7 Things to Look for In a Life Coach Training Program

It’s much easier to choose the right life coach training program when you have a gold standard of what you would love. 

Moving forward, your training program should make it easier to accelerate your results for success with a proven plan, a library of resources, and repeatable coaching tools, among other must-haves.

In this post, we will look at the 7 criteria for selecting the perfect life coach training program that best fits the career, business, and life you would love!

Do You Need a Certification to Be a Life Coach?

Life coaches come from all backgrounds, experiences, and education levels, but what they all have in common is a calling.

And when prospective coaches tune into their calling and explore what it means to start a successful coaching practice, they usually start off with free, self-study material like:

• Free Online Training/Free Online Courses
• Mentoring Sessions
• Fundamentals of Positive Psychology 
• Foundational Ethical Guidelines/Professional Standards
• Beginner Coaching Methods/Coaching Concepts

This route will help you develop core competencies, but your progress will be comparatively slower than those who choose to accelerate their career with a comprehensive program. 

So even though “anyone” can call themselves a coach, it takes someone with the right heart, drive, and skills to be a profitable, successful life coach (which can take years of trial and error to get right).

And “short-cutting” or feigning expertise in coaching with a random certification will neither impress nor attract potential clients. 

Your clients will first look at your results – your reviews – your proven ability to help clients transform their dreams into a life they step into; a life they love.

And while you can learn how to become a life coach without certification or training, be prepared to spend exponentially more time experimenting and failing forward time and time again on your way to success.

But if you want to: 

• Collapse the timeline between where you are now and where you want to be in your coaching business,
• Accelerate your results
• And equip yourself with repeatable, proven systems (so you don’t have to build a coaching program from scratch)

Then you would benefit from a life coach training program.

What to Look for in a Training Program

Beyond the core competencies, the bare bones of a comprehensive program usually include:

• Hands-on training.
• Business skills.
• How to create and utilize marketing materials.
• Accelerated development of your unique coaching technique. 
• And step-by-step guidance on how to run your own coaching sessions.

Before getting into the 7 criteria, we have to start with the foundation of any reputable life coach training program:

• Experience: Are you going to be working with active, successful coaches who are in the trenches – living out their teachings? For example, all of our coaches aren’t just experts in their industry, but are actively working with clients and coaching other coaches for success!

• Curriculum: This is one of the biggest pieces of any coach training program because it outlines deliverables and expectations. For example, if you’re looking for a program that will teach you how to run a coaching business and not just teach you coaching skills, make sure the curriculum clearly states it will cover both those trainings (or else you might not get what you paid for).

• Proven Success Stories: In the same way your potential clients will look for your reviews and results, I encourage you to study the testimonials from graduates about the program. To take it one step further, you can even check out their own coaching client testimonials as proof that they were taught a system that works.

These fundamentals are the first three things to “check” off your list before considering a life coach training program any further. Now let’s break down the criteria: 

1 – Does the life coach training program offer a “Done-For-You” Curriculum?

Getting certified isn’t just a stamp stating “This Person Has Coaching Skills”.

Yes – skills and methodology are both essential for an effective coaching process, but your clients will come to your coaching sessions ready for an experience – a connection – and a guide for the transformational journey they signed up for. 

And an “experience” isn’t something you build in a day. 

In fact, you could have the skills, methods, and coaching strategies available to you but still lack confidence marketing your coaching services because you don’t have a clear roadmap of how to get clients from A (where they are) to B (where they want to be = transformation). 

So I encourage you to find a life coach training program that will not only provide reliable tools and methodology, but a fully fleshed-out, transformational journey for your clients to go on.

That way you have the manual, not just the toolbox. 

2 – Will You be Trained in Spiritual Principles?

As a transformational life coach, it’s vital to help clients discover their blind spots and empower them beyond their circumstances, situations, or conditions. 

In fact, this is why a transformational life coach often makes more money and impact than a traditional life coach.

Traditional life coaches present their expertise and solutions as the answer.

As a transformational life coach, you will evoke (bring forth) your clients’ innate wisdom and help them move beyond personal development and into greater mastery of spiritual principles and the Universal Laws.

And as a student of transformation, you’ll not only learn this process of transformation for your clients, but for yourself!

As a result, you’ll be aligned with integrity: living what you teach and delivering what you promise.

3 – Will They Provide You with Industry Tools That Work For Your Desired Coaching Niche?

Cookie-cutter programs will attempt to cram your unique gifts and talents into a mold of success that may not suit your niche.

So as you’re weighing out life coaching training programs, research the coaches you’ll be working with and verify that they have experience growing coaching businesses in multiple niches (if not in your specific niche).

With this broad market mastery, you’ll be able to use the tools you’re going to acquire in any niche within the coaching industry.

Which ultimately means having the freedom and flexibility to pivot if or whenever your dream changes.

4 – Do They Have a Mentorship Program (Especially After You Graduate)? 

First thing’s first: make sure your life coach training program has mentors and support available while you’re a student in their program. 

The next thing to check is if there’s any support after your certification.

Having someone ahead of you – living the success you desire for yourself – can fast-track your success especially as a beginner life coach.

Any reputable coaching program knows that.

But there are still a ton of life coach certification programs that will wipe their hands clean after you’ve invested and completed their program. 

Similar to how you’d check for customer support before purchasing anything online, double check your coaching program has a support group before you invest!

That means support after certification to help you build momentum with personal mentors who can speak to you personally with their own highly successful coaching business. 

5 – Does your Life Coach Training Program Teach Flexible Business Systems?

In other words, will your coaching program meet you where you are?

Not everyone is open or planning to become a full-time life coach. 

• Maybe you’re looking at doing coaching part-time (with a full-time job). 
• Maybe you’re unsure of whether you want to do 1:1 or group coaching (or something entirely different).
• Maybe you already have a coaching business but you’d love support scaling.

Whatever your plans are (or lack thereof), I encourage you to find flexibility in your program of choice. 

A good rule of thumb is to avoid cookie-cutter programs that have the potential to limit your work or time and money freedom.

6 – Do They Teach an Evocative Coaching Methodology? 

As a spiritual life coach, you have a sacred calling to help others discover their true purpose, connect with their higher self, and live a life they love.

While there are many ways you can go about doing that, we’ll share the methodology that we use in our life coaching programs: evocative coaching. 

Evocative coaching is a form of heart-centered spiritual coaching that empowers your client to discover the answers they seek from within themselves through powerful questioning.

So rather than telling your clients what to do, evocative coaching helps them find the answers within themselves that will move them in the direction of a life they truly love.

Your role is to help clients connect with and listen to their own inner wisdom in order to take action toward their goals and dreams.

Finding a life coach training program that teaches evocative coaching techniques will equip you with the right, high-quality questions that create life-changing transformation.

7 – Do They Use Heart-Centered Enrollment Strategies?

Sales calls are an important part of building a coaching business, but most people are uncomfortable with the idea of “pitching” people or asking for the close.

A great life coach training program will teach you that you don’t have to chase or hunt down clients – ever.

Building a successful career as a life coach and entrepreneur isn’t about learning the ins-and-outs of sales calls, but calls that change lives whether or not they enroll.

At the end of the day, you will magnetize clients that don’t need wrestling into submission.

Instead, they’ll be drawn in by your unique energy, personality, and message, and they’ll be able to recognize your value and become your ideal clients.

So find a training program that understands the value of easy, heart-centered enrollment, where you can feel great leading calls with confidence and peace of mind.

How the Brave Thinking Institute Stands Out

Here at the Brave Thinking Institute, our mission is to help you turn a passion for helping others into a meaningful, life-changing, and lucrative career as a certified life coach. 

We believe in spiritual principles of transformation, backed by proven, reliable business practices.

We’re also serious about our selection process. We get thousands of applications each year, but we can only take a set amount of coaches to ensure each person gets personal guidance and support on their specific coaching journey. 

So if you’re in alignment with all 7 criteria, it’s highly likely you’re aligned with our values as well!

Let’s review and outline how the Brave Thinking Institute fulfills all 7 of those critical standards:

1. You’ll be provided with a “Done-For-You” Curriculum that includes a roadmap for your client’s transformation from A (where they are) to B (where they would love to be).
2. You’ll be trained in spiritual principles so you can create transformation in your life as well as for your clients.
3. Regardless of your chosen niche, you’ll gain the coaching tools and techniques to move your clients into a whole new set of experiences and results.
4. You will be surrounded by mentors and a supportive community during and after your certification.
5. We will work with you to create a coaching business system that best fits the vision of a life you love. 
6. We’ll train you in the evocative coaching model and provide you with high-quality questions for your clients.
7. We’ll train you how to attract ideal clients and make confident, highly profitable sales/enrollment calls!

Feeling excited and aligned with these objectives and values? 

Let’s talk! 

I invite you to tap into that expansive energy and connect with our team!

During your free strategy session, you’ll learn what it takes to become a heart-centered life coach, discuss your coaching career dreams, and determine if we’re a good match.

And if you decide to train with us here at the Brave Thinking Institute, you’ll get more than a certification. 

You’ll graduate ready and confident to help others create lives they love living – with the skills and tools you need to build a thriving, profitable life coaching business!

To your sacred calling,

Mat Boggs