Becoming a Life trainer

If you like to help people and are a charismatic and energetic person, then life training might be a good career choice for you. Let's first explore what a life trainer is and does, then we'll go into more detail on the process of how to become a life trainer.

Life trainers help their clients discover what is most important to them, help them perform at optimum levels, and achieve what it is they most desire. They work one-on-one with their clients, either in person or over the phone, and help them set and achieve personal goals. Life trainers are not therapists or consultants.

Life train1ng evolved out of executive training, which itself drew on techniques developed in leadership training and management consulting. Life training also borrows from disciplines such as sociology, psychology, career counselling, mentoring and other types of counselling. Trainers may apply mentoring, behaviour modification, behaviour modelling, values assessment, goal-setting and other techniques in their practice.

Some say that life training is similar to psychotherapy, but without restrictions, oversight or regulation. The State legislature of Colorado disagreed, and ruled that training is unlike therapy because it does not focus on examining or diagnosing the past. Life training focuses on changing the client's current and future behaviour. Neither does life training delve into diagnosing mental illness or dysfunction.

According to a survey of training clients, "sounding board" and "motivator" were what they were looking for most in a trainer. The desire that their trainer “really listens to them and gives honest feedback." Time management, career and business are the top three areas in which the surveyed clients sought help.

Before travelling too far down the path to becoming a life trainer, you should first decide on a specialty or a focus for your practice. Besides the three areas already mentioned, you could also specialize in finance, health, relationships, career management or a variety of other areas. Decide on your specialty, then pursue further training in that field.

Next you should attend a life training seminar. This will give you a good overview of life training in general, and you will have the opportunity to see how trainers interact with people in the crowd. A seminar may have one or several speakers. Approach one of them after the event and ask how best to break into the field.

After attending a seminar, you should have a pretty good idea of whether or not becoming a life trainer is something you really want to pursue. You want to be sure of that before you invest your time and money into life trainer training.

There are hundreds of training programs that range from $100 home study programs, to $15,000 two year life trainer certification. The value and cost of life trainer training varies widely and is something you should research thoroughly. The most comprehensive list of training courses and schools can be found at www.peer.ca/coachingschools.html

It is important that you pursue a program of instruction that results in accreditation. Without a training credential you will have a difficult time convincing potential clients that you are the real deal.

You are now armed with a basic outline of how to become a life trainer. Make sure you invest plenty of time in researching the topic further before you open your wallet.