Everyone wants to have someone they can talk to about their hopes and dreams, but may not always know who to turn to. Having a life coach completely turned that around for me. I now have someone I can vent to, but can also help me figure out my goals and plan on how to obtain them.
Dr. Lisa Dinella, an associate psychology professor, explained how college is an important time to seek out someone to talk to.
“We offer an Alumni Mentoring Program that pairs students with successful department alumni to discuss career topics. I think seeking out mentoring through one or more of these sources is very important,” Dinella said. Whether you seek out someone on campus, or a certified life coach, it is important to speak to someone.
Some people might be confused about what a life coach is, but the title says it all.
“A life coach is probably like a therapist or someone just to talk to,” said Gianna Tringali, a junior health studies major, when asked what she thought a life coach was; Tringali was on the right track.
This is a person to talk to about what you want to do in your life who also helps you figure out how to reach those goals. It’s like that person is a teacher, but also a confidant.
According to Angela Kearney, a certified life coach, a life coach is “someone who helps you delve into your true self and define a path from where you want to be, while developing a more positive version of your surroundings.”
When I first heard about having a life coach, I was a little weary. I was worried that this person would delve into my psyche and really make me emotional, but that is not the case.
For some people the process may be more extensive, but for me, life coaching is about figuring out what will help me maintain what makes me happy. It’s about identifying what I really want, and motivating me to get what I really want.
A phone call to a person I feel comfortable talking to once a week has honestly helped me change my outlook and
where I am in my life and where I am going to be in my life.
Allie Kulinich, a sophmore psychology major, said, “It’s important to have someone you can talk to, other than your family or friends,” much like I do. We all have those days, especially in our four to five years of college, where we are not completely sure of who we want to be, and how we’re going to find out who we want to be, but being able to talk to someone who knows how to help you identify your goals, makes a difference.”
Whether it is a short term or a long term goal, having a life coach is having someone who will help motivate you to achieve this goal, or to make strides to achieve this goal.
Kearney noted that she likes to find out how the person is motivated and help them realize that she’s only guiding them. “I only give my own thoughts, but it’s your ideas that control it,” Kearney said.
One perk of having one is the fact that the life coach only cares about doing what is best for you. Even if you make a short term goal for that week and did not achieve the goal, your coach will understand that there was reasoning behind it and either help you try again to achieve your goal, or just move on.
It’s all based on figuring out what you want. That may be one of the most important tactics that the coach can help their client with.
For some people this process may include weight loss, your life coach being your motivator to talk about why you want to lose that weight, but more importantly, what you can do to actually succeed in losing that weight.
For others it might be about finding ways to come to terms with scenarios going on in your life, or finding ways to cope with different emotions and issues.
For further questions or comments regarding the process of having a life coaching or just the field in general, you can like Kearney’s Facebook page, “AK Life Coaching.”
PHOTO COURTESY of Allison Goerke
