commitment of your time, energy and financial resources. Fortunately most professional coaches are willing to offer you an opportunity to ‘try before you buy’.
Some coaches offer a 30-60 minute free trial session. Others offer a no obligation introductory meeting to discuss your requirements and provide you with background information about both coaching and your coach as well as offer you the chance to experience 20-30 minutes of being coached.
It’s important to realise that a coaching relationship is a long term one, and a complimentary or introductory session is not a chance to see if your coach has all the answers (remember a coach asks the questions, you provide the answers!), but rather a chance for you to decide if the experience of being coached is a positive one, and one that you believe has the potential to meet your expectations.
A professional coach should not use an introductory or complimentary meeting for a ‘hard sell’, but rather as a chance for you to find out more about coaching and for both of you to get to know each other a little better. A professional coaching program is a partnership – this initial meeting should be used to ascertain whether or not you would like to form one.
Is there a genuine rapport between you and your coach? One of the most important things to consider when selecting a coach is the level of comfort and rapport you feel when speaking with him/her. You will be spending quite a bit of time together, so make sure you choose a coach that you instinctively feel you are going to enjoy working with. A coaching relationship is built on a foundation of trust, honesty and openness, so it’s critical that your coach is someone you feel you can be 100% honest with. A good coach won’t judge or criticise your choices. Instead he/she will provide you with the support you need to make decisions that are right for you, be that in your business or personal life.
Consulting, mentoring and coaching – what’s the difference? A consultant gives you advice about what you should do and how you should do it. A mentor tells you what they have done and invites you to learn from their experience. A coach supports, challenges and encourages you, while you work out the best thing to do and the most effective way for you to do it.
If this has piqued your curiosity, contact our office and we will get in touch with you within 24 hours for a casual chat. We would love to talk with you!!
