After running in circles trying to accomplish some big goals in my life, I finally bit the bullet and hired a life coach. The differences I have seen lately have completely thrilled me. My coach has helped me in ways I never thought possible to expand my business and create real wealth for my family.

When we first met my coach took the time to get to know me. She did not ask me what I wanted to accomplish or what my goals were. I thought this was a little surprising at first but I now understand why she did it. Instead of rushing in to save the day, she wanted to understand what was holding me back in life. By understanding what my struggle points were, she could better craft a plan to help me move forward.

It took me time to find a life coach that I liked. One of the biggest requirements for me was personal responsibility. Would the coach call me when they said they would? Would the coach follow up on a lead that I gave them telling them that I wanted to work with them? And most importantly were these coaches demonstrating in their own life the type of accomplishments I wanted? Were they happy, healthy, wealthy, were they genuinely great people and lastly did they have great relationships in their world?

I had also made the decision that I personally wanted to work with a woman coach because women have unique concerns that a male coach might not always take seriously or fully understand. This is in no way intended to disparage a male coach, it was just a personal preference I had at this time in my life. I have had male coaches before and they were wonderful mentors.

After contacting a few women life coaches that met my criteria I was getting no where with finding the coach I wanted to work with. I put the thought in the back of my mind and continued working on my different projects and goals. Then on a vacation I had the good fortune to run into a acquaintance that did life coaching. I was a little scared but I asked her at lunch if she would coach me and she to my delight said yes. Earlier that week I had watched her interact with people and more importantly observed how she connected with me. She was kind, polite and had built a life for herself that I wanted to emulate. She was someone I could look up to and someone I wanted to work with deeply. Her coaching started off at my pace and was not a preset plan she led all her clients through. It was truly personalized and was built for me and for what I wanted. She was also available and responded to my questions and concerns quickly. I did not have to hunt her down and felt like I was her only client. The sessions completely focused on me and what I wanted.

You have to first understand where you are and how you got there before you can really take a quantum leap into real success. My coach helped me see personal traits that I did not recognize. Now don't get me wrong, I am no stranger to personal growth and self-development courses and books. I am an avid reader, writer and I personally coach people to help them reach their goals and live their dreams. Because of this I know that to really get great results, I had to practice what I preach and get myself a formal life coach.

Sit down and contemplate whether you are achieving the goals that you set for yourself. And more importantly are you merely shooting for goals you think you can achieve? Your goals should be a challenge, something to strive for and push yourself with. Not something that you can clearly see yourself doing. Your goals have to scare you a little bit and make you a tad nervous, otherwise you are not thinking grand enough. Remember that you are trading your life for the dreams that you set for yourself. Each second you give up should be worth it. When you look back at your life you want to see great accomplishments and a truly fulfilled life, not a life that was lived in the shadows or played safe.

Think of the type of life you really want to lead and look at how you are living now. Do you think that your current habits, actions and thoughts are congruent with what you want to create in your life? What can you do to bring those three things into alignment.