Life Coaching

I've been considering doing some life coaching for other artists or artist wannabes...people who are still sitting in a cubicle, wondering how to get out. I'm not sure if that's a direction I want to go. I have considered it mostly because various friends and coworkers have said, "Wow, you have the life I want!"

In my exploration as to whether I'd like to coach other people towards living a more empowered life, I've explored (1) getting some training and (2) experiencing what it's like to be the client of a life coach.

There's a training program in my own home town of Edmonds, Washington, called Invite Change, and I'll be going to an information session later this month. The full-year course is very expensive--over $8000 if you take it in person and about half that if you take it online. So I would need to be very sure whether this is the path I'm interested in before committing.

I've also been following various life coaches' blogs and today I had a free introductory session with Steve Martile, a Canadian life direction coach with a website called Freedom Education. Steve asked me a little about myself, and I told him I'm currently in transition from my day job, which I've quit but haven't quite left behind yet, to being a full-time eBayer and mosaic artist. After a few minutes of talking, Steve told me I basically didn't need his services! He said he usually works with people who have resistance to doing the things that will make them happier, but I'm doing all the right stuff. I appreciated his honesty--he could have tried to make some money from coaching me, and he didn't. Good for you, Steve!

I'm fairly certain that life coaching really isn't for me. I like using my time and energy to explore my own life. I do some volunteer work that seems to fill that part of me that wants to give to others. When I'm able to stop putting in the hours at my soon-to-be-old job, I plan to do more writing about art besides this blog and I'm hoping that will help inspire other people like me who want to live their passion.

But I can't really see myself sitting down with someone who is stuck and helping them work through what the sticking points are. I'm pretty much a "Just Do It" kind of person and I'm pretty sure I would lack compassion for people who want to nitter about every doubt and anxiety they may have about their future. I understand that the training to become a professional life coach involves learning to listen deeply, but I think I probably lack the underlying personal interest and attentiveness that would be required to be a really helpful coach.