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sassypea · Mar 1, 2007, 10:41 AM

I want to become a life coach/motivational speaker but I have absolutely no clue where to start. Are there educational degrees offered towards this or should one just get a general bachelor degree? Master degree? Phd? I'm sure getting a higher degree would be best and I have every intention of going towards my phD but I want to know where to start, what path to follow, what classes to take.

Speech? English? Phychology?

crazybird · Apr 30, 2007, 09:09 PM

How old are you? I would not want someone 30 years old as a life coach.

sassypea · May 2, 2007, 09:22 AM

So do you think 30 is too young or too old to be a life coach? I've seen several people all over who are very inspiring no matter what their age.

And you didn't really answer my question so your response is useless.

NeedKarma · May 2, 2007, 09:25 AM

Originally Posted by sassypea

and you didn't really answer my question so your response is useless.

Good luck with your career choice with this kind of communication skills.:rolleyes:

sassypea · May 2, 2007, 09:30 AM

It's titt for tatt, sweetie.

But, to be specific, this answer IS useless to me. I didn't ask for whether they'd hire me if I were a certain age. I asked what area I should study first. Basically this person told me I could be worthless if I were 30 as a life coach. How do you think someone who is 30 is reading this might feel?

So because I didn't sugar coat my answer I'd make a bad life coach?

crazybird · May 2, 2007, 12:49 PM

30 is a very young age. What wisdom can you offer at such a young age. I'm assuming you are much younger since you didn't state your age. You can do whatever you want in life, but to do this it will take time and there is no way to be certain that you will even be good at this. You don't just wake up one day, decide to become a life coach go to school for a few years and bingo. It just doesn't work that way. It takes wisdom which doesn't happen overnight, knowledge and not just from books. It's not like learning how to be a baker or a florist. You can go to college and get various degrees. My advice is to take one day at a time. Ask a college counselor for a direction as far as courses. Head toward that direction. Work, live and perhaps one day you will get to the point where you have what you need to offer. Good luck.

Curlyben · May 2, 2007, 12:53 PM

Originally Posted by sassypea

I want to become a life coach/motivational speaker but I have absolutely no clue where to start.

Basically if you don't know where to start with this then you are pretty stuffed.
If you are serious then you'll need to do a shed load of research on this niche market.

Now the real question is why have you decided on this activity when you have no knowledge what is expected?

sassypea · May 2, 2007, 01:14 PM

I did not say I didn't know what is expected I just didn't know what a good jump off point would be.

I guess I was hoping to hear from some REAL life coaches on what they did. The best way to learn is to ask so that's what I was doing.

It's really no big deal. I'll just start asking away, somewhere else. But you people really don't give much positive thoughts to those at the very beginning of a career. I could be 21 and want to be a life coach. I didn't say I wanted to be one NOW, I just wanted to know where to start. At 21 how the heck am I supposed to know where to start without freakin' asking! What if I wanted to be a lawyer? Are you telling me that because I don't know the law in its entirety that I have no right to become a lawyer?

Please enlighten me on this.

sassypea · May 2, 2007, 01:21 PM

Originally Posted by crazybird

30 is a very young age. What wisdom can you offer at such a young age. I'm assuming you are much younger since you didn't state your age.

Well I'm not 21 and I'm not 30. I do have life experience. Not that I have to justify it to any of you.

I just wanted a jump off point. Starting up my own life coaching biz and then saying "well, I've got all this life experience and have been giving friends my opinion for years." just doesn't seem like a legititimate reason to give to clients on why they should pay me. I figured having a formal education to at least supplement said life experience would be a pretty good idea.

Wouldn't you think so?

Would you hire me simply because I was old enough to have life experience? Probably not. Even a 50 year-old could be senile and not have a clue as to what he/she was talking about.

Emland · May 2, 2007, 01:25 PM

What is your educational background, sassypea?

sassypea · May 2, 2007, 01:32 PM

I am currently working on my bachelor's in phsychology. I got a late start to my college education.

Emland · May 2, 2007, 01:36 PM

Me too. Seems like you are in the right line of work.

I saw a woman on "What Not to Wear" that called herself a life coach and she was in her early 30s (I think). So I don't think age is the problem.

Is Life Coach just a modern term for counselor? I mean there are so many things in life you could coach about, body image, relationships, careers. Are you going to specialize in something?

sassypea · May 2, 2007, 01:46 PM

Well emland that's a good question. I've been searching a long time for what I want to do "when I grow up" and it came down to a few areas of career. I thought back to when I was have the greatest of times in my life and made a list. From that list I figured out what careers I could do. Life coach was one of them.

There's so many things I'm interested in and I don't think I'll ever stop on my quest for knowledge. So I can't pinpoint exactly where I'd narrow the life coach area to. But like I said, that's a good question and I hadn't thought of it before you mentioned it. Knowing me I'll pick one area and then keep broadening my knoweledge base to include other areas.

sassypea · May 2, 2007, 02:32 PM

Well wouldn't you know it. Looks like I found my answer. After doing some digging I'll be attending a session hosted by current life coaches with other prospective life coaches on a roundtable discussion of sorts on if this is what I want to pursue or not and how to go about doing it.

Thanks to those of you who were helpful. And not so much to those who were not.

crazybird · May 2, 2007, 05:44 PM

From the start you sounded very young (maybe 20) and lost on this subject. The reason I used the number 30 was just to show you that 30 is young for such an undertaking. You never stated where you were (age, background) so you led others to make assumptions in that regard. I thought my last post was good advice to see a college counselor. I didn't know that you were already attending college. I wish you would have been more clear from the start. We can achieve the goals we set for ourselves in life. Good luck.

NeedKarma · May 2, 2007, 06:13 PM

Sadly you couldn't do a simple Google search?
"life coach" - Google Search

sassypea · May 2, 2007, 07:41 PM

Originally Posted by NeedKarma

Sadly you couldn't do a simple Google search?
"life coach" - Google Search

Yes. Sadly.

Google has always worked out well for me. I guess I should have known better than to ask on a forum that said "ask me, help desk". Dur. My bad.

Emland · May 3, 2007, 05:59 AM

I am kind of surprised by the nasty remarks, too, sassypea. Maybe folks got confused and thought you were looking for the position of God or something. My background is HR for small business and I always recommend to people that are looking to work in a field that they need guidance with - ask someone in the field. I would ask someone in a different city, so you wouldn't be perceived as a competitor.

The first time I heard the term life coach was on the show I mentioned previously, but there are a whole lotta people out there that could use some coaching on several topics (including me!). I wish you well.

sassypea · May 3, 2007, 08:11 AM

Them, I think God would be an excellent career for me to pursue. Perhaps those with the nasty comments could offer advice as to how I might get into such a position?

Or should I just Google it?

NeedKarma · May 3, 2007, 08:58 AM

You could go to divinity school.