Coaches help their clients find answers to their most burning questions in life and guide them to solve complex challenges. Becoming one gives you the chance to create a positive impact on people’s lives and help them reach their full potential.
Plus, you can earn a decent living doing it.
The coaching industry is estimated to reach $6.25 billion in 2024 in the U.S. alone. However, that money is made by approximately 145,500 active coaches.
You may wonder how to become a coach in this booming but fairly competitive industry. Discover what qualities set the best coaching professionals apart from the rest and how you can start your practice in three steps.
What does it take to be a good coach?
The best coaches share the same core competencies and demonstrate certain attitudes towards their clients. If you’re wondering how to become a business coach or life coach, mastering these qualities will set you up for a great start.
1. Active listening
Using active listening as a coaching tool requires being present for your client and tuning in to both what they’re saying and their hidden body language cues.
It also means asking follow-up questions and digging deeper into the conversation to understand your client’s perspective.
2. Empathy
Effective coaching goes beyond words; it requires empathetic communication. Being attuned to your client’s emotions and personal experience fosters a supportive coaching environment.
Expressing empathy means validating your client’s feelings, demonstrating your understanding, and creating a safe space for open dialogue.
3. Genuine concern
Do you care about your client’s problems, or are you more driven by the next paycheck hitting your account? Powerful coaches are genuinely concerned about their clients, and their coachees can feel this.
Showing concern isn’t about a lack of boundaries; it’s about going the extra mile for your clients. And when you do, their progress will show it.
4. A knack for goal-setting
Goal-setting skills are a fundamental trait of a good coach. You’ll need them to establish clear and achievable objectives for your clients in a variety of real-life situations.
Much of your progress with clients will stem from finding goals worth working towards and breaking them down into manageable action steps.
5. Creativity
Outdated perspectives and solutions that your clients have heard a dozen times are not going to help them get ahead in their lives and careers. To stand out in the coaching field, you need to constantly seek out out-of-the-box ideas and apply them to your client’s unique situation.
Staying creative also takes life-long learning as well as staying open to new trends and methodologies emerging in the industry.
6. Constructive feedback skills
Without constructive feedback, your clients will stagnate. You need to have the courage to challenge them and call them out on their limiting beliefs to inspire growth in them.
To deliver feedback effectively, you need to address areas for improvement, all while maintaining a positive and empowering tone. Being able to strike a balance in this will tell whether you’re made for a coaching career path.
How much can I earn as a coach?
In the U.S., life coaches make $67,800 a year on average. However, this number doesn’t necessarily determine how much you’ll make as a coach.
It depends on factors such as:
- Your individual qualifications and skills
- Your business location
- The number of people you reach with your marketing campaigns
- Your ability to retain clients
- The overall success of your coaching programs
- Your hourly and package rates
- The level of competition within your coaching niche
- The number of active clients you work with within a given year
Some coaching niches, like executive coaching, are more profitable on average than others. But that doesn’t mean you can’t be an outstanding coach with a different specialty. Many coaches set their hourly rate to a few hundred dollars and earn six figures outside of the business world.
If you feel this is your calling, concerns about your income should not stop you from building the coaching business of your dreams.
How to become a coach in 3 steps
Here’s how to become a life coach in 2024 and start serving clients:
1. Get trained
Coaching is one of the least regulated professions. You don’t have to earn a coaching license or get a permit to start practicing. However, that doesn’t mean you don’t need any qualifications to coach clients.
Let’s look at how to become a certified life coach and start practicing.
There are several coaching certifications and training programs that can arm you with the necessary skills and methodology for a career in this field.
- Mindvalley’s certification programs in six different coaching specialties
- Coach certifications at The Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC)
- Programs at the International Coaching Federation (ICF)
- Training Programs at the CoActive Training Institute
A few ways you can expand your toolbox and horizons as a coach are:
- Joining mastermind groups
- Taking specialized courses
- Visiting coaching events
- Following free educational resources, such as the Mindvalley Coach YouTube channel
2. Get in some practice
Just like in any other field, practice makes perfect. Some certifications require hundreds of hours of coaching to be completed. Even if your training doesn’t, coaching clients is what builds your expertise.
In the beginning, it’s worth throwing yourself into as many different coaching situations as you can. Try taking sessions both in-person and online. Seek out clients with distinct challenges and backgrounds so you can try out a variety of coaching tools.
When you’re starting out, it’s perfectly okay to offer a few free sessions to clients as a part of your practice. Be transparent about where you are in your coaching journey, but treat these sessions the exact same as you would paid ones.
3. Start a coaching business
Before you start coaching clients and earning an income doing it, there are a few things you need to set up first.
- Register a business (if you’re a solopreneur without employees, a sole proprietorship will do)
- Define your coaching niche
- Design a coaching package
- Set up a website with your coaching services
- Consider getting on LinkedIn and other social media channels to grow your reach
At the dawn of your business, you can reach out to your personal and professional network (previous coworkers and friends) to find your first few clients. Providing a great experience to your first coachees can earn you referrals down the line to keep those clients coming.
Turn your passion for coaching into a business
The road to becoming a coach is neither short nor easy, but it’s absolutely rewarding.
If you want to dive deeper into the art of masterful coaching, join us in the Become a Mindvalley Certified Life Coach free masterclass to learn how to transform your passion into a purposeful profession.
Here’s what students of Mindvalley’s Certified Life program say:
“Before this program, I was still looking to clarify the direction that I wanted to take my coaching practice. With the training that I have received, the robust curriculum, and the 6 Phase Meditation Trainer Certification that was part of this course, I believe that I will be able to add more value to my clients’ lives and help them realize incredible results.”
— Marvin Rucker, coach; Bridgeport, U.S.A.
“Within three weeks, I had my first $10,000 week. Ajit is fantastic, and I would recommend this certification course to any new or experienced coach. I would also recommend it to all leaders.”
— Sandy L. Smith, executive coach; Calgary, Canada
A coaching training program is a great start to your career, but your education doesn’t stop there. Continuous learning about new coaching tools and methodologies is a lifetime endeavor that can help you deliver more results for your clients.
