A Useful Guide For Becoming a Life Coach in Australia
Life coaching combines practices from consulting and therapy to help people. It's an opportunity for you to support people through significant life transitions.
If you are considering life coaching, Australia offers you the perfect starting point. It is one of the fastest-growing markets for life coaching.
As demand increases, it’s also an opportunity for you to earn a decent income.
As a coach, you will:
- Pursue and fulfil your passion for helping people.
- Grow as an individual as you help others.
- Earn an income often above the national average.
What Does the Work of a Life Coach in Australia Entail?
What Does a Life Coach Do?
As a coach, you will often analyse a client’s situation and customise a strategy targeted at their problem.
Your work will include delving deeper into an issue to identify its root cause. After that, you will introduce your client to the tools needed to address the issue. Over time, you will adjust the tools and/or add new tools to help your clients grow.
This requires a lot of honest conversations.
Generally, your duties will vary depending on:
- The clients you’re working with
- The coaching niche you choose
- The age and needs of your clients; and
- The amount of time you have with the client.
As a coach, you can expect to take on duties such as:
- Meeting with clients to understand their needs and goals.
- Developing strategies and plans to help address the client’s needs.
- Tracking the client’s progress and creating progress reports.
Who Does a Life Coach Serve?
With the right coaching certification, you will work with a variety of clients.
Sometimes you’ll work with individuals, other times you’ll work with teams.
Some of the services you will offer as a coach include:
Individual and family services - You will support individuals and families through transitions. You might even help them navigate conflict. This might involve helping them reconcile. In extreme cases, you can help them accept the need for therapy.
Vocational coaching - Clients making career changes will need a life coach. Your work will include motivating them to take a risk and providing moral support.
Corporate coaching - Big companies will always need the services of a life coach. In such a setting, you will support people individually and within teams. You might help with cultural changes, change management or wellbeing.
Private agencies - While coaching in Australia, you can work with private agencies. They often need life coaches. Here, you will often work with other coaches, counsellors and lifestyle consultants. You can work individually or on team projects together.
What Qualifications Do You Need to Work as a Life Coach?
While working as a life coach, you will need an internationally accredited certification, which can help you:
- Gain international accreditation: Most clients prefer working with a certified life coach.
- Network with other coaches: This gives you a better understanding of the industry.
- Access mentorship: The best certification programs will connect you to a mentor.
- Learning coaching business skills: As a coach, you will need to make an income. Most programs will help you find clients and create a sustainable business model.
Some of the life coaching courses you can access in Australia include:
Practitioner of Coaching
This is a foundational coaching course to introduce you to the world of coaching. It is perfect for entry-level coaches or people who would like to transition to coaching.
You can access it online or through face-to-face training. You can choose a full-time option or part-time training.
Diploma of Life Coaching
This course equips you with everything you would need to run a life coaching business.
Included in the course, you will receive:
- 15 days of face-to-face training.
- 12-months of training and business support to help you set up a coaching business.
- Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) Certification.
- Conscious Hypnotherapy Certification.
- International Coaching Federation (ICF) certification
- Access to a coaching industry marketing summit.
- A pre-made website template to help kick off your business.
- Access to coaching resources.
Master Practitioner of Coaching
This is an extensive course guaranteed to take your coaching career to the next level.
In this life coaching course, you will gain access to:
- 45 days of in-person training and online training for up to 24 months.
- Niche training with an opportunity to experience different niches. You can choose your preferred niche over time.
- International Coaching Federation (ICF) certification
- Perks from the other courses above.
5 Steps to becoming a successful Life Coach:
1. Choose A Life Coaching Course
First and foremost, you’ll need the passion and drive to want to become a successful life coach. Then, you should choose a life coaching course that best resonates with your interests and the path you want to go down. A good idea is to read the course outline to get an understanding of what you’ll be covering before you enrol.
2. Finesse Your Life Coaching Skills
Practice makes perfect, and this rings true for anything - especially when it comes to becoming a life coach. Practice on yourself by becoming your own mindset coach so you can become more confident in your skills and get better results. Then, practice with your family, friends, and potential clients.
3. Get Your Life Coaching Certification
Apply to be recognised by the International Coach Federation (ICF), which requires a nominal fee and completing a certain number of practice hours first.
4. Find Your Coaching Niche
If you’ve been finessing and practicing your life coaching skills, then you may have an idea of your niche. Could it be that you want to help others lose weight, advance in their professional career, or start a new business? Finding your coaching niche means you’ll know where to market your services, be seen as a thought leader in one area, and know what to write on your website to entice new clients.
5. Start Your Coaching Business
Now you’re officially ready to begin your life coaching business! Here are a few suggestions that will help you gain momentum:
a) Create your business name
This can be your own full name or a name that explains your business. After you have chosen a business name, have it registered by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). If you don’t already, you will need to apply for an ABN.
b) Get a website
One of the fastest ways to look professional is to have a social presence. Create a website so you can refer potential clients to it. If that’s too much hassle, your LinkedIn profile can also work well.
c) Establish your Coaching packages
How much is your service worth? While you might be tempted to sell your coaching by the hour, consider creating coaching packages for three, six, or ten months.
d) Market yourself
From face-to-face networking to speaking gigs, Facebook ads, using social media or content marketing, there are many ways to get your name out there. Try a few channels or as many as you can juggle to get the best results.
Are You Interested in Starting a Life Coaching Career?
Many people who work with a life coach speak highly of the value they receive.
This has led to an increase in demand for life coaches. More people in Australia acknowledge the value of a life coach in their life.
As you become a life coach, you can venture into different niches as per your interests.
As you grow your coaching career, you will need additional training.
Getting the Right Training
If you are considering coaching for life, you should get training and accreditation.
The Life Coaching College offers a variety of programs to get you started.
Programs from The Life Coaching College support you at different stages. Whether you are starting out or looking to become a master, there is a course for you.
All the programs cater to different needs, but the Master Practitioner of Coaching offers the most comprehensive training. It is the one course that can prepare you for any coaching challenge thrown at you. If you’re ready to impact lives, one at a time, check out The Life Coaching College today.
FAQs
How much money do life coaches make?
As life coaches will determine their own income and prices according to their packages, there’s no definitive answer as to how much money life coaches make. The average life annual wage for a life coach in Australia is $83,000 and the average hourly income is $124. It’s important to remember that clients won’t fall into your lap, so you’ll need to seek them out via social media, online, or old-fashioned networking if you want to get paid.
Is becoming a life coach worth it?
If you’re looking for a fulfilling and rewarding career that helps others discover the best version of themselves, then all the training you complete in order to be a life coach is definitely worth it. No two days are the same, and neither are your clients. You can even choose the hours you work, as well as your prices. For all these reasons, becoming a life coach is worth the investment.
What does a life coach do exactly?
Simply put, a life coach will analyse a client’s situation and create a personalised strategy that works to resolve their issue, goal, or concern. This requires a lot of honest conversations, as you’ll be delving deeper into a problem to identify the root cause. Then, you’ll work with your client using tools you’ve learnt in order to address the issue.