How to Get Kicked Out of Life Coaching School

Anybody who thinks life or life coaching is easy doesn’t know what they’re talking about

To be able to truly LEARN in life and in life coaching school you have to be objective, non-judgmental and patient – the same attributes a good coach must master. It takes rigor and determination and, I might add, a strong stomach. You’re bound to take some hits to the gut which, despite how they feel, are more than likely a bruise to your ego than anything requiring medical attention.

It’s not easy to train to be a good and masterful coach. I’ve been doing it for 15 years and I’m still learning – gently keeping (and often, forcing) my mind to stay open and in that place where all rich learning happens – the “I don’t know what I don’t know” place.

Life coach training is just like life training so here are 5 ways to get kicked out of life coach school (and maybe out of a rich life as well):

1. Be a know-it-all.

   No matter what anyone says or shares in class, slap it down with your experience and perspective. After all, you know better than them – you have a degree, a professional portfolio, a hard knocks life whatever… just fill in the blank with something that makes you feel superior to others.

2. Hijack the class.

   Talk more than anyone else. Go off topic and interrupt folks. Disregard others who might want to learn from someone other than you. You can’t listen to their babble so you just go on talking.

3. Fall Asleep.

   Don’t prepare to bring your best energy and attention to classes. Don’t participate. You are OK with just getting by in life (oops!) I mean life coaching school. You are way too cool to act like this training is important or valuable. Or show any enthusiasm.

4. Take everything personally.

   That’s right. Every thing said is about you. Feedback or any challenge to your perspective is like taking one in the gut. So you can’t take in new ideas, thoughts or beliefs. They are not part of your existing reality. And your way of seeing the world is indeed “fact”.

5. Complain endlessly.

   About the content, the teachers, the other students. See only the ‘negatives’. Be a victim to these issues rather than seek solution. Have impossibly high expectations of yourself and others and then police both you and them. You are on the perfection treadmill and you need to get everything absolutely right!

Obviously, when learning how to coach you have to do work on yourself.  Some days you wonder if you can really help others when you feel like such a hot mess.  What I found is – by getting at the hot mess that you are, you clear the way to be truly present for others. It’s like a messy closet. You can’t make room for anything new without sorting out what’s there.