Life coaches help you achieve goals and get past whatever is keeping you from taking action to reach your goals A life coach can help you focus on what really is important to you. It's not therapy or counselling exactly. A life coach doesn't focus on solving issues from your past but on taking action in the here and now.

Is there a life coach for you?

Once you get looking at life coaching you will find there are life coaches in various niches. I have a friend who is a life coach for writers. Most life coaches do have a focus on career, business, entrepreneur, leadership, small business and career orientated goals. It makes sense when most people feel successful when they are meeting their goals and finding success financially - of course, most people work at something to make that money to become successful financially. It's all a big circle.

However, you can find a life coach to help you with your life beyond the career, business or executive parts of it. Life coaches include: health and wellness, youth and parenting, diet and nutrition, spiritual, cultural, grief and loss, dating and of course, sports coaching. You can find a life coach in any niche you need someone to help you.

Does it matter if a life coach is certified?

A life coach is not someone with a university degree or certification, necessarily. If you need something on paper then you might stick with the more traditional and official counsellors and therapists.

Life coaches can be certified by coaching associations (The International Coach Federation) but you should not think of them as a trained professional, like a psychiatrist, or psychologist. Don't go into a life coach if you just think you can save money or get help sooner than being on someone's waiting list. For instance, a life coach can not prescribe medication or determine that you have a mental illness. A life coach is for generally healthy people who want some extra inspiration or encouragement - a coach.

How important is it for a life coach to be certified? That is a personal decision for you to make really. It will depend on your own values.

Meet the life coach, see how they speak and what they say. What do they have to offer? Most of all, you need a life coach who makes you feel good. Even hours later when you think about what was said and the ideas they gave you. The purpose of a life coach is to help you. A lot of people can help you, but you need someone you have faith in, someone you will listen to and someone you trust to listen to you too.

Certification may not mean that much to you, if you find a personal life coach you can count on. One thing you can do is ask for references or testimonials from past clients. Ask if you can contact any of the people who gave a testimonial.

• International Coach Federation
• Certified Coaches Federation

How do you react when someone compliments you? Do you make a joke out of it? Do you blush and stammer and feel awkward? Do you thank them? Or do you just feel they are telling you what you want to hear to get something out of you? It’s getting harder to give a sincere compliment. Not because there are not good things to compliment people about. But, I feel people will not believe I am sincere or they will be embarrassed. It’s a shame.

Have you heard of Operation Beautiful? It’s random acts of kindness based where you leave a note for any stranger just saying something positive. Especially geared to making women feel good about themselves. You can join the Facebook group, or better yet write out some notes and leave them to be found around wherever you will be today.

You wouldn’t know it by standing over my shoulder any time but I am trying to write a book. It’s not easy. I already have the general idea for the story, the characters, and even the time to work on it. The problem is converting what made a good short story into a long story. I am a great short story or article writer. I’m not so successful at going the distance though.

I’ve read various good ideas for getting past this. Basically, they suggest making a plan, an outline, storyboard, whatever you choose to call it. Then filling in the spaces between. Someone else who knows me suggested I just think of it as a lot of short stories that fit together. This almost works for me. It would work I’m sure if I just settled down and did it. I wander off or go blank each time I’m here, ready to start.

Kind of sad considering I spent a few years writing a column, website and newsletter as a resource to other writers. Shouldn’t I have all the answers and be a perfect illustration of just what a writer can do when they do it all right? Guess not. I’m going to have to let myself be imperfect and go from there. Kind of nice to admit you’re flawed, much less pressure. Yet I still need to get to work on writing that book. Maybe I will do my own personal NaNoWriMo, or something along those lines.

Susan Ward writes the Small Business in Canada topic at About.com She has posted an article listing the top ten home businesses. I think she bit off a bit much by calling it 'Now and Tomorrow'. Tomorrow can change pretty fast while that article is going to be pretty dated in no time at all.

Here is the list: (squished, if you want to read it in full click the link back).

1. Home Renovation Services\
2. Pet-Based Products\
3. Catering Services\
4. Cleaning Services\
5. Fall Prevention Products\
6. Wedding Consultant/Planner Services (Event Planner for short)\
7. Dietary Consultant Services\
8. In-Home Beauty Services (Personal Trainer included here?)\
9. Sewing and Alteration Services\
10. Life/Business Coaching Services

I would add Personal Shopper/ Concierge Services and Image/ Etiquette Consultants and Personal Organizers to this list. That's one I thought of while reading it. Maybe Virtual Assistants too, that covers a lot but it's often work outside of the home while the others focus on home life for the client.

Interesting how almost all of these are personal services. Things a housewife used to do when it was still traditional for women to stay at home keeping the house clean, kids fed and so on. Women have changed the world in a lot of ways. I wonder if anyone ever saw this coming? It's ironic that women are the ones who start up most of these kind of small businesses.

Should it enter your mind, I am not saying women should stay at home or all start small businesses.

"People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents."

Andrew Carnegie was born on November 25, 1835. (Scottish born American industrialist and philanthropist. 1835-1919).

This is a good quote to keep around for starting up a business. I may print it out and stick it over my monitor. I surely do need all the help I can get.