Insights from Flow

Coaching Techniques That Will Help You Through Isolation

2020 was a hard year for everyone. It is stated that in the US 4 out of 10 adults stated that they were having mental health issues due to the pandemic. This is a huge percentage. And a huge chunk of them mentioned the depression that came from extensive isolation was what causes them to feel this intense form of sadness, depression, and helplessness.

How Does Long-Term Isolation Affect You? 

There's a reason why solitary confinement is a punishment for those who did something really bad in prison. It can turn even the sanest of people a little mad. And almost the entire population of the world had to deal with some form or another of extended isolation. When one is isolated for an extended period of time, this can cause severe depression because of loneliness. Humans are social creatures, without socialization and being able to meet others, speak to them and hang out, causes the brain to feel sad and lonely.

According to this study,

"...As the Greek philosopher Aristotle reminds us, man is a “social animal,” unable to live isolated from others, since the absence of relationships removes essential conditions for the development of personal identity and the exercise of reason".

What Do Coaching Techniques Have To Do With Getting Through Isolation? 

Coaches are trained extensively to be able to speak to their clients, find out what's wrong, and work with them through all of their issues. Life coaches also hold their clients accountable for their own growth. Coaching methodologies have been known to help those who might not have the money or the resources to get themselves a coach. And we wanted to share some of those with you today so that you can also use them on your own if you do not currently have access to a coach.

#1: Practicing Mindfulness

Coaching yourself is a big part of being a coach. And with that comes the ability to practice mindfulness. The main definition of mindfulness is to focus on the present moment. This way, you are able to let the rest of the issues, anxiety, and problems melt away when you only focus on the now and the thing that is directly in your control at this moment.

Practice simple breathing exercises and make sure you leave the house for fresh air at least once a day. Clear your mind when you feel like it's becoming too much. Being mindful also means that you are aware of what you are thinking and that you are conscious enough to stop that thought and try to remove it from your system.

Breathe and start noticing your thoughts is super crucial in practicing mindfulness. As a coach, this is also a great way to get your client to disconnect from their harmful thoughts and self-sabotaging ways and to pivot and shift their focus on the now so that you can break them from the current vicious cycles they might be going through.

#2: Communication 

Coaches are known to be some of the best communicators. They can understand complex issues that someone is going through and be able to calm them down and communicate with them so that they feel safe and heard.

When it comes to the pandemic depression and anxiety that so many people are experiencing, we have noticed that effective communication helps lower the anxiety, concerns, and fears that may be present in the minds of everyone.

Always have a list of a few people that you speak to on a daily basis. It could be your partner, best friend or even your parents. Share with them what you did during the day. Don't stop there, you can also share things like your concerns with how you're feeling. Having a support system is great when you make sure that you constantly communicate with them as well.

These are our two main tips and coaching techniques that we believe you should use to help you in times of isolation and depression. Let us know if you've used any of these and if you did, we would love to know if it helped.

How Much Do Professional Coaches Earn?

Professional Coaching is one of the fastest-growing industries globally, and if you are considering becoming a certified coach we have some information to share with you.

If you've been thinking about becoming a certified life coach, executive coach, or a career coach but you have been unsure about the income, you are about to learn! FLOW Coaching Institute has alumni and a group of professional coaches across the world working in the field of various specialties such as career coaching, executive coaching, life coaching, corporate coaching, parent coaching, team coaching, etc. We reached out to them and asked about how much income they earn to give you as much precise information as we can reflecting different a range of different specialties and geographies.

So, if you are the kind of person who enjoys helping other people and has always dreamed about doing that kind of work that makes a real difference in people’s lives, but at the same time worried about the income you will make, we hope that this information will give you an idea if becoming a Certified Professional Coach matches your financial expectations.

Based on this brief research, we managed to conclude that the key to earning a considerable amount of good salary lies in “professional commitment”. These FLOW graduates that we interviewed have a high commitment to keeping their practice aligned with professional standards. Therefore, they network on a regular basis, they develop their practice by listening to their clients and their feedback, they invest in mentoring and supervision, and they coach and are coached themselves on a regular basis.

So How Much Do Coaches Make? 

According to our survey and interviews with ICF Certified Professional Flow Coaches, we can say that full-time certified life coaches that work for 6-8 hours a day earn between a range of $50-$500 per hour and earn around the ranges of $70,000 to a whopping $600,000. (P.s: Note that this is calculated by working 6 hours per day with a 20-day working month).

Career Coaches 

Certified Professional Career Coaches stated that they make 30-70% more than this on average as they get a chance to work with a number of individuals from their corporate clients. Life Coaches' on the other hand have business models that vary from providing hourly in-person/live coaching sessions to monthly live group coaching sessions through online platforms like Zoom or through social media.

Compare this to the average full-time job. To earn $48,000 you need to work 40 hours or more per week for a job you might not enjoy,  maybe in a culture, you don't like, doing the type of work that doesn’t allow you to enjoy your every day.

Executive Coaches 

If your specialty is ICF Certified Professional Executive Coaching, things get even better. When we asked our executive coaches about how they charge for their sessions, they mentioned a range between $200-$1000 per hour, and their annual income starts with a minimum of around $200,000 and eventually reaches up to a 6 figure income. (P.s: Note that this is calculated by working 6 hours per day with a 20-day working month)

ICF Certified Professional Executive Coaches work with director level and above (C level). They either have 1:1 individual sessions or work with teams from the same organization or they might have a specific type of leadership retreats where executives from various organizations join. It is coaching in its most premium state and you will be working with some of the smartest minds on the planet.

This is just one of the reasons that becoming an ICF certified professional coach might be the ideal path for you to start a fulfilling and profitable career by doing work that you love.

Please note that, at Flow Coaching’s ICF ACTP training program, we have special business and career-building sessions with our 6 figure income earning coaches, to help our coaches to work on their future coaching career or business plans individually.

What does FLOW Offer? 

FLOW Coaching Institute offers two paths to your ICF Certification:
1. The Fast Track path includes 5 modules. Both Core Foundations and Business Coaching ICF 60 ACSTH/ACC training programs make you eligible for certification.
2. Our All-Inclusive Advanced ICF ACTP Certification program has 6 modules carrying you all the way up to ICF ACC & PCC credentials.

To learn more about our programs, leave us a comment, just fill in our contact form or send us an email to info@flowcoachinginstitute.com to get in touch with our team today! Or, visit our latest schedule here to see when the next intake is for you!

We would love to hear from you.

6 Ways a Business Coach Can Help You

Business coaching is another branch of coaching that mainly focuses on helping clients grow their business overall. There are multiple ways this can happen but as a coach, they will need to not only be great at coaching but would also need to understand how businesses work so that they can effectively help you and your business grow.

If you are willing to achieve their business goals and there is a gap between your current state and the desired state, then business coaching can help.

With a business coach, you can start to achieve business goals, give a new life to your business, increase sales and profits, design and implement a new plan and help out with similar challenges or opportunities.

How Do Business Coaches Help You?

By setting the goals you really want to achieve and are beneficial for you

Humans want a lot of things but not all are really beneficial for them. A business coach helps to distinguish what you can have and what you should have. He helps reach out to the depths of your desires and help you understand what is useful for you and your business in the long-term. Once you have the ideal goal you are much likely to move in a direction to reach it.

By helping you achieve a life with a work-life balance

A balanced life is essential as in the turmoil of business its very easy to get lost and overburden yourself leading to exhaustion. A business coach will help you learn how to think about yourself along with your business and how to act responsibly. It is important to get your needs met. You will build a strong foundation of self-care and also pay attention to your business at the same time with the help of the business coach.

By growing financial strength

You deserve to earn a lot more than you think. A business coach will help you with your financial plan, help you design a strategy to earn more from your business.

By expanding your business reach without burning out 

When you have a Success Partner with you whom you can trust and rely on you will have the power to expand your business’s reach and go for more opportunities because you will have a clear head and a specific direction.

By helping you make better decisions for yourself and your business

A business coach understands the value of sharing opinions and ideas for a client with them who understands where they are coming from. A business coach can help you clear your focus and help you make the best decisions for you and your business as the business coach will present you with views that are not biased or influenced.

By helping you grow with increased energy

When you will have a free mind and a clear focus you will be able to tackle challenges in a better way and be more productive. All thanks to your business coach.

No matter what stage your business is at, a business coach can help. They can make you work harder, be more accountable, progress faster than you would on your own. A business coach can serve as a Success Partner in your journey to achieving your business goals.

If you want to become an ICF Certified Business Coach view our upcoming programs now!

12 Thought-Provoking Leadership Questions

Coaching is a powerful partnership that is hugely impactful in leadership development. Professional coaches are specifically trained to ask questions that stretch their client's perspectives and give light to their blind spots. Let's break down some of the top thought-provoking leadership and coaching questions that will help you grow your leadership skills personally and professionally.

 

Leadership is a journey. Some of us have it in our bones where others become leaders later in life as they face situations where they have to learn and practice. Whether you are a natural-born leader or learned to become one later in life, one thing is for sure that you need to keep developing yourself. The only constant in life is change - and as someone who wants to become a leader, you need to accept that you will have to constantly change to become a better version of yourself.

Who are you as a leader?

Who do you want to be as a leader? Once you have internalized and found answers to these questions, it will help you and your team to embody and to bring improved leadership qualities into your personal/professional life.

Authentic leaders have a habit of self-reflection as staying true to who they really are. Leaders who care also pay a lot of attention to who they are becoming because they are always focused on growth. They know that when you come to the same office every day, there is a tendency to become mediocre without notice.

Therefore they keep asking themselves self-reflective questions or they hire coaches who will ask them these questions! Self-awareness is a core value for them. The following self-reflective questions exercise may offer a new perspective on how you see your leadership contributing to your life and work.

And as you answer the questions below, take a moment to notice how your own answers resonate with you.

P/s: You know what; these questions make fabulous leadership journal prompts - so grab your journal and write a few sentences!

Our top coaching questions that will help you develop your leadership skills: 

• What are your top three strengths that you practice the most as a leader?
• What are your bottom three strengths that you haven’t been able to practice?
• What is your leadership vision?
• Who do you want to become when you are the best version of yourself?
• What is your leadership philosophy?
• What kind of a leader do you need to become?
• What do you need to adjust to create the impact that you want to see?
• What do you need to change in yourself and leave behind?
• If you were one of your team members that were led by your current self, would you be satisfied?
• If we ask your future self about the lessons that are learned, what would your future self tell us?
• What are you noticing as you answer these questions?
• With this new awareness, what are you willing to do differently as of today?

After you've done this exercise, write them down and add a date to these answers. We also suggest that you should do this exercise at least 2-3 times a year. We all change every day, and sometimes you might not notice it because daily changes are negligible. But, if you go back and answer the same questions over a large period of time then your changes will be a lot more noticeable.

What are some of the top leadership qualities you believe a leader should have? And how did you realize how important they were? I'd love to know!

If you are looking to become a coach yourself, click this schedule to see when our next intake is! We can't wait to work with you.

 

Living Life In The New Normal – Getting over VUCA and Focusing On Yourself

When was the last time someone asked you, how do you really feel? And when was the last time you gave them an honest answer? 2021 is upon us and we know that 2020 was a different, challenging, and thought-provoking year for everyone. With that, we also know that everyone has felt so many different types of emotions. 

How Are You Feeling?

So what are some of the emotions you have been feeling the past year and even today? Are you feeling:

• Calm 
• In Control
• Content
• Alert 
• Bored 
• Stressed Out 
• Frustrated 
• Happy 
• Hopeful
• Depressed 
• Anxious 
• Relaxed

Regardless of what you are feeling, the team here at Flow Coaching Institute hopes that you have been feeling better since the start of the new year. However, with everything that happened in 2020, we realized that there is a name for the uncertainty and confusion during the pandemic. 

What is VUCA?

This is called the VUCA environment. VUCA stands for: 

1. Volatility 
2. Uncertainty 
3. Complexity 
4. Ambiguity 

The VUCA environment is known to badly affect our decision-making skills, it makes us question everything we do, it becomes harder for us to navigate our day to day as well as being able to see what the future should look like for us. Put that all together and we know that your brain will get incredibly stressed out when it has to deal with all that uncertainty. It also becomes paralyzing when you are needed to make a big decision or even work on something mundane. 

Waiting for the VUCA time to pass does get depressing and stress-inducing. You are constantly worried about the future, you can’t seem to see past what is happening today, there is a feeling of helplessness and anxiety. VUCA cripples you. 

Relaxing As A Form of Moving Away From VUCA 

This is why all our coaches are focusing on letting their students and clients know that they need to take the time to relax and find meaning in whatever is happening right now. 

By relaxing and taking it all in while analyzing how it makes us feel and why we are feeling this way, will allow for a more relaxed mindset. We believe that you can see that as a meditation process or even as a spiritual practice - a cause to discipline your wild thoughts. It is also a good time to learn and explore what FLOW means to us and what being IN FLOW means to us. 

Questions To Ask Yourself To Calm Your Mind

In times of chaos and uncertainty, we believe that you should always practice asking grounding questions. These questions will not only help you find clarity but also help you to move away from the VUCA environment. 

1. What am I learning? 
2. Who am I becoming? 
3. Who do I want to become? 
4. How do I discipline my mind to become more resilient? 
5. What does flow mean to me? 
6. Where do I find the meaning of flow and resilience? 
7. What does being strong mean to me? 
8. What grounds me? 
9. What can I do to ground myself? 
10. What does peace mean to me? 

These questions are paramount in helping you find the light in your storm and for you to find what it means to be calm and happy in times of chaos. 

Here at FLOW, we know that as change agents we are responsible for making way for these transformations to be made. We have been busy inspiring and changing lives to move the world in a more positive direction. We have had our fair share of frustrating VUCA moments but we decided to rely on our collective strengths to use our platforms and coaches to be part of this positive movement. 

Getting out of the VUCA environment isn’t just another coaching session for us, it’s a life-changing event that we believe will carry on with you at every twist and turn of your life. 

How Flow Coaching Institute Has Committed to Helping People Out of VUCA Environments

Here at Flow Coaching Institute, we certified hundreds of FLOW coaches from our online ICF coaching programs, but we also committed to ensuring we brought about a bigger change. We chose to support our Toronto and international communities all year long. 

So, we partnered with the City of Toronto and Dixon Hall for the Wrap Around Support Program to provide emotional, mental and career coaching support to those who are badly influenced by the Covid-19 crisis. 

We also partnered with Schulich Business School to help future female leaders build resilience and leadership capacity through Women in Leadership Program.

We know that waiting for the crisis to pass is not the best coping strategy. We know that action creates momentum. And nothing could have been better than supporting the STEM Women of WSTEM TO group, as we partnered with them for the MentorSHE project coaching women leaders in the STEM industry.

  Along with these projects, FLOW joined hands with other renowned organizations like Henkel, ING Bank, and TEB to provide coaching to their management to help the organizations grow in the right direction during VUCA times.  

We believe that as coaches, we are change agents. We are put on the planet to support, help you build resilience, take you out of your limiting beliefs, build leadership capacities, and also help people transform their lives for the better. And also to help them find their purpose and their flow. 

All of us here at Flow Coaching Institute hopes that you find your flow amidst this chaos and VUCA. 

Let us know how we can help you and we would love to step in. 

If you have any ideas and suggestions on how to best ground yourself in trying times, please leave us a message as well! 

Happy 2021! 

 

The Science of Positive Psychology behind The Flow Coaching Methodology

Flow Coaching Institute is mainly based on the science of positive psychology and the Flow Model. When we first started Flow Coaching Institute we wanted to make sure that everything that we taught was backed by science and is something tangible that makes sense to not just our students but their potential clients as well. 

The science of positive psychology is something we practiced on our own before we even started Flow Coaching Institute. We know for a fact that using the principles of positive psychology will greatly allow you to recognize your full potential in all areas of your life. The fact that it is rooted in positivity will transform you into a much happier person by the end of it. 

What is Positive Psychology? 

Positive psychology was introduced in 1998 by the founder’s Dr. Martin Selgiman and Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi. There has been a lot of back and forth going around in describing just what Positive Psychology is and the best way to explain it as well as the most commonly accepted definition is: 

“Positive psychology is the scientific study of what makes life most worth living” (Peterson, 2008).

This means that it is a scientific approach to studying human thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. And we also then focus on their strengths instead of their weaknesses. To build good things in life rather than “fixing” the bad. The main focuses of positive psychology are centered around positive experiences, traits, and also positive thoughts and mindsets. Things like self-esteem, confidence, hope, gratitude, and compassion are all main ideas of positive psychology. 

The foundational study surrounding positive psychology was published in 2000 with Dr. Martin Seligman and the “founding father” of flow, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. It is seen that after this, there has been a much bigger calling surrounding the focus on positivity in life. 

FLOW Coaching and The Science of Positive Psychology 

When it came to merging the science of positive psychology and the Flow Methodology, we decided to focus on three main pillars. They are: 

     Contentment with the past 

• Acceptance and surrendering to your past will allow you to be a lot more content in the future. 
• A lot of us stay stuck in the past and forget that there is a life that we need to live right now. This is why the science of positive psychology wants to you accept and be content with your past. 
• Take its learnings and implement it for your future and forget about it. 
• Take the good parts, the parts where it taught you something, and then move on. 
• Your past will always be a part of you but it should hold you back.

  Happiness and fulfillment in the present

• Living in the now is also extremely important, if you keep looking to the past or constantly waiting for the future because you were taught to believe that everything solves itself when you are older, you are only kidding yourself. 
• Know that in the present you have all the power in the world to become anything you want to be.

  Grounded optimism for the future 

• Thinking ahead to the future is always awesome and fun, but it needs to be grounded. 
• It needs to come from a place of understanding and hope for the future but not fictitious hope. 
• Know that you are in control of your life and that you are the sole driver of this ride called life, but it needs to be grounded. 

All ICF Certified coaching programs that are offered in Flow Coaching Insititute instill these three pillars of positive psychology. Which allows all our graduates to go forth into the world to spread happiness. 

It also allows these coaches to show their clients the positivity of their futures and to also accept and see their past as a resource to then create their desired reality with grounded optimism. 

These pillars are the backbone of all our programs here at Flow Coaching Institute and it has been the main reason why so many students from Flow flourish once they graduate. 

Focusing on the good things in life is a given, but with the Flow model, we have structured it in a way that it becomes a grounding exercise. We accept our past, we learn from it and we apply the things we learn from it to better our future. 

How To Implement The Science of Positive Psychology 

We have often said that the science of positive psychology isn’t that hard to understand, it’s not rocket science, but it is a science regardless. However, implementing it isn’t that hard and can be done by anyone after they have fully understood what it stands for and how we can use it to transform lives. 

Creating a happier life is in no one else’s hands but yours, so how do you implement these pillars to create a happier life for yourself? Or rather how do our coaches go ahead and coach their clients with this methodology and see amazing results? Well, the focus mainly on: 

Recognizing Positive Traits 

• Like mentioned before, the science of positive psychology is rooted in focusing on the positive aspects of life and someone’s personality. 
• Focus and recognizing their positive traits emphasizes what makes someone happy and succeed.

Being Able to Recognize Flow in Your Day To Day 

• The mundane aspect of life can get to you sometimes, but not every day is an amazing day where you win the lottery or jump out of a plane, it is usually a cycle. 
• Understanding that and realizing that you can find that magic spark in just the normal routines will help you have a much better day 

We hope that this article has given you a quick and fun insight into what the science of positive psychology is and which parts of that are used in Flow Coaching Institute and that are taught to our amazing students. 

Let us know what your thoughts are on the science of positive psychology? We would love to hear from you. 

 

Top Coaching Questions To Ask To Uplift Any Conversation

As a coach, asking powerful, positive questions is a huge part of your coaching journey. A successful coach is usually known for their ability to ask thought-provoking questions and to also show their clients a different perspective by asking these questions.

Another thing a great coach should be able to do is to get to the root cause of any issues their clients are facing by asking these thought-provoking and uplifting questions.

Why Are Powerful Coaching Questions So Important

Most of the time, when a client comes to you, they are in search of changing something in their lives. If it’s not to change something, it is something that they want to achieve and they need your help getting there or understanding what they need to do to get there. Or what limiting beliefs they need to shed before they can truly transform and become what they foresee themselves to be.

This is why we believe that asking questions that are powerful and thought-provoking are extremely important to shape conversations with your client that will help facilitate that process.

Here are some reasons why we believe asking great coaching questions is extremely important for any coaching session.

It brings about a sense of ownership and empowerment

• When you ask your clients difficult questions that require them to think deeply and reflect, you give them power.
• This power is the power of truly accepting and understanding yourself.
• When someone truly reflects, they will feel a sense of ownership over their thoughts and actions.

It Builds Trust

• If you want your client to trust you, they need to be able to open up to you about all sorts of things.
• This includes extremely private memories, habits, and thoughts.
• The more they open up to you, the more trust is built. With more trust, you will be able to create a much more open relationship that will allow for more acceptance and change from their side.

It Boosts Their Confidence

• Most of the time, when people come to you for coaching, they usually know what needs to be done, they just need someone to tell them what they’re doing is on track.
• Or they just need someone to be there to help them get to where they need and want to go.

22 Coaching Questions That Will Uplift and Transform Conversations

Today, we are looking at 22 coaching questions that we believe you can ask your client to uplift and transform any conversation.

For Life Coaching

1. What is your ‘why’?
2. What does motivate you most?
3. When do you feel most in ‘flow’?
4. Imagine that you are living your best life where you feel purposeful and happy, what would that look like?
5. What are the top 3 things you are grateful for?
6. What is your ideal outcome of life?
7. What are the positive things you want to feel when you have accomplished your life goals? What does accomplishment feel like?

For Business & Career Coaching

1. What do you want to contribute to your workspace?
2. What do you want to learn?
3. In what way does your contribution add value to the organization?
4. What was your original goal for your career and what does it look like now? How different/similar is it?
5. What role do you see yourself in 5 years?

For Goal-Setting

1. What is the most important thing to you in life?
2. What would you do today if there were no obstacles and issues in your way to stop you?
3. What makes you want to wake up in the morning?
4. How long do you think it will take for you to reach your ultimate goal?
5. What are some of your best traits that will help you reach these goals?

For Overall Thought-Provoking

1. When was the last time something went well for you? How did you feel then?
2. What would you like your legacy to be?
3. What are you currently doing to become more positive and to uplift yourself?
4. Are you spending time the way you want to be spending time?
5. If you could, would you spend more time on things that you enjoy doing? If so, what’s stopping you?

There are so many different variations of thought-provoking questions you can ask your clients. Always understand what part of their life needs the most help and start there.

What are some of the most important questions that you will need to ask your clients once you start working with them? We would love to hear your ideas!

Choosing A Business/Executive Coach For a Positive Coaching ROI

Have you ever wanted to hire a business coach? But, your main concern was you had no idea what a business coach did or how they could help you? This isn't too uncommon. A lot of people understand the benefit of a coach, but since a coach works on your mental state and perhaps in helping you grow your business offline -- it might be hard to truly see and understand the benefits of your coaching sessions. So, how do you put a number to your coaching sessions? Or how do you choose a business or executive coach for a positive coaching return on investment (ROI) -- well, read on to find out! 

How To Choose A Business/Executive Coach For a Positive Coaching ROI

Businesses are giving extra attention to Executive Coaching with the increased globalization and economic pressure. It’s a preferred tool for CEOs, CFOs, and executives looking to improve their leadership standing in a company.

Finding the business/executive coach with the right skills can be a daunting task. In this article, we discuss ways on how this can be made easier.

Coach’s Approach to Coaching Makes a Difference. 

The most effective executive coaches are those who pay attention to the coaching interaction by:

• Creating in-depth understanding and consideration for client’s positive results
• Stimulating clients mind beyond the usual perception
• Helping the client to implement newly learned behaviors
• Standing alongside the client rather than telling them what to do

It may seem obvious, but successful coaches care about their client’s achievements. 

Also, they should use many types of information gained from different channels to provide feedback to the client. It’s the coach’s job to understand the complexities of the environment and the challenges existing for the client.

Effective coaches do not fear pushing the boundaries of the client to stretch their performance. Great coaches find different ways to challenge an executive in unconventional ways.

The feedback provided by the client should be direct, business-specific, and professional. Good business coaches know when to push the client and when to provide support.

Coaches make themselves available to clients at the right time. It is to help them get ready for specific situations like before an important meeting, for a specific business alliance, or team-related tasks. Business Coaches support clients with real-life situations to help them identify and apply the behaviors needed for success.

Things to Consider Before Choosing Business Coaches:

Coaches should:

• Be an effective communicator
• Ask the right questions to the client to stimulate their mind
• Understand the business environment enough to understand the challenges and opportunities.

Effective coaches are seeking data from different sources and apply it in a way that sets the client for success. A great coach wants to deeply understand the business context and strategy, leadership style preferences and motivations, emotional intelligence, problem-solving ability, and the perspectives of people surrounding their client. Coaches gain information to determine what factors play an important role in clients reaching their results.

The remaining process is the application. Some coaches make the mistake of using the same approach to all when creating plans. It is more useful and creates a lasting change if the development plans are unique to the person and tailored specifically to suit their challenges and environment.

The development plans are specific actionable goals not more than 3-5 unique to the person that will directly benefit the client or the organization. These goals then can be reached with small behavioral changes over time.

Positive Return on Coaching Investment:

Just make sure to gauge the coach’s experience and approach before entering a coaching agreement. The best coach is who can guide you with the best communication and strategy, who is willing to stretch your performance and stimulate your mind for various alternatives never considered before. Coaches should use a combination of behavioral changes and mental mindset shifts to create higher performance and reduce derailing behaviors.

Successful executive coaches keep in mind the success of the company as well as the executive. An effective coaching process includes regular check-ins to make sure the executive is moving in a direction fruitful for his individual self and the company.

The return on the coaching investment can be measured both by the executive’s change and the organization’s change over a period of 6-12 months. Useful questions to ask during these times are “is the executive moving in a direction positive to the company?” and “Has the company benefited from executives change?” Choosing the right executive coach with the right approach will yield a positive return on coaching investment.

If you are looking to become an executive coach or a business coach, check out our latest schedule to see when's the next intake. Or send us an email at info@flowcoachinginstitute.com. We can't wait to see you!

8 Myths About Life-Coaching, Debunked

Myths are stories that help us develop our beliefs, culture and help us understand our world but there are many types of myths one being the kind in which we think understand something new but in reality, we really don’t and those myths spread like wild-fire. Such myths can make people deprived of something truly great as with time these myths begin to sound very truth-like. Similarly, there are many myths about life coaching that we will discuss in this article.

8 Myths about Life Coaching 

Coaching is the new form of therapy

This is a common misconception that coaching is the new form of therapy however this is not true. A landmark case was won that established coaching as a separate profession from therapy. However, you will notice that many therapists join the bandwagon and became coaches.

Coaching cannot be considered a real profession

This can be true maybe many years ago from now, just like any profession in its early days. Professions develop over time. Every profession starts with just a few practitioners.

Eventually, regulatory bodies like ICF come into being and standardize the process. Then coaching institutes came which provided this teaching to many others and coaching is now a legit profession.

You can get away with anything in coaching

Since coaching isn’t regulated by the government it causes some confusion and people think you can get away with anything in coaching. However, fortunately, there are regulatory bodies like ICF that have established ethical guidelines and best practices in coaching. If you are working with an ICF Certified Coach you can be certain that they are following the set ethics and ICF core competencies.

Training isn’t needed for coaching

This depends on how successful you want to be as a coach. The ICF has been surveying for many years and has found out that coaches who have received coach-specific training are more likely to be successful and less likely to drop out of the profession. So, if you want to be a successful coach, get ICF accredited coach training which can be a lifetime investment.

With a degree in Psychology, you’re okay to coach

This isn’t true. You need to invest in an ICF accredited coach training program, most degrees in psychology or social work won't work. There is so much more to coaching that goes past just a degree. There are scientific studies and real-time coaching hours we use to ensure that whatever we say or do in a session is beneficial and effective for our clients.

Clients don’t check if you are certified

Of course, they do, ICF surveyed actual coaching clients and asked them if they would prefer to work with a certified coach and 84% of them replied that they very much care if their coach is certified. Numbers do not lie.

If you would not go to a certified doctor, why would you not want to go to a coach who is also certified? Being certified also tells your clients that you are willing to take your profession seriously and that in turn shows them that you are serious about changing their lives too. It shows dedication and respect for the profession above all else.

Coaches have the answers for everything

It is a common myth that coaches know everything. But that’s not true. Coaches are skilled to ask important coaching questions that stimulate the client's mind and help them find the answers themselves.

Coaching is only for celebrities

As Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO once said, “everyone needs a coach” It’s a myth that only high-level executives, celebrities, movie stars, and rich people need coaching. As the profession grows there are coaches that focus on all types of clients. Coaching is for everyone.

In ancient times myths spread because there was too little information available. Nowadays myths are created for the opposite reason as there is too much information available and not sure which is true.

As a coach, it is your responsibility to spread the truth about coaching. Effective coaching can make a difference in this world where everyone has their own opinions about coaching. If you want to enroll in an ICF Accredited Coach Training Program sign up for one of our upcoming courses.

What are some myths you would like debunked? Let us know in the comments below.

 

Is 2021 The Year You Should Become A Coach?

Becoming a coach is not just something that you do over a weekend. For a lot of coaches, this is a full career change and the amount of dedication needed is extremely high. This is because a lot of people do not start out their careers as a coach. Most times, they are sick and tired of the monotony of their lives and have this passion to help people grow and evolve.

That is how a lot of coaches start their careers. This is why we feel that becoming a coach isn't easy because the grit, guts, and determination needed to change your career is extensive, and not a lot of people are willing to do it in the long run.

Let's break down if 2021 is finally the year you ditch your 9-5 and become a successful coach instead.

What Does A Coach Do? 

A coach is someone who personally advises, mentors, and works alongside you to help you improve and become a better person. They are there to help you develop skills and reach goals that you might have.

Within FLOW Coaching Institute we focus on business coaching, life coaching, and even executive coaching. Being a coach is extremely fulfilling as you have the ability to make a difference. You can help improve someone's life and move them to become better versions of themselves.

A coach is also an accountability partner, they are there to help you stay on track and ensure that you stick to your routines and all the things you promised yourself to do.

Is Coaching For You? 

Before jumping headfirst into filling out the forms to become a certified coach, think about the why. Think about what made you decide on coaching. What are the main reasons that pushed you into thinking about coaching in the first place.

1. Is this a hobby or a passion?
2. What do I want to do when I become a successful coach?
3. What problems do I want to solve?
4. Can I really do this every single day for the rest of my life?
5. What is the main driver for me to become a coach?
6. Will this give me purpose? Or does this fulfill my purpose in life?

These questions are extremely important and something you really need to look into if you want to this for the long run.

Why 2021? 

2021 is a year of exponential change. We just came out of one of the hardest years in modern history. This also meant that literally, everyone had to learn how to pivot their businesses online. Everyone had to learn how to work from home. We had to learn how to connect with one another through a screen. And that was tough.

But the benefit of it all is that everyone learned how to do things online. Doctors' appointments started being conducted online, people could buy groceries online, students were learning online and multi-billion dollar businesses were thriving online.

With that being said, here are my two main reasons why I think 2021 is a great year to start your coaching business.

Reason 1: No Borders 

With everything going online, you now have a never-ending pool of potential clients. You are not confined anymore to a certain section of your city where you can practice your coaching business.

You get to interact with the entire world and this means that you have a lot more people to reach out to and potentially coach. The stigma of doing things like these online has been wiped away completely and people are more open and understanding to having coaching sessions online.

Reason 2: Emphasis on Mental Health & Personal Growth 

After 2020, everyone realized the importance of mental health. Being stuck at home for over a year did a lot of damage to a lot of people and this caused an uptick in mental health issues and cases all around the world.

This means that so many more people are open to hiring a mentor or a coach to help them through not just the issues the pandemic brought but also to grow as normal human beings to reach their fullest potential.

With that being said, we believe that if you have the grit and determination to become a coach and you understand what 2021 means for coaches, you have the right concoction to starting your very own online coaching business.

What do you think about that? Do you agree?

We also curated a list of mistakes that you should avoid before starting your online coaching business as well so that you get the best start possible for your business.

If you are looking to become a certified coach, join our next intake at the FLOW Coaching Institute where we ensure that you learn how to coach the whole person. Take a peek at our schedule here to see which slot suits you best.