Why Life Coaching Should Be Your Next Business Move

I started my blog back in 2011. I never would have thought that it would eventually lead to a life coaching career.

But the more my blog following grew, the more hunger I found among other creative entrepreneurs for solid advice on growing a fan base that supports a solo business. The more advice I shared, the more the path toward becoming a life coach opened up before me.

Coaching naturally feeds off the current state of the millennial generation. While generalizations about millennial’s worldwide can never be accurate for everyone, these characteristics ring true for me and many of the women I work with in business.

If you’re an entrepreneur with a millennial mindset, here are five reasons life coaching should be your next career move.

1. Coaching is values-based.

   Millennials are often characterized as being highly value driven, living their ethics and morals, and buying from companies that share their values. Entrepreneurship is the perfect match for those qualities, as the rise of social entrepreneurs has proven.

   Coaching allows you to take your experiences in life and work – your hardships, struggles, and successes – and share what you’ve learned with others. It’s an avenue that enables you to pursue your passion, even after it’s already been pursued. In other words, rather than “those who can’t, teach,” coaches believe, “those who can and already have, teach.”

2. Coaching is social, yet virtual.

   Although I do travel all over the world as a life coach, the place where I spend the most time is online. I’m communicating with clients and my fellow coaches constantly, but rarely face-to-face.

   All I need is my laptop and an Internet connection. In fact, I hardly have anything on paper. This is the venue where many millennial’s feel the most comfortable. Far from feeling isolated, a strong online community is empowering and inspiring.

3. Coaching is a collaborative process.

   Collaboration is considered a millennial attribute. What I see among my clients, in my group coaching programs, is unlike when we were in school, where we were told to hide our mistakes and strive for perfection.

   Instead, we actually learn the most from revealing our mistakes, vulnerabilities, and difficulties. The more open we are to learning from each other from a place of humility, the more capable we all feel. And that capability feeds our confidence that we can meet our ever-expanding goals as coaches.

4. Coaching is an adventure.

   While coaching is collaborative, it also allows millennial’s to chart their own course. Most of us, as entrepreneurs, are pursuing a very different kind of career than that of their parents. Leaping off the corporate ladder is really appealing to the millennial mindset.

   What is most compelling for me is the fact that I’m not tied down to any prescribed bureaucratic vision for my job description or salary. My income has quadrupled over the past year, which never would have been possible back when I was collecting a paycheck every two weeks.

   In terms of day to day job function, as soon as the work I’m doing starts to cool off, a new project or collaboration heats up that throws me out of my comfort zone once again, expanding my vision of what’s possible.

5. Coaching is flexible.

   Finally, coaching provides work-life balance. As our generation begins to start families, flexibility is increasingly important in career moves. I worked harder than ever to quit my day job and work full-time as a life coach.

   I still work incredibly hard now, often opening my laptop as early as 5:00 am and closing it for the final time at 11:00 pm. But in between, I can set my schedule, allowing for freedom to explore while I travel and time for things and people I care about while I’m at home.

Freedom of time and money are reasons enough to make coaching your next entrepreneurial career move, don’t you think?

This article has been edited and condensed.

Jessica Nazarali is a success coach for new coaches, specializing in helping new coaches standout and find clients. She is the creator of Find Your First Paying Coaching Clients and The Next It Girl Coach. Her advice has been featured in Cleo, Marie Claire, Sunday Style and Madison and her book Leaping from the Ladder was launched in September 2014. When she’s not coaching, you can find her unfurling her yoga mat, making banana smoothies and googling her next travel destination. Find out how you can create a coaching business which sets you free at www.jessicanazarali.com. Connect with @JessNazarali on Twitter.

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