When seeking professional help to change your life for the better, you’ve probably noticed the blurred distinctions between life coaching and therapy that make you wonder which way to go. While both practices are intended to improve your life, they have completely different frameworks and areas of focus. And your choice will depend directly on the type of issue you want to address and solve.&nbsp;

In this article, we’ll clarify the key differences between life coaching and therapy and explain which type of help is best suitable for your needs.&nbsp;

<a href="https://blog.risespace.com/article/what-a-life-coach-is">Life coaching</a> is the practice of helping people reach their personal goals by overcoming limiting beliefs and setbacks. Life coaches provide ongoing support, guidance and resilience in a wide range of areas, such as relationships, career, life satisfaction and self-confidence. Their job is to maximize clients’ potential by identifying their areas of growth and monitoring the progress.&nbsp;

Life coaching is of great use for anyone who:&nbsp;

Simply put, coaching helps people from all walks of life identify their concerns and take measurable steps to reach the desired level of balance and fulfillment.&nbsp;

Therapy, on the other hand, narrows down to providing clinical-based treatment in the field of mental health. Therapists specialize in treating mental issues such as anxiety, ADHD, depression, eating disorders, etc. A client works together with a healthcare professional to diagnose and heal from adverse life experiences, unwanted behaviors or physical reactions that appeared as a result of these events.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Therapy is the right choice for people who suffer from mental health issues such as:

5 main differences between life coaching and therapy&nbsp;

Before zooming out your life and working towards self-improvement, here are some questions to ask yourself when choosing between coaching and therapy:

Note: if you have both mental health and personal life problems, you can work with a coach and a therapist at the same time. As long as they have proper training, certification and credentials, you’re in good hands.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Both life coaching and therapy are effective practices for personal growth. They have an equal mission – to improve lives – but implement contrasting approaches to reach this goal. To know who can help you, think about the nature of your problem and choose a specialist who knows it like the back of their hands.&nbsp;

If life coaching is what you’re looking for, the RiseSpace algorithm will set you up with an online life coach automatically. The system will find a perfect-fit coach based on your needs and expectations, while you’ll be able to change your specialist anytime.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Coaching and therapy - sound similar yet completely different things. Find out more about the difference!

Life coaching vs therapy: how to choose the service you need

Sometimes, life is so dynamic that we forget to manage our energy effectively to keep the work-life balance in check. We can get too busy with our jobs and not spend much time with our families, or stay at home and not have any hobbies or leisure activities.

Such an imbalance is not uncommon, but you can fix it with the wheel of life tool. It’s a self-care exercise designed to help you understand which life areas need more of your attention and improvement. So read up to know how you can use this tool for getting your life back into balance.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

The wheel of life is an effective tool for visually dividing your life into personal and work areas and evaluating the level of balance between them. This life assessment method is designed to help you identify spots where your life is out of alignment and keep them in harmony to achieve greater work-life balance.&nbsp;

The wheel consists of categories that represent the most important areas of your life, such as spirituality, recreation, business, romance and personal growth. However, there can be up to 10 categories depending on how accurately you want to assess your life. Some other categories might include education, volunteering, hobbies, money, etc.

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to create a wheel of life, because each person has their own vision of how many categories should be included there. You can even get creative and design your wheel in the form of a spider web or a pie rather than a regular circle, which also works great for visual representation of your life areas. But here are some basic guidelines that will help you get started easily:

First off, you need to think about life areas you devote most of your attention and time to and write them down. You can also break this stage down to a few smaller steps:

After you have decided which categories to include in your wheel, the next step is to draw it. The easiest way to do this is create a circle and divide it into life categories you reflected on previously. The image you’ll get will resemble a diagram with up to 10 parts labeled with your chosen areas of life.&nbsp;

2. Draw a wheel using the life facets you selected&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

The idea behind the wheel of life is to level up the categories that get little or none of your attention, and decrease the areas that get too much of it so you can strike the right balance between them. For this, you need to rate your level of satisfaction with the indicated facets of your life. Take a look at each category and evaluate it on a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being the lowest satisfaction rate and 10 - the highest.&nbsp;

Then, take a felt tip pen or a colored pencil and fill each category of your wheel with the corresponding rate. If you are very dissatisfied with social life, don’t fill this area. If you give your health a score of 8, fill it and leave a small piece of this category blank. Continue filling up your wheel with scores for each category until you get the final result.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

The wheel you’ll see after completing this exercise will most likely have a disproportion of filled spaces to blank ones. That’s because we can’t devote an absolutely equal amount of attention to all facets of our lives. But you shouldn’t go to extremes and force yourself to create a perfectly filled circle. Life is not perfect, and it shouldn’t be.&nbsp;

What you can do though is think about your desired level of satisfaction with all life areas and try to focus on them regularly. For instance, you can work full time and then cook dinner together with your spouse and kids to improve your family area. Or, you can start a new hobby and meet new people to strengthen your social life and have fun. By finding the right time for activities that matter to you most, you can make your life complete and reduce stress.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Once you see the entire picture of your life, think about the abandoned areas and those that eat most of your time. Ask yourself which steps you’re going to take for your weakest aspects to improve. Then, ask the same question about areas that need less of your attention.&nbsp;

Finally, think about how exactly you’d like to spend your time in these areas. Note that you might need to change your habits and routine to get there, but done is better than perfect if you want to strike the desired level of balance in life.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Living in harmony with yourself is a matter of priority. Even if you feel like you can neglect one area of your life for the sake of another, sooner or later you’ll get stressed and exhausted. And that is not what you need to feel accomplished and happy. Create your wheel of life, and you’ll see that all you need is to find the right time for the right things.&nbsp;

If you want to keep making positive changes in your life, RiseSpace is ready to help. You’ll get matched with a certified life coach and receive the support you need to live a happy, harmonious and successful life – now and ever.&nbsp;&nbsp;

How the wheel of life can help you live in balance

Let’s face it: we all crave fulfillment in our work life. But we also get stuck when deciding on our career choices from time to time. While it’s just another part of self-discovery, feeling lost is painful and hard to accept. In search of answers, some of us opt for fancy jobs from TV screens, while many pick other trendy opportunities.&nbsp;

But what if real work is not about getting a ‘dream’ job, but the one that makes you truly happy, no matter how humble it is? Let’s answer this question by looking at how career counseling can help you find the job you won’t get enough of.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Career coaching provides guidance on the way to prudent future action in the context of work life. If you’ve reached the dead end at your current job, have a hard time looking for a new one or simply don’t know which way to turn, a career coach can help you dive into the root of a problem and find a relevant solution. As licensed professionals, coaches explore key strengths and weaknesses, analyze expectations and help to tap into existing job opportunities that vibe well with your values.&nbsp;

To better understand your desires and come up with a growth strategy, a career change coach will ask you to reflect on the following:

Your ideal job should include all three of those.

The answers to these questions will help you to:

What other work-related issues does career coaching cover?

Professional career coaches have accreditation from the International Coaching Federation (ICF), which allows them to consult clients on aspects such as:

Yet, don’t expect a career counselor to bring a job of your dreams on a silver platter. Coaching only provides navigation and tools needed to determine your goals and build a career to be proud of. The end result depends solely on you.&nbsp;

CTA: replace a stressful job with a stress-free calling. Connect with a career consultant to get started&nbsp;

How to understand the key reason causing my job stress?

More often than not, people experience annoyance, burnout and anxiety at work simply because they fail to understand what they expect of it. Is it about outcomes or hours? Money or purpose? Building tolerance or making decisions? Being lost in this direction makes it even harder to know what to expect of yourself to match that job philosophy.&nbsp;

Yet, this issue is rather extensive and complex, so the reasons behind job stress might extend to a multitude of other personal factors. Either way, you’re not alone: thousands of people in America are looking for rewarding jobs which resonate with their inner worlds. Let’s take a look at the following statistics:

According to the Department of Labor, the U.S. added 467,000 new jobs in January 2022. But the workforce did not respond as expected, resulting in the increase of unemployment rate by <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf">up to 4%</a>. This number just goes to show that people pay much attention to fulfilling careers instead of just any job opportunity.&nbsp;

Hence, it's important to match your vision of a perfect job with a sphere that will serve this vision. And that’s what a career coach is there for - to help you find a sense of meaning you’ve been craving to see in your life.&nbsp;&nbsp;

If going to work feels like torture, you need to either change your perception of it or look for a different job that matches your principles. It’s hard to know what you want when there are so many options available. But with a professional career guidance counselor at hand, you will find a job that is not only rewarding but also full of your personal meaning. Good luck with your new achievements!

How to get boost your career with the help of coaching 

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If you’ve ever read or watched the historical romance Gone with the Wind, you must remember the phrase Scarlett O’Hara used to say: ’I won't think about that today — I'll think about that tomorrow’. Well, she must’ve seen where this trend is going.

The thing is, your productivity batteries need constant charging and unplugging, just like your phone. But what if your brain and body simply refuse to do anything, especially when you have important tasks at hand?&nbsp;

Getting rid of procrastination is no easy feat. But once you track the moment when your energy is down, you’ll be able to get over procrastination and stay productive. Life coaching sessions with guidance of a <a href="https://risespace.com/productivity-coaching">productivity coach</a> will come in handy when doing things timely and becoming the new Elon Musk. There are also a few things you can do right now to stop procrastinating, so keep reading.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

CTA: want to develop a success mindset and be a winner in life? Our life coaches are ready to help!&nbsp;

A lot of people think today's reality is at fault for making procrastination come into fashion, but that’s a wrong assumption. The habit of putting things off existed centuries ago – the golden time of the world's most famous chronic procrastinators. Take Leonardo Da Vinci, for example. He worked on the legendary Mona Lisa for 16 years! If only one piece took him so long to finish, can you imagine how many other masterpieces he could have created? Even Mozart was lazy enough to write the intro for opera Don Giovanni, so he left this task till the morning before the opera premiered.&nbsp;

But why are we procrastinating anyway?&nbsp;

Like most problems we face today, procrastination is a coping mechanism that stems from our mindset. There are multiple reasons behind a failure of self-regulation, starting from perfectionism and ending with low self-esteem. And for each type of procrastinator, there is a set of psychological patterns that define it. So let’s dive deeper into the most common procrastination styles most people adopt to justify their reluctance to do anything. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

The perfectionist - ‘My plan should be flawless’

For perfectionists, everything should be in the right order without missing a single detail. When asked to sign a document, these people will draw each line flawlessly, like their life depends on this task. Such an attitude often distracts perfectionists from actually doing anything productively, as the very thought of doing it wrong scares them.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

The dreamer - ‘I can imagine my plan, it looks awesome’

Unlike perfectionists, dreamers prefer not to think about the complexity of a task at hand, and especially its details. Instead, they focus on the creative side and come up with ideas that often end up on a shelf because it’s hard for them to implement these ideas. Dreamers excel at thinking about a house but not at building it. This prevents them from getting things done from start to finish.

The crisis-maker - ‘I’ll work on my plan later’

Crisis-makers postpone their tasks till the last possible moment. They turn into alarmists only when deadlines are burning and there’s no way back. Time-sensitive tasks ignite their sense of responsibility as they believe only limited timing can motivate them to act. Hence, crisis-makers are convinced that they can achieve the best results only under pressure.&nbsp;

The avoider - ‘Do I really need to work on my plan?’&nbsp;

Avoiders deliberately run away from their tasks because they feel emotionally drained by even thinking about their duties. The palette of emotions can range from anxiety to hopelessness, which results in huge effort to even start doing any work. Avoiders would rather do anything that brings them pleasure instead of diving into the pool of indefiniteness and work-related stress.&nbsp;

CTA: want to make the progress happen? Schedule a clarity call with a life coach

How to ditch the habit of putting things off?

The best way to get rid of procrastination is to change your perception of it. Our brain enjoys following the old good behavior that doesn’t get us out of our comfort zone. But your brain will be grateful if you bring some novelty to its life and start reframing your attitude to work. Productivity coaches at RiseSpace help their clients using a transparent and effective scheme – they ask navigating questions to understand what causes their procrastination and develop an action plan to stimulate productivity. As always, the first attempt is the most challenging one, but with enough devotion and support, you can learn to do more in less time. Meanwhile, here are some steps you can take now to deal with procrastination:

Step 1. Let your perfectionist take a rest&nbsp;

Whenever a new task emerges, focus on the end goal of this task and forget about details. For example, if you need to create a business plan, concentrate on its essence: figures, numbers and accurate calculations. You need to estimate the value of your business and return on investments instead of the perfect visual part of your presentation. Also, it’d help if you set a timer to make sure your procrastinator mode is off. This way, you’ll be able to set the right priorities for your task.

Visualizing things in your head is a great exercise for imagination, but not for achieving real goals. To start working on your plan effectively, break the task at hand into several chunks and complete each part of it at specified time. To manage your tasks effectively, try the <a href="https://todoist.com/productivity-methods/pomodoro-technique">Pomodoro technique</a> and watch yourself grow from a dreamer to a self-regulation guru.&nbsp;

Step 3. Isolate yourself from all distractions

When you come to the office knowing you have a project to work on, find enough strength to avoid scrolling your email list or Instagram feed first thing in the morning. Turn off notifications so that no messages pop up on your phone screen and start working on your project. You can start small and do some research first, and then you’ll notice how your level of involvement naturally increases.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Repeating the habits of Mozart and Leonardo Da Vinci will only bring you stress. Even if you believe in the power of last-minute productivity, it doesn’t mean there’s no other way for you to do the work better. You can change this tendency and start doing anything by forming up a schedule that’s comfortable for you.

For example, try to do some work early in the morning, then return to your tasks a few hours before dinner and keep working until you feel like you’ve done enough for today. At first, you’ll find this habit hard to follow, but as you motivate yourself to work in a schedule that best suits your productivity cycles, you’ll notice the progress. You’ll even start finishing your work earlier as you’ll naturally do more work in the same time period.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Staying productive is easier than you think&nbsp;

When it comes to procrastination, it’s hard to stop this habit on its tracks. However, you can learn how to cope with it as long as you keep track of psychological barriers holding you back. Good luck!&nbsp;&nbsp;

Procrastination: a 4-step guide to overcoming the habit

According to the ICF Global Coaching Study of 2020, life coaching is the second most thriving industry that grows by 6.7% each year. This number just goes to show that we are all humans with a certain baggage, and in such cases professional help is unavoidable. In this article, we will go through the concept of a life coach, how these specialists can help you solve personal issues, and how to choose a professional meant just for you.&nbsp;

A life coach is a certified professional who analyzes concerns, builds a dialogue and together with a client seeks answers to the questions that stand in the way to a better life. Using the vast field of expertise that combines psychology and behavior change, life coaches offer a step-by-step solution that serves as a pathway to personal success.&nbsp;

In other words, a life coach is like a reliable friend who listens to you, knows how to help you, but is devoid of subjective criticism and judgment. So if you feel uncertain about the future of your relationships, don’t know how to get out of your comfort zone, or simply lack motivation to achieve big things, life coaching contains answers to your questions.&nbsp;

What areas of life can a coach help you improve?&nbsp;

Life coaching covers a wide range of aspects that are critical to achieving your goals and reaching an expected level of fulfillment. These include:

Wellness. A wellness coach specializes in shaping and developing healthy habits to improve your state of wellbeing and help you set achievable goals. If you want to quit smoking or drinking, strive to eat better food and get rid of stress, you can – and will – benefit from sessions with a wellness coach.&nbsp;

Personal development. Transformational coaching gives a helping hand whenever you feel lost and don’t know which way to turn. For example, specialists at RiseSpace help their clients to find life purpose through reframing of typical behavioral and thinking patterns. By practicing mindset coaching, clients figure out what they really want in life, become more confident and set clear objectives based on a result-oriented course of action.&nbsp;

So if you have a low sense of self-worth or feel like your thoughts, ideas and energy are flowing in the wrong direction, a transformational coach will tap into your strengths and guide you towards constant self-improvement.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Career. Career coaching intends to help you gain awareness about your true professional objectives using evidence-based principles of coaching. Regular sessions with a career coach will encourage you to build better relationships with your colleagues and yourself, as well as find your career path by following your own sense of purpose.&nbsp; A career coach will also help you overcome challenges that prevent you from growing professionally, including burnout, conflicts in the workplace, lack of career opportunities, and low income.&nbsp;

Relationships. When it comes to relationship issues, it’s important to analyze the context that leads to conflicts or misunderstandings. <a href="https://risespace.com/relationship-coaching">Relationship coaching</a> will help you recognize the problem of any character and release tension between you and your partner. As a result, your family life will improve and flourish with respect, proper communication and active listening to the needs of a loved one.&nbsp;

A relationship coach can also help you get over a painful breakup, regain confidence and find new love. You’ll bring peace and harmony into your life again and learn to make better decisions when starting a love journey with your new partner.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Productivity. To live a life where you have time for everything, you need to stay aware, both mentally and physically. For this, productivity coaches at RiseSpace are just the right specialists you can address to beat <a href="https://risespace.com/productivity-coaching">procrastination</a>, overcome fatigue, make decisions with confidence and improve your mental focus.&nbsp;

Using the principles of positive mindset development, our professionals will navigate you toward emotional stability and control over internal triggers. Finally, you’ll learn how to approach your tasks positively and manage your time effectively, just like you always wanted.&nbsp;&nbsp;

What results will you get after working with a life coach?

Based on the issue you want to solve, life coaching will help you to not only overcome a specific problem but also open multiple doors to new, positive changes. After a series of productive sessions with your coach, you’ll be able to:

To have a better grasp of how life coaching works in practice, here’s a before vs after comparison based on the feedback from clients who worked with our coaches:

When life throws challenges at you, it’s hard to let go of negative emotions and find the right solution to move forward. At times like these, a life coach is always ready to help when you want to hit the ground running but don’t know how to do it on your own.&nbsp;

To make more informed decisions and fall in love with your new self, it helps to first think about your future. This short exercise will help you visualize the perfect future you want for yourself before discussing it with a life coach.&nbsp;

What is a life coach - and why you need one to break free of your problems 

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Working with a life coach for the first time can feel like moving through a jungle: it’s a new experience with too many unknown paths. But life change is a direction, not a destination. If you think of personal growth as a continuous process, your journey will be less frustrating. Besides, you’ll have a coach with a clear roadmap to help you improve faster and guide you along the way to ensure you don’t get lost.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Life coaching is a structured process, and knowing how it works will give you a better understanding of what to expect. So without further ado, let’s break down 4 phases of the life coaching framework.

To start with, all coaching sessions are strictly confidential. You can rest assured that your information will remain private and won’t violate your rights. Your coach is the only person you will open up to and work with from start to finish.

As for the frequency of coaching sessions, it will depend on the complexity of an issue you’re trying to solve. Plus, your level of readiness and desire to commit also counts: coaching is not a one-sided process, so you’ll need to be involved to make changes work.&nbsp;

Some clients are fine with weekly sessions, while others meet their coaches biweekly or even once a month. Either way, you’ll decide on your meeting schedule with the coach personally. Also, you’ll be able to adjust session days when needed, but it’s always better to respect each other’s time and stick to an agreed schedule.&nbsp;

The first stage is an introductory meeting with your coach. It’s the time when you will get to know your coach better, and vice versa. This session lasts for up an hour and helps you get off to a great start by means of a friendly conversation.&nbsp;

The best thing you can do at this stage is create a list of questions to evaluate the person you’re about to work with. Here’s what you might need to know in the first place:&nbsp;

Most of the time, coaches pick up the baton and reveal this information while introducing themselves, but feel free to keep this checklist in case some parts are missing. Also, it’ll help if you note down some information about yourself, like your hobbies, life values, limitations and plans for the future.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

The primary task of your coach is to set the right tone for your first conversation. Welcoming atmosphere, friendly attitude and politeness help to break the ice and build a pathway to fruitful cooperation.&nbsp;

Then, the coach will ask a few questions about you to get a general idea of you as a person. There will be questions like what brought you to coaching and what are your dreams or objectives. Also, they will ask about the obstacles standing in your way and what you expect to achieve with coaching.&nbsp;

If you don’t have any clear goal or don’t know how to set it yet, don’t worry. The coach will ask the correct questions and listen to your inner voice. This way, you will start working on what really matters to you.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Hint: Stay honest and open both with yourself and the coach throughout the whole coaching process. This will give your coach a more detailed understanding of how to help you improve.

If the first session went well, it’s time to dive deeper into the essence of your issue. During the second stage, you’ll discover exactly why something – or someone – blocks your potential. You might not get a quick answer, which is fine. The coach will navigate you by stimulating self-exploration and reflection to help you articulate the root cause of your problem. Then, you will visualize the ideal environment you want to thrive in without existing barriers.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Once you know where you are and where you want to be, the coach will discover opportunities for growth, determine your direction and set a blueprint of progress. You will have 2-3 sessions at this phase, and after each meeting the coach will send you a follow-up with key insights and the objective you’ll reach together.&nbsp;

The next series of coaching sessions is dedicated to bringing the action plan to life. For this, the coach will crystallize your intentions into several realistic and actionable goals you will work on gradually. They’ll also provide continuous guidance to make sure you follow each step systematically. So you can address the coach in between sessions for additional assistance or clarifications.

Overall, the point of the execution stage is to help you develop a habit of staying accountable and bring you closer to your aim.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Tip: you’ll be able to change the coach if your expectations won’t be met. Simply ask our support team to set you up with a different specialist anytime.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Stage 4 - Effective life management&nbsp;

The last stage is the most pleasant part of your coaching journey. By this time, you will have eliminated major setbacks and limiting beliefs that slowed you down. That will be the point of distancing from your past self and allowing your new self to thrive with new habits and confidence. And most importantly, you will reach the level of fulfillment you’ve been striving to achieve.&nbsp;

But to maintain the positive dynamic and not let your progress fall, you’ll need a few more check-ups with your coach. They will evaluate your situation, make corrections to the ongoing growth strategy if needed and give extra motivation to keep your zing going. Because just like in sports, the progress has to be consistent, and your coach will be there to support you.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Life coaching is that sort of chance that turns the tides in your favor. If you go through all stages of transformation and don’t give up halfway, you will see the progress unfold in front of your eyes. And knowing this will give you even more energy to go ahead and keep growing.&nbsp;

If your life needs a makeover, a life coach at RiseSpace will give you all the instruments so you can use them as a driving force for change. You’ll work with a lifestyle mentor whose passion to help matches your needs to be heard and guided. The end result will be a new you – happier, better and stronger.

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