How to Become a Freelance Life Coach in 2024

Author: Veruska Anconitano, freelancing since 2001Author information
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Veruska Anconitano
Veruska is an experienced Multilingual SEO and Localization Manager and Consultant who has been freelancing for over two decades, making her well-versed in the field. Along with being a renowned journalist, she is also recognized for her contributions and has received numerous accolades. In addition to being an enthusiast of outdoor activities and food travel, Veruska co-owns several websites that cater to a global audience.
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Do you want to change someone’s life forever? Assisting people in making life choices that will only benefit their lives for the better? Then you should consider becoming a freelance life coach.

You can become that one person that people go to for assistance. To help them through a challenging time in their lives. Before you can become a life coach, you need to make sure that you know everything there is to know about this career option. This is a complete guide about becoming a life coach and even options you can choose from to study for this career.

What Is a Life Coach?

Firstly, what is a life coach? You need to know before you can decide that this is something you would like to do or that this isn’t for you.

A life coach is a professionally trained person who helps people reach their full potential and reach their desired results. Assisting them through difficult times in their lives and being there for a person that needs some guidance. They are getting training just like any other health profession, so this is an experienced and qualified person. There are different life coaches, and they are getting trained to the type of life coach they want to become. The one thing they don’t do is to assist you mentally with mental health problems. They aren’t qualified for this.

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What a Life Coach Can Do for You?

What can a life coach do for you? Or, what can you offer people when you are a life coach? In other words, what is making life coaches so important in people’s lives?

The main thing that a life coach can do for you is to give advice, consulting, counsel, and mentoring you on a specific problem that you might have. The first thing that they will do is to analyze your current situation or problem that you have. Your challenges and obstacles that you need to face and are guiding you through the process so that you are getting the best result. This can be in a working situation, personal, or a relationship. The relationship between a client and their life coach is more like a partnership than a professional relationship. Basically, they will guide you through a difficult time in your life.

What’s the Difference Between a Life Coach and a Therapist?

Is there a difference between a life coach and a therapist? And if there is a difference, what exactly are the difference?

There is a huge difference between a life coach and a therapist. Even if both professions need to study before they can assist people, a life coach cannot treat any mental health conditions. Even if this is recommended, you don’t actually need any formal academic training. They guide people through a difficult time in their lives, like during a divorce, when you need to start a healthier lifestyle, or even when you are in a financially difficult situation.

A therapist focuses only on mental health conditions. They need to have a degree and a license in a related field. There are different types of therapists, but all need the same qualifications. And they are all adhered to ethical codes. Therapists can give our mental medication if needed as well, where a life coach will never give you any medication.

What Types of Life Coaches Are There?

There are many different life coaches that you can become or that you can go to. It is important to make sure that you know as much about these different life coaches as possible before deciding which one you want to become. These are the different types of life coaches that you can consider becoming:

1. Relationship and family coach

These are life coaches that are assisting relationships and families with communication issues. They assist families and relationships in identifying the problem between them and then assisting them to resolve the problem. They can assist couples in marriages to solve their relationship problems and communication problems between parents and children.

2. Career coaching

With this life coach, you are getting assistance with career decisions that you are making. Or if you don’t know what type of career you should consider. They are also assisting you in making decisions that can influence your career and your retirement. It is also a great option to use this type of life coach if you are considering starting your own business.

3. Finance coaching

Financing life coaches help people reach their long-term financial goals or help people who can’t budget each month correctly. Those that are trying to struggle to pay off their debts. The life coach is guiding them through the process to make decisions that will benefit their financial decision.

4. Mental health coaching

This is where people deal with a specific mental issue like the death of a family member, conflict, or even anger. This isn’t the mental health problem that a therapist with assists a person with.

5. Health and wellness coaching

It’s where a life coach assists a person with decisions that need to be made with their health, like losing weight, nutrients, and motivation to keep the new lifestyle up. They are their support system to ensure that the person isn’t giving up on their new goals.

6. Spiritual coaching

A spiritual life coach helps people who are looking for a deeper meaning in life. People who might not feel that they have a purpose in life anymore or looking for guidance in their religion. Most of these coaches can assist with meditation and prayer.

Personal Life Coach

What skills do you need to be a life coach?

Is anyone able to become a life coach? Or are there some skills that you need to have to be successful with this career option? There are a couple of skills that you need to be a life coach and help others. Without these skills, you will not be able to be a life coach and be successful with it.

1. Communication

You will need to know how to communicate with different types of people. This is what a life coach is doing. Talking to their clients and making sure that they can motivate them when they are down and out. Without communication skills, you will not be able to do your work correctly.

2. Firm, but friendly

If you want to be successful as a life coach, you need to be firm but friendly. You need to motivate people to stay focused and remember what is important, and you need to be firm about it. However, you still need to be friendly. The moment you are angry and not calm and friendly anymore, you will not get the most out of your clients.

3. Listener

You will need to listen. Listen to your clients and hear exactly what they are saying. Even what they aren’t actually saying, but what they meant to say. Listening and hearing their needs, worries, or fears are extremely important. Otherwise, you will not be able to assist them correctly and guide them correctly through the process.

4. Not be judgmental

If you start judging your clients, you will lose them as clients. You need to be there for them, no matter what mistakes they have been making. The only way you can do that is not to judge other people on their mistakes.

How to Become a Freelance Life Coach

If all this sounds like something that you want to do, and you have all the skills for becoming a life coach, you might have the following question. How can I become a life coach? You need to follow some steps to become a life coach and make a success out of your career.

1. Choose the field you want to work in

This is the first step in how to become a life coach. You need to choose what type of life coach you want to become. It’s where you are researching the different types of life coaches that we already mentioned and deciding which one is best for you, what life coach option suits your personality.

2. The training programs

Now that you know what type of life coach you want to become, you need to start with the training program. The good news is that there are many different ways to study to become a life coach. You need to choose the option that works best for you.

3. Set up your business

This is where you are now creating your business to be a life coach to new clients. And, with this, you will need to get certain legal protection as a business owner. Ensure that your business is legit with a registration number and create a website for your business. Remember that being a life coach is a form of business, and you need to consider everything you normally would as when you are opening a new business.

4. Marketing your life coach business

Now you start marketing your life coach business. Ensure that everyone knows about your life coaching business and found you online when they search for a life coach. Technology is the way to go because everyone uses it to find everything they need without any problems.

So, creating a website, doing SEO, and consider other online marketing strategies will get your name and service out there.

Now you are all set, and you are a life coach that can legally assist people with their everyday problems.

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Best online resources to become a life coach

One thing is for sure, choosing to become a life coach is the easy part. Now, you need to choose the course to become a life coach and start your dream career. The problem is that there are many different online resources that you can use to get your qualifications as a life coach. These are some reviews of courses that you can take to become a life coach.

1. Life Coaching Certification Course (Beginner to Advanced)

This life coaching certification online training gives you a full understanding of all the elements of becoming a life coach. The main language that you can take the course in is English; however, there are other languages that you can also make use of, like French, German, Indonesian, Italian, and Spanish.

With this course, you will learn how to help people establish their goals and naturally motivate them. You will also develop essential people skills and increase your social awareness by doing this course. Because this is a beginner’s course, you won’t need any previous life coaching experience or qualifications.

2. Professional Accredited Life Coaching Certification Diploma

This professional accredited life coaching certification diploma is another great choice to make life coaching your career. This is a fully accredited diploma. This course will teach you easy techniques and give you all the tools to assist yourself or your clients as a life coach. Unfortunately, this course is only available in English.

With this course, you will learn everything about life coaching. What it is, how to identify needs, the different types of coaching, and life coaching tools to make a success out of your business. The great thing about this course is that you don’t need any requirements before registering for this course. This is an online course, so you can do this course anywhere where you can find a computer and internet connection.

3. Conversations That Inspire: Coaching Learning, Leadership and Change

Coaching learning, leadership, and change is a course that Coursera offers. In this course, you will be learning how to overcome the ravages of chronic stress and how to renew your body and mind. Building better relationships and positive approaches to leadership. This is a great course that you can take with a life coaching course to better yourself as a life coach.

This is an online course that you can do by yourself at home. It is just a 14-hour course to complete, and you will learn more about active listening, change management, leadership, and coaching. The course is available in English, but subtitles are available in Arabic, French, Portuguese, Italian, German, Russian, and Spanish.

4. Introduction to Self-Determination Theory

This Introduction to self-determination Theory course is a 21-hour course that will give you some more insight into the psychological development focused on life coaching.  This is for the basic needs of high-quality motivation and wellness. People that will benefit from this course are life coaches, teachers, managers, and even parents.

The course is online and flexible so that you can do it around your work schedule. The course is in English, but some other language subtitles are available, like Arabic, French, Italian, German, and Spanish. You can use this course to enhance your skills as a life coach even further. This is an entry-level course, making it easy for everyone to do the course even if you didn’t start with your life coaching course yet.

5. Life Purpose Life Coach Certification (Accredited)

The life purpose life coach certification is an accredited course with certification from Udemy to learn powerful tools and strategies to assist clients in finding their purpose and passion in life again. The course is in English with other language subtitles if needed. Some of the other titles that you can choose are Italian, Polish, and Portuguese.

When you are done with this course, you will teach others what you learned with confidence. And, you can add the niche of life purpose to your coaching. Reaching more people. You will need to have a basic understanding of life coaching before you can enroll in this course.

Is life Coaching Worth It?

Is life coaching worth it? If you have a passion for people and want to help people overcome their problems and find solutions for their problems, then yes.

This isn’t something that just anyone can consider. You need to have some skills, but if you do, this is worth it for sure. To assist people with their everyday lives and their decision-making.

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Life Coaching Business: Related FAQs

These are some of the most frequently asked questions about life coaching and becoming a life coach. Knowing the answers to these questions will be a lot easier for you to decide if this is something that you want to do and if you have the right skills for it.

1. Is there a demand for life coaches?

Yes, there is a demand for life coaches. And, over the years, the demand has grown. This is because of our lifestyles that have changed and the stress we have daily. And, according to experts, the demand for life coaches will continue to grow.

2. How much does a life coach charge per session?

Depending on the type of life coach and the life coach’s amount of experience, they might be asking anywhere between $75 and $200 per session or hour. However, this is just an estimate, and many life coaches are asking for a different price.

3. How do life coaches make money?

There are many ways how life coaches make money. They can start their own business by life coaching clients one-on-one. Organizing speaking gigs or even live online sessions. Writing and selling eBooks about different aspects of life is also a great way for life coaches to make money.

4. Does life coaching require a license?

The only license that you need is a license to do business. There are no other special licenses for a life coach to work legally and to see clients regularly.

5. Do you need a degree to be a life coach?

No, you don’t need a degree to be a life coach. You can benefit from getting certifications and diplomas in life coaching, but there is no need for a degree. However, some specialized courses offer degrees in life coaching that you can consider.

6. How do life coaches get clients?

The most common way that life coaches get clients is by doing marketing and social media. Like any other business, a life coach needs to market themselves and their business to get clients. Social media posts and having a website is a great way to start getting clients.

7. How long does it take to become a life coach?

Depending on the type you are taking, it can take anything from 16 to 100 hours. This is if you are doing the online courses. You can take any course of any length, and you will still work as a life coach. However, getting an accredited certificate is just going to make things easier for yourself to get clients.

8. Can you make a good living as a life coach?

The answer depends on a couple of things. For a new life coach, you will not make a good living and become rich fast. However, you will be able to make a living and be able to eat. If you are good at your job and are busy and having lots of clients, you will make a good living. But this is a long and hard road to get to this point.

Conclusion

Becoming a life coach isn’t a hard process. And, it is great to be able to assist people with their problems and to guide them through everyday problems. There are a couple of different life coaching types that you can consider, and you can even study online to get your certification.

It is important to know that there is a huge difference between a therapist and a life coach. With this guide and reviews of some online courses, you will be on your way to becoming a life coach and have a great future ahead of you.

This post may contain affiliate links, which means that we may receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link.

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