This is the first installment of my miniseries on (night)life coaching. In this first post, I’ll share the top 7 questions you should ask a life coach before you start working with them. I’ll also be talking about a clear distinction between a life coach and consultant, highlight a few commonly used tools and techniques in life coaching and give away more details on my own approach and perspective in the process. There’s a lot to say about the many different types of life coaches out there. But this content is geared toward people who are active in nightlife since that’s what I do best. However, I believe this can apply to anyone who’s interested in working with a life coach at some point in their lives.

Finding the right life coach can be overwhelming and comes with a lot of questions, objections, and concerns. You’re not sure EXACTLY what you’ll get out of it, if you can actually afford it and what this person will do.

If you’re a party lover, DJ or professionally active in electronic music, you might want a life coach who has experience in the dance music industry and understands the particular pitfalls, quirks, and allure of this scene. Someone who’s been there and can walk the line with you. You feel like you could use guidance but do you really need a life coach? Do your research first. The Google can already point you to the right candidates’ website.
Their website should answer most of your general questions - like who they are, what they do and their area(s) of expertise, what their professional background and approach is, and what education and training they had.

But there are a few key questions you may want to consider asking your prospective life coach in person or on a call. It’s the perfect opportunity for you to get to know them and their methods better before you decide to step into a partnership together. Because that’s what the coaching relationship is: a collaboration between equal partners. Here are 7 questions you can ask to “interview” a life coach.

1. Why did you become a life coach?

This might seem weird to ask, but it will give you some insights into the intent, experience, and focus of your prospective coach. In my case, I know first-hand that combining nightlife with healthy living can be a bitch. I practice what I teach and I’m big on that. I know all about health versus hedonism and have achieved SO much in terms of finding work/(night)life balance after taking to life coaching. Eventually, I started to almost hate to see people in nightlife struggle with love/hate/guilt - whether it was people on the dance floor, in the booth or behind the scenes. So much so, that I decided to combine my degree in Eastern Languages and Cultures, my coaching training and my 20 years of music industry wanderings to become that person who teaches what they practice.

2. What’s your area of expertise?

This is generally tied in with why they became a coach - see question 1. Like a business consultant, a life coach should have a certain area of expertise. They can’t be everything to everyone and still get laser-focused results.

Speaking of coaches versus consultants, even though the lines get blurred, the difference lies in how they execute their roles. In simple terms, a consultant will tell you what to do. They will present you with possibilities and provide options for you to choose from.

A life coach will use their specialized knowledge to help you explore possibilities on how to organize it in a way that works for you. They make sure the answers come from YOU. You’ll walk away from a coaching session with tools and strategies that will help you to execute and move forward on your own.

Both can go hand in hand, depending on your needs. It’s important to understand the difference in methods so that you can manage expectations and get out of it what you really need.

3. Do you offer a discovery call or try out?

This is all about match-making really. It’s great to have an option for a preliminary conversation. This can be compared to asking a business proposal or perhaps a quotation offered to a prospect in order to understand how a service will be delivered - what solutions to which problems, or in the case of a business quote - the what, when and how much. A discovery call can serve this purpose.

Why is it important to inquire about this? You need to make sure that you are a good match, that the methods offered will be of service to your specific situation BEFORE you invest in this. Plus, it helps the life coach do some “vetting” as well. If a person is not a good fit to work with, they can refer them to someone they think could be.

4. Do you have a system in place to track progress? If so, what’s the system? If not, why not?

There are coaches who may like to work with a personal development plan of some sort to keep track of your goals, objectives, and results. Even though it may be hard to get tangible, measurable results from life coaching, you will experience transformation. If it’s important to you to keep track of that so that you can make it more tangible for you, you may want to check with the life coach you’ve got your eye on so that you can make sure to have such progress tracking in place.

5. What’s your strategy to help me recollect my thoughts after a session?

Why is it important to ask this question? You won’t always be prepared for the amount of emotional effort you put into a session. It makes you tired emotionally. You'll need a rebound period because it takes you some time to get back up.

One way of dealing is understanding the importance of surrender. I talked about this topic in my Facebook Group. You can check out the video here >>>

Note: you’ll have to request access to the group, which will be handled within 24 hours.

6. How will you communicate and how often?

Can you reach your coach via email or WhatsApp in between sessions? Or will there be no contact in between sessions and if so, why? Personally, I find it important to leave enough time in between sessions to process. But, during a more intensive coaching trajectory, it’s imperative to check in regularly in between sessions so that I don’t waste the first 15 minutes of your next session with, “Sooooo…. How have you been?”.

7. What specific tools and techniques do you use and why?

Depending on the educational background and training your prospective coach has, the tools and techniques they use and the way they implement them, will differ. It’s good to inquire about that beforehand to get an idea of whether or not it’ll be something you’ll be open to. But remember, change happens outside of your comfort zone. If you feel resistant toward certain things, you may want to give them a try anyway. See it as an experiment. What have you got to lose?

One of the tools I use is meditation. I can’t say it enough but I meditate at least twice a day and I think you should too.

grounding meditation.png — Try meditation today!

To make it easier and more accessible, I designed a guided meditation myself to help you stay grounded and focused on any task and all throughout the day.
It only takes 10 minutes! You can do anytime, anywhere - even in a toilet stall :)

Download

There’s so much more to say about life coaching - the immense transformation it can bring to your life as well as the many valid reasons for criticizing this profession.

In the second installment, I’m covering the questions you should ask YOURSELF before you start working with a life coach and how this will help you either dodge a bullet - by not investing in a coach or, get the most out of your time with your coach by fast-tracking your progress thanks to these questions. You can read it here >>>

Continue the conversation!

Have you ever considered working with a life coach and why/why not? Share in the comments below!

7 questions you should ask a life coach before you start working together