Your Ultimate Life Coaching Tools Library (+PDF & Exercises)

What is the role of a life coach?

While the title of ‘life coach’ may sound a little vague at face value, a talented life coach can empower clients to find new levels of fulfillment and achieve rewarding goals across both the personal and professional domains.

These goals can span many areas, including relationships, careers, and health, allowing life coaches to have a broad impact.

In this post, we’ll outline some key psychological theories on which the practice of life coaching is based, recommend ten exercises and assessment tools for your practice, and give you tips for finding a suitable life coaching accreditation course.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Positive Psychology Exercises for free. These science-based exercises will explore fundamental aspects of positive psychology including strengths, values, and self-compassion, and will give you the tools to enhance the wellbeing of your clients, students, or employees.

What is Life Coaching (and What is it Not)?

Coaching is unlocking a person’s potential to maximize their own performance. It’s helping them to learn rather than teaching them.

Timothy Gallwey

A life coach is someone to whom you formally turn when seeking guidance or advice regarding challenges, decisions, or questions in your life.

The impetus for seeking a life coach often comes when a person reaches a crossroads or feels stuck. To resolve this, a life coach will draw on approaches from psychology, counseling, sociology, and sometimes business to help individuals set and pursue personally meaningful goals. These goals may center on several possible development areas, including relationships, career progression, creative pursuits, and more.

In contrast, life coaching is not therapy or counseling, which pairs a mental health professional with a client seeking guidance around mental wellness. Life coaching also differs from mentorship and training, whereby a professional is paired with a more experienced professional, often in a workplace or industry setting.

Life Coaching History: The Origin of Modern Coaching

Life coaching has grown out of decades of research in social psychology, clinical psychology, and professional coaching.

The practice primarily has its roots in humanistic and transpersonal psychology (Williams, 2012).

The Influence of Humanistic Psychology

Humanistic psychology views human behavior from a whole-person perspective and attempts to understand and explain behavior from the individual’s perspective instead of the observer’s. In this practice, we place importance on the client’s perspective and emotions, rather than the psychologist’s opinions or directives.

The takeaway of this for life coaches is that advice given is not prescriptive. The emphasis of coaching is not on giving directives to the client as much as it is about understanding their goals.

Life coaching also draws from humanistic psychology to adopt a foundation of unconditional positive regard in the coaching relationship. Coaches always accept clients as they are, viewing and treating them as inherently worthy and deserving of love (Williams, 2012).

This attitude is intentional on the coach’s part and ensures that the coaching relationship functions as a safe and constructive space for the client to work on their goals.

Contributions of Transpersonal Psychology

Transpersonal psychology is a subfield of psychology that dares to tread (where few psychologists do) in the soul’s arena. This field of study includes theories and practices that explore self-actualization, and spirituality (Lajoie & Shapiro, 1992).

Transpersonal psychology is concerned with human wholeness and integration. Likewise, life coaching often draws from the transpersonal psychology perspective to help clients achieve wholeness across their different selves or levels of consciousness (Williams, 2012).

Life Coaching Philosophy: 5 Theories that Drive the Practice

There are many coaching philosophy theories about the mechanism through which life coaching delivers results (Williams, 2012).

You can learn more about these in our dedicated post on the benefits of life coaching, but here’s a quick summary of five dominant perspectives.

1. Transformational Learning

Transformative learning theory argues that humans hold a specific worldview informed by their experiences. This worldview acts like a frame of reference, which affects how we interpret events, assign meaning to the things that happen to us, and interact with our environment (Mezirow, 1997).

Importantly, these frames of reference are elicited and operate unconsciously. This means that if we do not explore our frames of reference and understand our ingrained thought patterns, we remain at a disadvantage when we attempt to learn how to grow and change our habits.

Indeed, developing an awareness of how we unconsciously process events is central to life coaching philosophy and is often critical for achieving transformative change.

2. Emotional Intelligence

The theory of emotional intelligence (or EQ) posits that there are multiple types of intelligence beyond the commonly held idea of intelligence as a cognitive resource.

Emotional intelligence refers to our “ability to perceive and express emotion, assimilate emotion in thought, understand and reason with emotion, and regulate emotion in the self and others’’ (Mayer, Salovey, & Caruso, 2000, p. 396).

Those high in emotional intelligence are thought to be effective at managing their own emotions and are good at identifying and considering others’ emotions. Conversely, those low in emotional intelligence rarely stop to think about what they are feeling and are more likely to misread others’ motives and intentions.

Theories of emotional intelligence have permeated many psychological fields of inquiry and practice, including life coaching. Specifically, life coaches use their knowledge of emotional intelligence to help clients recognize emotions as valuable sources of information (e.g., to understand one’s own or others’ motivations, values, needs, etc.).

Coaches can also tailor their teachings about emotional intelligence to apply to a range of personal and professional spheres. These can include management and leadership coaching, intimate relationships, and friendships/social networks.

3. Cognitive-Behavioral Theory

Cognitive-behavioral theory is grounded in the combination of behavior theory and cognitive theory. The principles of the theory are widely used in therapeutic settings to help clients understand their thoughts and change their reactions and behaviors (Benjamin et al., 2011).

A key model stemming from cognitive behavioral theory often drawn upon by life coaches is the ABC model. The theory describes a process whereby activating events (A) trigger beliefs (B), which lead to consequences (C) pertaining to our emotions and subsequent behaviors.

Life coaches are skilled at helping clients identify how distorted or irrational beliefs stemming from activating events may have negative consequences. They are also skilled at intervening by helping clients to challenge and change problematic beliefs in order to facilitate more positive consequences, such as lessened anxiety or increased adaptivity (Williams, 2012).

4. Experiential Learning Theory

Experiential learning theory is a model of adult learning that essentially argues the benefits of learning by doing. The theory posits that individuals learn through a cyclical process of concrete learning, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation (Kolb, Boyatzis, & Mainemelis, 2001).

A life coach can facilitate all phases of this cyclical process by encouraging clients to reflect on their actions and their consequences. For instance, within the context of the ABC model, coaches can invite clients to experiment with adopting new, more adaptive, beliefs in response to challenging activating events.

The hands-on principles of experiential learning apply well to coaching relationships, wherein the client is positioned as the driver of the relationship and the focus is on his/her day-to-day behaviors that serve as opportunities for experimentation and learning.

5. Life Coaching as an Art and a Science

While each of these theories has had a significant influence on the practice of life coaching, not all coaches draw explicitly from the literature to inform their practice. Indeed, many practitioners view their field as more of an art than a science.

For an example of how life coaching may be viewed as an art form, check out this TED talk from Tony Robbins where he explores the lessons he’s learned about coaching and the drivers of human behavior.

In the talk, Robbins paints a complex picture of intrapersonal discovery by immersion, leading to great transformation with each of his clients. And he draws from his own experience as much as, if not even more than, life coaching theories and research.

It’s clear that there is more to being an effective life coach than applying theories in a cookie-cutter type fashion. Instead, a good life coach will draw on a certain amount of intuition and personal experience to tailor their services to a particular client.

Life Coaching Basics: The Essentials for Effective Life Coaching

Now that you understand the theories that underpin the practice of life coaching, let’s go over some more requirements for life coaching to have benefits.

Assumptions for effective life coaching

First, life coaching operates on a few assumptions that are necessary for a successful coaching endeavor (Jarosz, 2016):

1. In general, clients are mentally healthy and do not suffer from mental health issues that obstruct their ability to achieve their goals.
2. Clients are not empty receptacles for the coach’s knowledge and experience but are creative, resourceful, adaptive, and whole in and of themselves.
3. Clients possess the ability to change their thinking, belief systems, and behaviors in pursuing growth.

These three basic assumptions are critical for coaching to have benefits, so there is value in discussing them at the beginning of any coaching relationship to help set expectations.

Desirable coach behaviors for effective life coaching

As mentioned earlier, unconditional positive regard is one of several critical practices in life coaching relationships. However, there are several others that life coaches should also aim to practice (Jarosz, 2016):

• Make no judgments or assumptions about the client (aside from the three listed above).
• Become skilled in active listening.
• Motivate clients by being challenging and empowering.
• Support clients by acknowledging their efforts and successes and holding them accountable for their actions.
• Remember that the coaching relationship is dynamic and be ready to adapt to the client’s changing needs.
• Center the coaching around well-defined and achievable goals.

Positive messages for life coaching

Beyond the assumptions and behaviors listed above, life coaches should reinforce several key messages throughout their relationships with clients. These will empower clients to develop self-belief in their ability to improve their lives for the better (Jarosz, 2016):

• Coaches should acknowledge and encourage what is good in the client and empower them to reach their greatest potential through their greatest strengths.
• Coaches should maintain a safe and open environment for the client; the coach must create a space where clients feel safe enough to grow.
• The coach and client must be on equal footing in the relationship, sharing the responsibility for defining and maintaining the coaching relationship.
• Life coaching must be undertaken with a client-centered approach that focuses on the client as an individual with unique needs, strengths, and experience.
• The focus is on the client’s entire self, not just specific aspects of the client’s personality or certain spheres of the client’s life.

Benefits of effective life coaching

Researchers have found that life coaching can have many benefits for those who undertake it. Here are a few of the most common (Jarosz, 2016):

• A stronger sense of identity and purpose for the client.
• A strengthened sense that the client is living the life they have dreamed about.
• Enhanced mental health and increased quality of life (Clark et al., 2014).
• The achievement of wide-ranging goals, which can include starting a business, expanding one’s social life, finding love, or improving health. Levers to achieve such change include SMART goal setting and pursuit, self-regulation, communication, and problem-solving skills (Green, Oades, & Grant, 2006).
• Positive change in behavior and beliefs, including improved self-confidence, self-acceptance, and insight into one’s self (Grant, 2008).
• Greater wellbeing, increased hope, and decreased stress (Grant, 2003; Green, Grant, & Rynsaardt, 2020).

It is worth noting that life coaching is often a fulfilling and positive experience for the coaches, too. The profession offers autonomy and flexibility, and life coaches often report gaining fulfillment from the collaborative relationships they share with their clients (Newnham-Kanas, Morrow, & Irwin, 2012).

Most importantly, there is immense satisfaction in watching a client’s life change for the better and knowing you had a hand in making that change a reality.

The Ultimate Life Coaching Tool

A mechanic is only as good as his tools, and the same principle applies to a Life Coach.

To be the best life coach, you need the best tool to make a difference in your client’s life, daily.

What better way than to be with your client through scheduled exercises, checks and workflows, provided by a smart app? You will be in your client’s pocket, and also able to reach more clients digitally than face to face, building a growing customer base.

The ultimate life coaching tool that provides these benefits is Quenza, an online tool that maximizes client outcomes with automated, customizable care pathways. You can select popular science-based assessments and exercises and other pre-made activities, assign them to your client, and keep track in real-time.

An ultimate tool needs ultimate security, and this application has been built from the ground up to be GDPR and HIPAA compliant with industry-standard AES-256 encryption, keeping your client notes and conversations secure.

For more information, visit the Quenza website, and craft your care.

3 General Life Coaching Exercises

Life coaching can be an incredibly rewarding career path. It’s a path that allows you to put your skills to use helping others, facilitating personal and professional growth. However, the role can also be challenging, as clients’ problems, challenges, and goals can span a variety of areas.

To help you, we’ve compiled a list of resources, ranging from exercises, tools, and tips, to support you as a life coach. We encourage you to browse through them and see whether any may aid you in your coaching practice.

While every life coach will have their own favorite resources and methods, you’ll find some back-to-basics tools would be at home in almost any coach’s practice, so we’ll start by looking at three of these.

1. The Wheel of Life

One of the life coach’s most valuable and versatile tools is the Wheel of Life.

It’s a simple and easy-to-use exercise that can help clients find out which areas of their lives are most satisfying and where they would like to focus their development efforts.

Leading the exercise with your client is simple. First, explain to your client that the Wheel of Life is a tool for identifying their satisfaction across the various domains of their life. These domains are:

• Health
• Friends & Family
• Romance
• Personal Growth
• Fun & Recreation
• Physical Environment
• Business/Career
• Finances

Next, ask your client to reflect on the factors that contribute to satisfaction in each of these domains.

For instance, in the category of finances, your client may respond that they are enjoying financial independence and have a strong safety net, showing they are likely satisfied in the area of finance. However, they may report that they lack challenge and learning opportunities in their day-to-day activities, suggesting room for improvement under personal growth.

Using this information, your client can draw a line across each segment that best represents the current level of satisfaction. The wheel’s center equals 1 (suggesting little to no satisfaction), and the edge of the wheel equals 10 (suggesting complete satisfaction).

Once the lines are all connected, the result looks a bit like a spider web and can give your client a general idea of their overall life satisfaction. This visual can then facilitate a discussion about strategies to improve satisfaction in the domains with lower scores.

Wheel of Life

The ‘Wheel of Life’ is a popular coaching tool to help people gain insights into the areas of their life that have the greatest potential for change and growth (Dean, 2004).

Here’s how you can use this tool to reflect on your current life satisfaction:

• Fill in the outer rim of the circle with the names of the life domains that are most important to you.
• Rate your level of satisfaction with each of these life domains, where a score of 1 indicates that you are not satisfied and a score of 10 means you are highly satisfied.
• Connect the lines to form an inner wheel. This gives you an overview of the level of satisfaction with your life at present. 

Looking at this diagram, which domain draws your attention? What would it take to raise your satisfaction by one score in this domain? The answers to these questions can help you decide on concrete goals and action plans to make positive life changes.

2. The Action Brainstorming Worksheet

The action brainstorming worksheet can help clients identify behaviors that are (and aren’t) serving them in their pursuit of goals.

To begin, your client identifies a goal they would like to pursue and writes it at the top of the page.

Next, you will work with your client to help them identify current or possible behaviors that may or may not support them in pursuing this goal. These are then written into one of five columns:

1. Stop Doing: Behaviors the client would like to stop doing. These are behaviors that are not helpful for meeting their goal or actively harmful.
2. Do Less of: Behaviors the client would like to do less of, such as those that are sometimes helpful but time-consuming or behaviors on which the client has become over-reliant.
3. Keep Doing: Behaviors the client wants to keep doing with the same frequency because they remain useful for achieving their goal.
4. Do More of: Behaviors the client wants to do more frequently because by doing so, they will improve their odds of achieving their goal or achieving it faster.
5. Start Doing: Behaviors the client would like to do because they will be helpful or critical for achieving their goal.

This easy-to-use, one-page tool can be downloaded from the Coaching Tools Company website.

3. Understanding Our Goals

The ‘Understanding Our Goals’ worksheet should help clients identify whether their goals are worth their time and energy and prioritize goals in terms of their utility.

This worksheet begins by inviting your client to identify their top three current goals. Then, for each goal, your client is asked why they want to pursue that goal and what they hope to gain from achieving it.

The questions then drill down to address the real why behind goal pursuit, rooted in sought-after emotional experiences.

As an example, take the goal of losing twenty pounds.

An answer to the first question about why they want to pursue this goal may be: “To look and feel stronger.”

The answer to the second, deeper-level ‘why’ could be something like: “Achieving this goal will allow me to take pride in how strong my body is.”

The third ‘why’ may elicit a response like: “Taking pride in my body will help me feel better about myself overall.”

The response to the fourth ‘why’ may then be: “Feeling better about myself overall will help me to tackle my other goals and improve my quality of life.”

Finally, the answer to the ultimate question, “What will this goal help you feel?” might be something like: “Confident, proud, healthy, and motivated to pursue my other goals.”

This simple but powerful tool can be downloaded from the Coaching Tools Company website.

7 Coaching Assessment Tools

To make a change in life, one must begin by understanding their current state and circumstances. Assessment tools are a great way to do this, and no matter the area of life that a client is committed to improving, there are hundreds of free and commercially available tools that can do the job.

Here, we will point you toward seven widely used assessment tools, covering four essential areas and skill sets:

• Leadership
• Personality
• Emotional Intelligence
• Motivation

While these areas are often most applicable in leadership coaching, they are broadly relevant across more general life domains, too. For instance, one need not be in a formal position of leadership to benefit from developing leadership skills as leadership is something we all practice, such as when managing a household or organizing activities or events.

Leadership assessment tools

Leadership is a common area that coaches are called in to assess and improve. Whether it’s leadership in the boardroom, a work team, or one’s own personal life, most clients will benefit from developing their leadership in some capacity.c

Here are some of the most popular leadership assessment tools, all of which are available online.

1. Leadership Competency Inventory

The Leadership Competency Inventory (LCI) measures leadership skills as a function of four dimensions:

• Information seeking
• Conceptual thinking
• Strategic orientation
• Service orientation

This assessment is composed of 39 items, which gauge the degree to which the client has demonstrated certain behaviors. If your client is interested in gaining a holistic view of their leadership skills and abilities, they can have their colleagues, subordinates, or even friends respond to these items as well, serving as a kind of 360-degree feedback tool.

You can view a sample feedback report from the LCI and access a copy of the LCI.

2. Leader Effectiveness and Adaptability Description (LEAD)

This 12-item assessment from developers Paul Hersey and Kenneth Blanchard (1969) helps clients discover their leadership style and generates scores in four leadership areas:

• Supports
• Coaches
• Delegates
• Directs

The quadrant in which the client has the highest score is considered their dominant style, while the next highest score represents their fallback style or the style they use when their dominant style is not appropriate or effective.

This assessment is most useful for those who must practice active leadership in their work, but it can also help those preparing for a leadership role within a team or workgroup.

You can download the assessment and try it for yourself.

Personality Assessment Tools

Personality assessments are common in all types of coaching.

While no personality assessment can tell you exactly who you are and what is most important to you, the results from these assessments can serve as a guide to help you understand your goals, preferences, and priorities.

Here, we present two commonly used personality assessments in coaching: Seligman’s strengths inventory and the Valued Living Questionnaire.

1. VIA Inventory of Strengths (Seligman)

The Values in Action Inventory of Strengths, or VIA-IS, is an assessment tool examining a person’s values through the lens of their character strengths.

There are 24 character strengths which are divided into six categories:

The VIA-IS will rank your client’s strengths from most dominant to least, emphasizing their top five dominant strengths. These top five strengths are where they draw the most energy and represent them at their personal best.

Identifying these top strengths will serve as a launchpad to discuss how best to put these to use in daily life.

You can take the free 15-minute VIA-IS test.

2. The Valued Living Questionnaire

The Valued Living Questionnaire (VLQ; Wilson, Sandoz, Kitchens & Roberts, 2010) is a useful tool for assessing a client’s values across ten key life domains. This tool, which was originally developed for Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, will allow clients to understand the extent to which their enacted behaviors are consistent with their core values.

Importantly, if clients discover that their values and behavior are not in alignment, this assessment can help a coach start a dialog about improving this alignment.

The ten domains included in the assessment are:

• Family (other than marriage or parenting)
• Marriage/couples/intimate relations
• Parenting
• Friends/social life
• Work
• Education/training
• Recreation/fun
• Spirituality
• Citizenship/community
• Physical self-care (diet, exercise, sleep)

Emotional Intelligence Assessment Tools

Emotional intelligence (EI) refers to a person’s ability to monitor their own and others’ emotions, distinguish between and label emotions correctly, and use emotional information to guide and influence thinking and behavior (Goleman, 1995; Mayer & Salovey, 1997)

The following assessments are some of the most popular ways to measure EI, but you can also find more EI assessments in our dedicated post.

1. Emotional and Social Competency Inventory

The Emotional and Social Competency Inventory (ESCI) is a measure of emotional and social competence based on completed questionnaires from the individual and responses they receive from others. Clients can choose to nominate family members, friends, coworkers, direct reports, or others they interact with regularly to provide these responses. The assessment takes about 30 to 45 minutes to complete.

This feedback is analyzed to produce a report that your client can use to learn more about themselves and how they are perceived across areas such as teamwork, empathy, and conflict management, just to name a few. These scores can then facilitate a discussion of strategies to better use one’s strengths or improve skills in areas with lower scores.

You can view a sample feedback report from the ESCI and purchase a license to use the tool via the Korn Ferry website.

2. Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test™

The Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test™ (MSCEIT™) is a widely used tool for assessing a client’s ability to perceive, use, understand, and regulate emotions.

Rather than inviting clients to provide a subjective assessment of these skills, this tool directly tests a person’s emotional skills using scenario-based approaches and various creative tasks.

In sum, the assessment assesses four branches of emotional intelligence:

• Perceiving Emotions
• Use of Emotions
• Understanding Emotions
• Management of Emotions

This assessment takes 30 to 45 minutes to complete, and practitioners must be certified to administer it.

You can view a sample feedback report from the MSCEIT™ and learn more about purchasing a license and becoming certified to administer the assessment at the Multi-Health Systems website.

Motivation Assessment Tools

To conclude our list of coaching tools, we encourage you to look at the Individual Directions Inventory, which, like some tools presented earlier, taps into motivations underlying goal pursuit while being ideal for workplace settings.

1. Personal Directions Tool

The Individual Directions Inventory (IDI™) is a personal and professional development tool that provides feedback on 17 motivational dimensions. This assessment helps clients understand which areas of life they gain the most satisfaction from, thereby starting a dialog about how they may best direct their energy.

The 17 directions are split into six categories:

• Affiliating
  • Giving
  • Receiving
  • Belonging
  • Expressing
• Attracting
  • Gaining Stature
  • Entertaining
• Perceiving
  • Creating
  • Interpreting
• Mastering
  • Excelling
  • Enduring
  • Structuring
• Challenging
  • Maneuvering
  • Winning
  • Controlling
• Maintaining
  • Stability
  • Independence
  • Irreproachability

This tool provides results along these dimensions, helping the client understand what is important to them and focusing their attention on the areas they want to improve.

You can view a sample feedback report from the IDI™ and learn more about purchasing a license and becoming certified to administer the assessment at the Management Research Group website.

Life Coaching Accreditation with the International Coaching Federation

Anyone with a desire to help others reach their goals and a commitment to effective coaching can become a life coach. However, to become a reputable life coach, you must obtain the appropriate certification.

There are many training and certification programs that an aspiring life coach can complete to acquire the necessary skills. As you are considering a certification, it is important to weigh up how a particular program aligns with your coaching style, so be sure to do your research before settling on an option.

When considering the quality of a training option a particular program is rigorous and professional if it has been positively evaluated by the International Coach Federation (ICF).

The ICF’s role is to evaluate coaching programs and provide accreditation and certification to life coaches and institutions that meet their standards. Indeed, in a line of work that is attempting to establish itself as a respectable and legitimate profession, organizations like the ICF provide a much-needed service, so keep an eye out for their stamp of approval on any training you may be considering.

For those looking to undergo training, the ICF offers three levels of accreditation: Associate Certified Coach, Professional Certified Coach, and Master Certified Coach.

Associate Certified Coach

An Associate Certified Coach (ACC) certification is the easiest of the three types to obtain. This certification is aimed towards individuals who have had some coaching experience but have not yet deeply explored the field.

An aspiring life coach looking to receive this certification can follow one of two paths:

1. The ICF Accredited Coach Training Program (ACTP) Path

Requirements: Completion of an ICF accredited ACTP.

Hours: 100 or more hours of direct client coaching across at least eight clients.

2. The ICF Approved Coach Specific Training Hours (ACSTH) Path

Requirements: At least 60 hours of coach-specific training through an ACTP or ACSTH program and 10 hours of Mentor Coaching with a credentialed ACC coach.

Hours: 100 or more hours of direct client coaching across at least eight clients.

Examination: The Coach Knowledge Assessment (CKA).

3. The ICF Portfolio Path

Requirements: At least 60 hours of well-documented coaching training that is in accordance with the ICF’s definition of coaching, code of ethics, and core competencies.

Hours: 100 or more hours of direct client coaching across at least eight clients.

Examination: The Coach Knowledge Assessment (CKA) and a performance evaluation (an audio recording and written transcript of a coaching session).

Professional Certified Coach

The Professional Certified Coach (PCC) certification is the middle-tier level of certification, designed for individuals who have more extensive experience in life coaching. Similar to the ACC certification, there are three paths to gaining certification:

1. ICF ACTP Path

Requirements: Completion of an ICF accredited ACTP.

Hours: 500 or more hours of direct client coaching across at least 25 clients.

Examination: The Coach Knowledge Assessment (CKA).

2. The ICF ACSTH Path

Requirements: At least 125 hours of coach-specific training through an ACTP or ACSTH program and 10 hours of Mentor Coaching with a credentialed ACC coach.

Hours: 500 or more hours of direct client coaching across at least eight clients.

Examination: The Coach Knowledge Assessment (CKA) and two performance evaluations (audio recordings and written transcripts of two coaching sessions).

3. The ICF Portfolio Path

Requirements: At least 125 hours of well-documented coaching training that is under the ICF’s definition of coaching, code of ethics, and core competencies; 10 hours of Mentor Coaching.

Coaching with a credentialed PCC- or higher-level coach.

Hours: 500 or more hours of direct client coaching across at least eight clients.

Examination: The Coach Knowledge Assessment (CKA) and two performance evaluations (audio recordings and written transcripts of two coaching sessions).

Master Certified Coach

A Master Certified Coach (MCC) certification is the highest level of certification that a life coach can obtain, and there is a single path to attaining this accreditation.

Requirements: 200 hours of coach-specific training; 10 hours of Mentor Coaching with a credentialed MCC; a current PCC accreditation.

Hours: 2500 or more hours of direct client coaching across at least 35 clients.

Examination: The Coach Knowledge Assessment (CKA).

Additional Life Coaching Resources

As you step into the world of life coaching, you’ll realize there is always more to learn and that the field is continually evolving.

Here are some additional resources to help you keep abreast of the best coaching practices:

• Our Positive Psychology Toolkit© includes over 400 practical exercises, activities, assessments, and worksheets that are backed by research and will save you time preparing your own materials. These tools cover a broad range of topics, such as mindset, communication, and goal-setting, while also drawing on all the psychological theories explored above.
• Check out the Life Coach School podcast series, hosted by Master Coach Brooke Castillo. Each week’s episode covers a different theme, ranging from common hurdles with clients to strategies for scaling up your coaching business.
• For managers looking to coach their staff to new levels of performance, the University of California at Davis offers a four-course specialization via Coursera. Across the four courses, you’ll learn the basics of how to manage and address performance issues while also gaining skills in coaching practices and coaching conversations.
• If you’re looking for more science-based ways to help others enhance their wellbeing, this signature collection contains 17 validated positive psychology tools for practitioners. Use them to help others flourish and thrive.

A Take-Home Message

As a 2 billion dollar industry with 50,000 practitioners worldwide, life coaching is an exciting and booming industry (Jarosz, 2016). Importantly, you can feel good knowing the practice is built on well-established psychology principles, so if you’re looking to get started, there are many useful science-backed materials out there to help.

Life coaching is a noble pursuit, filled with generous and inspiring coaches and clients who are eager to transform their lives. It’s nearly impossible to be a life coach without learning something new about yourself along the way, so the personal growth goes both ways.

If even just one coaching relationship is enhanced by these tips, tools, and techniques, we’ll be glad to hear it, so let us know in the comments. Have you found any of these resources useful? As always, we’d love to hear from you.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Positive Psychology Exercises for free.