When you were a kid you may have been advised to become a doctor, lawyer, or teacher when you grew up; that would have been normal.  I doubt very much anyone advised you to become a “life coach.”  Well, if you’re old enough, you probably never heard of life coaches when you were growing up.  Today things are different.  Life coaching and business coaching is a very popular career alternative; but it’s not for everyone.  At the Certified Coaches Federation, we recommend only people with considerable life skills and confidence become coaches.   Perhaps the name of this entry should have been the “maturation” of Coaching, because that’s the point I want to make.  Coaching is all about listening and giving perspective. It takes patience to listen and it takes real-life experience to give perspective.  This is why we believe coaching is mostly suited for people who are at least 40 years old.  There are exceptions to this rule of course; we have had new coaches as young as 25 years old take our course and run with it, but they were exceptions.

Today you’ll find courses that are two months long or longer, and, at the other extreme, you’ll find online courses that promise to get you certified after a few clicks of a mouse.  We seldom give advice on where you should go to get certified, but we will say this; don’t do it online, and don’t take a course that is going to take too long or cost too much money.