“Life purpose is our calling – the underlying reason for being that gives meaning to our life” and “when our purpose, our power, and our passion intersect, we find personal fulfillment and enrich the world” (Williams & Menedez, 2017).
Life coaching has many niches, the three life coaching career options that interest me the most are client focused and led. My top three coaching niches are health and wellness coaching, spiritual coaching, and holistic coaching. My hope is to create an individualized plan that will inspire personal motivation and growth, health and wellness, spiritual and emotional balance by using an array of holistic and psychological modalities.
As a life coach in general we work to improve aspects of the client’s life such as stress management, organizational skills, goal setting, finding balance between work/life, and interpersonal skills. I believe that using the three areas of coaching listed below will help me provide the best possible care for my clients as we embrace the journey of life, growth, and healing together as a team.
- Health and wellness coaching work on areas of wellbeing, such as, reducing stress, managing illnesses, increasing sense of self, and building confidence.
- Spiritual Coaching can be centered around a specific faith, such as Christian, Muslim, Hindu, etc., or it can be more “broadly based on getting [the client] in harmony with [their] spiritual nature” (Life Coaching Niche Areas, 2017). Years of experience in the medical field and ministry has given me the opportunity to work with people from many different areas of the world with a wide variety of spiritual beliefs. I realized that my openness and acceptance to who they are and where they are from creates a more sincere relationship where the patients (adult and pediatric alike) feel safe and heard. I vowed, to myself of course, to always find a way to understand where a client/patient is coming from so that I may meet them in their circumstance, instead of them working towards meeting what they believe to be my expectations.
- Holistic Coaching uses various techniques that help a client find balance and restoration of body, mind, and soul. The top three techniques used by holistic life coaches are Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), Emotional freedom technique, and Hypnotherapy.
- NLP use a variety of techniques to break language and behavioral patters that are not helping the client function or make decisions in healthy ways.
- EFT uses acupressure techniques that help clients “release unproductive emotions by tapping on certain points on the face and hands.
- Hypnotherapy “uses hypnosis to help you break free of bad habits and unproductive behaviors and emotions” (Life Coaching Niche Areas, 2017). Using hypnosis allows a client to enter a state of deep relaxation where the subconscious mind is more open to “change and suggestion. They can help [the client] accept suggestions that are more helpful to [their] life” (Life Coaching Niche Areas, 2017).
“The ultimate purpose of our lives is to remember who we are and to whom we owe our lives, and to feel joy” (Williams & Menendez, p. 223, 2017).
My passion in life is helping others find healing, body, mind, and spirit, by meeting them where ever they are and loving them through their journey. I feel called to bring the life of the Lord to others through love and healing. Doing these things bring me great joy and life satisfaction and is something that I have been called to do since I was a young child.
For me, a job is a type of employment one undertakes for the simple reason of making money. For example, my first job was at Dairy Queen, and it was the worst. I came home smelling like fries and ice cream, the boss was kind of strange and the pay was dismal (I was only 15). My next two jobs were in retail at K-mart and Macy’s, and although they were better than fast food, I did not enjoy going to work, I felt I was going through the motions and didn’t feel any real connection that would keep me coming back. Once I graduated as a CMA and began working with others in the health field I finally had a sense of peace and connection, like I finally had a career. However, after many years of healthcare work in Naval and civilian hospitals and clinics, my perception of my work started to feel like a job, I began to feel less fulfilled and dreaded going to work.
This is when I went back to school to pursue a degree in social psychology, emphasizing clinical and abnormal psychology. I realized that in order to really achieve full physical health on the outside, one must address the inner struggles both emotionally and spiritually. I believe that what we think and feel on the inside manifests as physical ailments on the outside. By addressing body, mind, and spirit, I will be able to help my clients find wholeness and balance inside and out, leading to personal fulfillment and sense of purpose. Our textbook states “be who you are first; the rest will follow” as “discovering our life purpose focuses our attention on the essence of who we are – our be-ing” (Williams and Menendez, 2017). When I work from a place of passion and purpose I find meaning and strength, when I am working blindly, out of sync with my purpose I feel off-balance and lost, questioning my motives and their meanings.
“When our purpose, our power, and our passion intersect, we find personal fulfillment and enrich the world” (Williams & Menendez, 2017).
References
Life Coaching Niche Areas. (2017). Retrieved from https://www.lifecoachhub.com/beginners-guide-to-life-coaching/life-coaching-niche-areas
Menendez, D. S., & Williams, P. (2015). Becoming a professional life coach: Lessons from the Institute of Life Coach Training (2nd ed.). New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company.
Love & Light Therapy 