Does anyone need a life coach?

You definitely don’t need one, but you probably want one. Hiring a mindset coach is like having a perfectly customized-to-your-needs self-help book along with an accountability buddy and an expert guide all in one. Someone who can create a plan just for you, teach you a step by step process to follow, check in on your progress and cheer you on. The reason there are so many life coaches is because there are so many unique life experiences and we each specialize so deeply that you can find one (or more!) for any challenge you’re facing.

What is mindset work?

Mindset work, also called thought work, centers around the understanding that our thoughts and beliefs create our experience of life. So for any given situation, it’s our thoughts about a situation, not the situation itself that create the feelings that lead to the behaviors that create those outcomes. In short, change our thoughts, change our lives. Here’s an example:

We often think of a situation and how we feel about it as beyond our control, but we are in full control of what we choose to think and feel once we have the tools to examine them and change those that no longer serve us. Mindset work is particularly powerful for folks from marginalized communities, where systemic oppression is impacting their day to day lives, by allowing them to take back their power, stop the reactive thoughts that are diminishing their life experience, and have some newfound energy to actively challenge those systems.

What’s the difference between coaching and therapy?

For me, therapy was/is an invaluable tool for healing past trauma and helping me understand myself and how that trauma shows up in my life today. I see coaching, at least the type that I provide, as picking up where therapy leaves off. Knowing why I am the way I am is an amazing part of therapy, but, for me at least, it fell short in giving me tools to ensure my future is not dictated by my past. Coaching centers who you are today and how your current thoughts, feelings and actions are showing up in your experience of life. We get down to the core beliefs that you hold about yourself and the world, decide if those beliefs are giving you the life you want today and change those that no longer serve us. Personally, I have a therapist and a coach.

Areas where coaching and therapy overlap are if you’re experiencing unwanted anxiety, worry, fear or doubt, looking to change mindset, improve interpersonal skills, set goals, increase confidence as well as help with navigating challenging relationships. However, therapy is best if you’re in an abusive relationship, suffering from anxiety and depression to the point that you can no longer manage day to day life or if you have unprocessed trauma.