For years, people in every walk of life have used coaching to define and make concrete progress towards personal and professional goals. Now, college students are realizing coaching is a powerful tool for them to hone in on their post-college ambitions and get active assistance on the path to get there.
Coaching is a powerful tool to apply in both your professional and personal life. Individual coaching revolves around – you guessed it – your individual needs. And while you’re getting advice, what makes coaches effective is their additional abilities to help you translate change into tactical steps, and iterate with you on executing against that plan.
A life coach can help you with a variety of topics including: outlining goals that create a pathway through which to achieve these goals, gaining a better understanding of what you want in life and what you don’t, and creating and inspiring necessary change both in your personal and professional life. Coaching is centered around your unique experiences and objectives. ideamix life and business coach, Nikki explains: a coach can help provide the tools necessary that will help power your future, ultimately allowing you to unlock certain realizations both personally and professionally – it’s a journey with a trained professional to ultimately build the life that you want.
Now that we’ve discussed what coaching is, it’s important to clarify what it is not. Coaching and therapy can often be confused for one another, but they are two very different things. ideamix Coach Nikki is also a clinical psychologist and explains that different parts of your life call for coaching and therapy. A therapist is trauma-based and focuses on past experiences and how that affects you in the present, while a coach focuses on where you are currently and where you want to go;
“Coaching provides the tools that power people in the future.”
These coaching aspects can be incredibly beneficial to college students and recent grads, or anyone just beginning their careers. At this point in your life, you’re told you have your ‘whole lives ahead of you but that can become daunting, and often create expectations from yourself and those around you that seem unattainable. The big question once you graduate is, ‘what now?’ Even a question as broad as this can be more easily answered with coaching; life coaches are an excellent aid in moments of great transition.
Coaching is meant to provide a space for intentional self-reflection. Even if you do have that perfect job secured after graduation, or your plans feel solidified – even at our best – everyone has certain blind spots. These blind spots can prohibit you from perceiving the bigger picture. Even taking control of something simple like your daily routine and habits can continue to help positively form your current and future life the way you want it. Coaches can help inspire the necessary change in your life – change big or small.
Not sure where to start or what types of questions to ask your coach? Here are a few example questions from current college students that can help you:
- I have a degree in something I am no longer interested in/want to explore other areas of interest in the workforce but don’t know where to start – what should I do?
- I’m not sure if I want to pursue further education after graduating with a four-year degree – how do I make the right choice for my future?
- What kinds of daily habits can I practice while in school that will help me be able to create a good work-life balance after I graduate?
- What options are available to me after I graduate, and what direction should I take now that I have a degree?
A coach helps clients understand their skillset and passions to make their dream a reality, and they piece that reality together based on their experiences. Coaching is active, objective mentorship that can help guide transitions in your life, like graduating from college or entering the workforce. Moments of transition can be isolating, and knowing you’re not alone and working with someone who can help you prepare for your future will benefit you and your career for a lifetime.
