Learning How To Play The Game Of Life

Lots of people like football, but few of them have their own football coach. That’s because most people would rather let someone else learn how to play football better. But everyone deals with things they would like to get better at – important things in their life. And coaching can be just as helpful on the playing field of life, as this popular leadership speakers once said.

PAULA MICHELE … helping others succeed.

So says Paula Michele Boyle, a certified “life coach”. This is work Paula Michele has been doing for 10 years. Now she is training others how to do it.

“I started out organizing homes and offices,” Paula Michele relates. “As I was doing it, I would have to ask questions of customer about when they read or pay the bills or play with the kids. I would have to ask them questions about life. I noticed they were divulging things.”

Paula Michele always had a passion for helping friends and family move forward as well as herself. “I noticed they were getting results in their lives, finding careers that matched their talents,” she says. One day someone asked her, “Are you a life coach?” “Maybe I am,” she replied.

Life coaching is a recognized field which has been systematized. Paula Michele is a certified Master Coach through the Master Coaching Academy in California.

One key insight is that most people’s life challenges fall into common categories: work, play, health, finances, physical environment, stress. Even successful people would like to see improvements in a few of these areas. Another insight is that areas tend to be related. Want to improve your health? You may need to exercise more. But much exercise costs money, which brings in your finances. It also requires time, which may take away from time with your relationships…. There is a reason you haven’t lived up to all your New Year’s resolutions yet; life gets complicated easily. So making one simple change often requires a holistic approach.

A life coach helps you sort out your goals and set achievable steps to ratchet up your progress. Much like a coach who encourages you to do 10 pushups so you can eventually work up to 50, Paula Michele can help you figure out the first step you can take, this week, to eat better, get along with your son, or earn a raise. Then she will monitor your progress, continuously, giving you feedback on your efforts and looking for ways around new obstacles. It’s a bit like therapy, but it is action-oriented.

And it doesn’t require office visits. “Most of my work can be done by phone,” Paula Michele says. Some of her clients are in different states and she has never met them in person.

“I have excellent results with my clients because they know I’m going to talk to them next week. That holds their feet to the fire,” she explains

Many of us are “life coaches” for other people in practice, Paula Michele points out; we just don’t realize it. Managers, labor organizers, marketers, salespersons, nutritionists, teachers, and other leaders can benefit from a tool that helps them guide others to step up their game.

This September, Paula Michele’s practice, Lifecoachphilly, will begin a training program for life coaches in Northeast Philadelphia. “Professional coach training is an interactive, comprehensive life-coaching system designed to empower students with topnotch training,” Boyle explains. “You will learn the skill sets needed to attract and maintain clients. It can be used for starting a new career as a coach or enhancing your existing career.”

This 18-hour course will start in the second week of September. It can be taken over the telephone. It is best done, however, with access to a computer or another way to print out course material. The tuition is $597. A $200 deposit will hold your space. Payments can be made by PenPal through Boyle’s website, Lifecoachphilly.com. Graduates will receive a certification from the Master Coaching Academy.

“You will be able to help your clients – understand what they really want, find what motivates them, eliminate self-doubt, overcome their obstacles, enhance their relationships, manage their time effectively, become inspired and move forward and improve the quality of their health and wellness,” Paula Michele says. “All you need is a caring and empathetic attitude, a willingness and desire to help yourself and others succeed and create a more-fulfilling life.”

In her other professional life, Paula Michele specializes in relationship coaching and parent coaching. She is a cofounder of Personal Empowerment Group, which conducts energy healing. She is a member of the Greater Northeast Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce.

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