How to Study to Be a Life Coach at Home

Being a life coach can be extremely rewarding. It involves engaging people to help them discover their strengths, weaknesses and passions to enable them to pursue the highest quality of life and professional goals. Depending upon the type of learning environment you will be in, and the format of the course, you will study and learn differently. Here are some guidelines for studying at home.

Instructions

• 1

  Understand the concept of being a life coach. Many people say they want to become a life coach, but really don't understand what it entails, or what the investment will be in terms of time and money. Do the necessary research on coaching to determine if it is really what you want to do and are willing to invest the time, money and effort into its completion.

• 2

  Decide on the format in which you want to learn and study. There are literally dozens of coaching education opportunities on the Internet. See the Resources section for links. Some are classroom-only in format, while some require periodic visits to either a campus or predetermined site for intensive course work over a finite period of time. Other types of learning formats involve primarily home study and many incorporate teleconference "classes" with the home study material. This format usually requires participation in a weekly teleconference class, so you'll be on the telephone, usually long distance to somewhere, for 60 to 90 minutes. There will be study material and course work to complete prior to each teleconference class.

• 3

  Be dedicated. Studying on you own at home requires a lot of self-discipline. It will be easy to allow outside distractions to interfere with your study, and even class, time allotment. That is why being dedicated to your studies is important. It will make you set aside the proper time for studying, as well as designate an area that is quiet and absent of unnecessary distractions like the TV or children.

• 4

  Don't try to jump ahead. Thinking that you can get ahead in the course work to save time is usually not a good idea. Courses are mapped out so that each subsequent class can build upon what has been discussed and learned to that point. Slow and steady wins the race, and will keep you on track.

• 5

  Set realistic goals for yourself. If you have several chapters to study from before taking an examination or moving on to the next section, set reachable goals for accomplishing an amount of reading and other studying that is very doable. Trying to bite off too big a chunk of studying will make you overwhelmed and more likely to give up or abandon your studies.