Many takers for ‘life coaching’

Everyone needs a little help. It could be spiritual, professional, personal or even in terms of wellness. Some manage to find solutions within themselves, and others need a little more push. So who can they turn to? Self-help coaches.

A simple Google search will fetch you over 15,40,000 results for life coaches in Bengaluru alone. But how do they help? Self-coaching is a way to help cultivate self-reflection and awareness so that one can take charge of their own life. Based on the basic principle that no one knows you better than yourself, these coaches aim to give you the right perspective and motivation so that you can be the best version of yourself.

While these may sound a little too-good-to-be-true, many are turning to these self-proclaimed professionals. Dr Shivangi Maletia Jangra is an oral and dental surgeon with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. She also works as a personal empowerment coach for women. She organises ‘Queen in the Making’, a series of life modulating techniques, strategies, habit-forming activities, self-discovery moments, designed for the modern woman. To this end, she circulates short videos and organises one-day workshops and sessions in various cities. She has worked with acid attack survivors and domestic violence victims, among others. “I strongly believe that all forms of empowerment are born out of mental or psychological empowerment,” she says.

Her aim is to simply help women around the country overcome the limitations set on themselves. To do that they need to challenge and question themselves, she explains. “All women are queens. What makes us feel less about ourselves or look down upon our potential is our own belief system. A shift in the ways of looking at various circumstances, aspects and conditions can easily bring a change in our perspective towards ourselves or towards life as a whole,” she says.

Leema Bernad Viji is an image management and personal branding coach. She says that as a Mass Communication graduate she felt that she had the necessary skills of both, communicating and listening, to become a good life coach. Her interest in people’s well-being also aided in her decision. Over the past eight years she has been giving corporate training as well as working with people from all walks of life to help them better their lives.

She takes on four to five clients at a time, and offers about 15 sessions over a span of a few months. “We meet once in 10-15 days. This allows them time to reflect on what they learnt and implement them in their life,” she says.

Who can be a life coach?

To put it simply, anyone. There is no single degree or qualification needed to become a life-coach. Communication skills and the ability to solve problems is all it takes. “Every problem is unique. In order to be able to truly help, you need to have some reasoning skills. You need to have an understanding of emotional intelligence, neuro-linguistics and a sound understanding of people and interpersonal relations,” explains Leema Bernad Viji. She also adds that life coaches tend to get new clients through word-of-mouth, which helps in filtering out those who are not truly equipped.

From the other side

Dr Shivangi Maletia Jangra’s clients are women. Some are victims of abuse or trauma and some are simply looking for ways to improve their lives. Leema Bernad Viji, on the other hand, works with teenagers, young professionals in their 20s and corporate employees who might be going through a major change. Those who reach out to self-help coaches are looking for personality tools because they feel that certain aspects of their behaviour might be holding them back from achieving their true potential.

Vaishnavi (name changed) says that she saw many videos online and wanted to attend a workshop so that she could go on a journey of self-discovery. Her struggle with lack of confidence, she says, led to several issues. “I have been going to counsellor for 6 months. It has helped a lot because it is a more continuous and constant process. These videos and workshops just give me the push I need to do better,” she says.

Samantha (name changed) says that she has been watching videos by coaches for over a year. “I have been keeping a diary to track changes and recommendations that the coach gives. I preferred this to therapists or counsellors because the advice given out seemed so much more practical and relatable. It seemed like things that could actually be implemented in real life,” she shares. These sessions have empowered her enough to help other women, she says. Samantha now doles out advice to her friends and neighbours.