“It is often crucial to talk with someone with a different perspective and different experiences, and the specific skills to help." Kathy Spampinato

I am thinking today, of the job of a coach. We are most familiar with coaches in sports. They are respected professionals who guide and train their clients or team members, helping them achieve their goals and reach their potential. We also find coaches in the financial arena, in health, exercise and weight-loss, leadership, and other areas of life. I was a coach for many years, as a private music teacher for the cello.

As people set new goals for the future, they are hoping those efforts will bring them into a new season of life where they accomplish their goals and reach their dreams. But how are they going to get there, and what are the steps they need to take to move in that direction? How will they maintain the motivation to keep going and persevere when it gets tough? Perhaps they could use a Coach!

A dictionary defines a Life Coach as: A person who advises clients on how to solve their problems and reach their goals in life. Some synonyms for coach are mentor, teacher, trainer, skipper, or tutor. Each of these words outlines a specific job with its own characteristics, but they are all reflected in the work of a Life Coach. It is often crucial to talk with someone with a different perspective and different experiences, and the specific skills to help. They can speak into our lives and give us a fresh mindset on the issues where we feel stuck. As I think about this topic, I realize that the Holy Spirit has been my Life Coach, although He has often used others to speak into my life as He is giving me direction! The Bible describes the Holy Spirit as our helper, counselor, and the Spirit of truth.

Jesus describes it like this: John 14:16-17 NKJV "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever- the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you."

John 16: 13 "However, when He, the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come."

I have studied and trained to be a Christian Life Coach. During this process I have clarified the job description, and the list of skills and tasks involved. I have recognized when I have been coached, and what skills I have used when doing music coaching in the past. I share this because it might be helpful to you as you evaluate your own goals for the future. I have also realized that I need my own coach, especially as I step into new arenas. Currently, I have a coach for Health and Diet, and a Marketing and Social Media Coach. Here are some of the skills of a sports or music coach that could be applied to life.

• They are able to quickly evaluate the skill level of a person and see where their strengths and weaknesses are.

• They can see the potential of the person and envision their full development and success. They recognize raw talent and where it can take someone.

• They automatically see some gaps in the training of the person, and know just what exercise or practice will fill in the gap, leading to a solid base and progress in skill development.

• They understand the mindset of the person they are working with, and see where the person's thinking needs some redirection.

• They have experience in their own journey and development in this area. They bring their experience and their process of overcoming obstacles into their guidance.

• They observe which evaluation tools will be helpful in getting over the limits the client is experiencing now.

• They ask lots of questions to determine mindset, direction, determination, and purpose.

Christian Life Coaches are considered trusted role models and safe accountability partners who facilitate God honoring growth by equipping, empowering, and encouraging others. Initially, the focus of Christian Life Coaching is to help clients set and reach their goals, maximize their potential, and step more fully into their God-given calling. They help people—through the agency of the Holy Spirit—shape new vision and plans, create a sense of purpose, and establish appropriate goals and objectives to generate desired results.

Although Life Coaches act as facilitators to help unlock potential and gifting, it is the client who primarily guides the process and determines what area they want to work on. The key here is to understand coaching as a process that takes place over time through a relationship between the Life Coach, the client, and the Lord. A Christian Life Coach is someone who is trained and devoted to making godly disciples and guiding others into greater competence, confidence, and commitment by faith.

*This description was developed with content and insight from the website of the International Christian Coaching Institute, ICCI, of which I am a member.

Where does this information take you? Do you see an area in your life where you could use a coach? Have you recognized where you've grown and flourished because of the influence of someone in your life? Perhaps it is time to ask Holy Spirit to guide you and send in a mentor to give you some direction, or to seek out a professional coach. You might also recognize some of the skills God has been developing in you. Is it your time to become a coach to someone else in their journey? The answers to these questions might require some prayer, and a conversation with your counselor or pastor.

Regardless of how you relate to this material today, I would like to hear from you. If you are interested, or have questions concerning Life Coaching, please get in touch.

Philippians 3:12- 14 NKJV "Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."