What is A Life Coach?

A life coach encourages conversations that promote reflection and answers from within. They also assist through necessary steps to achieve a client’s personal goal. Life coaches are a type of wellness professionals who help people attain greater fulfillment through communication and mentorship.

The estimated that there were approximately 71,000 coach practitioners in 2019 globally. This was a 33% increase compared to the 2015 estimate, as coach services gain popularity around the world.

The Difference Between Coaching and Counseling

Similar to coaching is the term counseling. The two have elements that overlap, although coaching is action-oriented while counseling is coping-oriented.

What Kind of People Benefit From A Life Coach?

A life coach can lead us to answers and perspectives that we wouldn’t have found on our own. If you’re the following type of person, you can benefit from a personal life coach:

People Who Want Change

We all have different struggles; family, friends, romantic, career, academics, etc. If you’re looking for a change but don’t know where to start, a coach can be helpful. On the other hand, if you’re happy with life as it is and don’t need much change, a coach may feel like a waste of time.

People Facing Stressful Situations

Are you feeling stressed from work or school? A coach can set you on a more mentally sound path. One university study reports that coaching helps with stress reduction. A coach can guide you through finding the stress cause and advise the best approach. This helps set a better trajectory towards recovery and a healthier mental state.

Benefits of Having A Life Coach

A coach not only “teaches” you, but helps you recognize what YOU think. They help you take your own initiative towards making better decisions. The following are some of the benefits to having a life coach:

The Ability to Proactively Solve Problems

Coaching helps draw out answers that are deep within us. To do this, a coach will repeat dialogues focused on what possible blocks are, what to do, and how to plan towards a goal. A client can transform their mindset from passive to proactive through the repetitive exercises and learn how to face challenging circumstances.

Better Communication Skills

Excellent communication skills are vital in any kind of working environment. Repeated coaching sessions train clients to become better communicators. It also helps a client better understand the ‘intentions’ behind what others are trying to communicate. Communication skills gained through sessions will help anyone become a more proficient business person.

Entering ‘the Zone’ for Optimal Performance

A ‘zone’ describes a hyper-concentrated state where we become fully immersed in whatever we are doing. Anyone can ‘enter the zone’ through sports, business, academics, or hobbies.

Coaching sessions can help people gain clarity in how to visualize a path to success. The sessions help with continual positive thinking which makes it easier for a person to enter a flow state to give optimal performance. A positive mindset also combats negativity to keep our mental states calm.

How Can I Try A Life Coaching Session?

How can we take advantage of the benefits and enroll in a coaching session? It starts with finding a life coach that matches your goals. There are tons of organizations and websites that list coaches based on needs. Try to pick someone that you feel compelled to work with or someone who has the credentials and specialty for your challenges.

Differences like in-person or online sessions, price, and available time frames all will contribute to a decision.

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If you’re looking for more tips on how to care for your mental health, check out some of our past blog posts!

Self-Help Through Coaching Sessions

Although there are many proven benefits to having a life coach, every individual is different in what they can gain from it. Trying a few trial sessions could never hurt in seeing if it’s something you really want to proceed with.

Bottling your thoughts and feelings can lead to mental stress. Give life coaching a try to explore and transform parts of yourself you never knew.

Reference:

Matsuda, T., & Tsuda, A. (2014). Application of Coaching on Mental Health Care of Japanese Language Teachers. Kurume University Psychology Research, 13, 87–94. https://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/120005704920/en

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“Not Thinking” causes Counterproductive Thoughts

For example, when people who quit smoking constantly focus on the idea, “don’t think about smoking,” their minds will actually fill with thoughts of smoking. Every visit to a corner store, they’ll be checking the cigarette shelf or unintentionally staring at others who are smoking. In another scenario, when someone asks us to keep a secret, we end up thinking about it all day and night, racked with the temptation of telling a friend. In these ways, counterproductive thoughts can be detrimental to our process of healing and self-improvement. We can fall into a self-loathing trap by thinking about the things we shouldn’t and conclude that we’re weak-willed. However, it all comes down to the mechanism of our thought processing than about will.

How to Better Deal with Counterproductive Thoughts

The more we try not to think, the more we end up thinking. We become overwhelmed by things we don’t want to think about, stressing our hearts away. What can we do to break this negative cycle? Here are a few ways to naturally avoid counterproductive thoughts.

1. Weaken the Need to Forcefully Shut Down

As mentioned, the more we force the mentality of ‘trying not to think,’ the more it lingers in our minds. We need to weaken the idea that we ‘should not think’ about something. To achieve this, we can carefully monitor our thoughts. The conscious choice of “not thinking” implies our effort to avoid a certain thought, yet as a result, ending up with more attention towards the thought. It’s time-consuming and difficult to completely cut off our counterproductive thoughts that cause stress. Try not to impose yourself with the strenuous task of “not thinking”, as this may be counterproductive. In other words, try not to stress about it too much.

One way to reduce stress and clear your mind is through meditation and mindfulness.

2. Analyze Your Thought Process in Detail

When we feel frustrated, we tend to only focus on events that left the strongest impression. In this case, this would be a frustrating incident. Try to look back on your actions before the incident. What were you doing and what was your state of mind? What triggered your frustration? Analyze your experience and sentiment from an objective point of view. What kind of action should you have taken in hindsight? This practice will help organize your thoughts and calm you down. Moreover, this type of thinking is much more helpful compared to counterproductive thoughts.

Repeating this approach helps gradual focus on the positive aspects of the matter, thus allowing our minds to accept. The process of detailed analysis may seem counterproductive, but this actually helps faster for the disperse and release of unpleasant feelings.

3. Introduce Alternative Thinking

It’s not easy to focus on many things at the same time. Instead of thinking about what you’d rather avoid, introduce an alternative thought. When negative thoughts start filling your head, shift your focus and attention to something fun and joyful. This should naturally get rid of those negative thoughts. If you can make alternative thinking a habit, you’ll gain the capabilities to subconsciously avoid focus on the matters that stress you out. As opposed to an unwanted, counterproductive thought, voluntary alternative thoughts will likely not cause you any stress.

Cast Your Mind Into Words

An effective way to practice the three steps above is to “disclose” your feelings and thoughts. Many studies show significant positive effects on mental health when experiences, feelings, and incidents are shared. “Disclosure” mentioned here doesn’t necessarily have to be towards others. Our deepest thoughts and feelings can be expressed through writing or speaking out loud alone. A diary that no one can see or self-talking at home is sufficient enough for it to be effective.

Forget That You Want to Forget

When you repeatedly remember an event you want to forget, or when your mind is full of negative thoughts, please don’t force yourself to forget. This causes counterproductive thoughts to fill your mind, and will not help you. Instead, try changing your experience into words and let them out. Facing yourself head-on may actually be the shortcut to getting rid of your negative memories.

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If you’re looking for more tips on how to care for your mental health, check out some of our past blog posts!

References:

Kimura, H. (2003). Effects of thought suppression and effective strategies of mental control. Japanese Psychological Review, 46(4), 584–596. https://doi.org/10.24602/sjpr.46.4_584

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