When considering a choice of career, or a change of career, many people think of using a life coach who specialises in career coaching. This is often because they either cannot decide what they should do, or feel stuck in an unsatisfactory career and do not know how to change it.
Why is it that so many people feel they need a career coach to help them with these issues? Why is choosing or changing your career often so difficult? The answer is usually to do with fear and low self esteem.
Many people are afraid of failure if they decide to do something different. Others are afraid that they are not good enough to do the thing they really want. Often it is just the thought of such a big change that can be terrifying for some people.
Such fears are very often due to low self esteem. An individual may feel unable to cope with such a big change in their life, and there are many who do not even feel that they deserve the fulfilment and joy that comes from being in a career they love. This fear can actually cover up their ability to even know what it is they want. Subconsciously, they suppress their true desires so they do not have to cope with their failure to achieve it.
Because of this, every career coach has to also be a confidence coach. In my own practice, I spend a lot of time with clients working on their limiting beliefs about themselves before we can begin to work on creating the right career. Once a client has begun to raise their self esteem, their feelings of fear weaken and they begin to see the way forward. This is always a very exciting part of the process.
How does one raise self esteem? Often, it is helpful to look at the causes, which are usually from the perceptions created by negative childhood events, or simply something negative that has been said to you at an early age.
It is important to note here that life coaches do not (and should not) try to psycho-analyse a client, or give them counselling. Professional counselling is completely different to life coaching and should only be carried out by fully trained practitioners. If a life coach feels that a client is severely traumatized or blocked by past events, they should always refer them to a professional counsellor.
However, in life coaching, a brief (and non-analytical) look at past events can be extremely useful in order for the client to realise that these really have nothing to do with who they are. We all make choices in life, and many of our choices are to believe what someone has told us, or that an unpleasant event or mistake is proof of our inadequacy. When we begin to realise that we alone are responsible for that choice, we are then free to make a different one.
Once you understand that none of those beliefs you had about yourself are actually based in reality, you are free to re-write the script and begin to start thinking about yourself in a different way. You can begin to see yourself in a positive way and learn to recognise your abilities. You start to rely less on the opinions of others, and begin to trust your own judgment.
When a client has these breakthroughs about how they think about themselves, they often find a greater sense of clarity about the career paths ahead of them. Becoming free of the past allows them to get more in touch with what they would truly love to do. Any fear they had becomes less of an obstacle and more of an exciting challenge. The career that they have always wanted, but were afraid was beyond them, suddenly becomes a possibility.
Raising self esteem and developing self belief is an important part of career coaching, and has life long benefits that will not only help you to choose a fulfilling career, but will affect all other areas of life for the better.
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