Life coaching is not only about solving problems. It is chiefly about discovery, being aware of your choices and, most of all, gaining wisdom. Ahmed Khedr Al-Zayat, an expert on life coaching, describes the intervention as a way of empowering people to find their own answers, showing them that they are naturally creative and encouraging them as they make important decisions and choices. “Life coaching is a form of conversation, with unspoken ground rules regarding qualities that must be present in all our lives, such as respect, openness, compassion, empathy and rigorous commitment to speaking the truth,” Al-Zayat said. There are certain assumptions underlying this “conversation”: assuming strength and capability and not weakness, limiting beliefs, helplessness or dependence. The idea is to empower people through self-knowledge to become the best versions of themselves. Al-Zayat said there are different kinds of life coaching workshops, including authentic leadership, which connects participants with their own abilities and encourages them shape their natural leadership qualities. The leading by life coaching workshop helps today's leaders to empower people and boost their development. The deep communication workshop is a blend of science and practice, forming a unique approach to effective communication. It helps people interact with others, with the aim of gaining emotional fulfilment, and uses role-playing and other activities. “I had come to a crossroads in my life and had to decide between leaving a well-paid job and setting up my own business,” said Akram Tawfeek, 31, a marketing expert. Tawfeek had always wanted to be his own boss. But it seemed like a huge risk to give up a secure job, even though he no longer enjoyed it. He got to the point where he was depressed and dreaded getting up in the mornings to go to work. “I decided to see a life coach to help me make decisions and I'm so glad I did,” he said. Tawfeek said the life coaching sessions began by finding out who he was and what he really wanted from life. It was such a helpful exercise that he could not believe he hadn't spent more time thinking it through on his own. In the second stage, Tawfeek discussed with his life coach the practical elements of leaving his job and setting up his own business, among them how long it would take and other details. “It helped me so much to talk things through with someone in a logical way. Now I know I'm living life the way I want to rather than sticking with an unfulfilling job,” he said. Sally Raafat, 25, a graphic designer, said that she was going through a tough break-up when she decided to try life coaching for the first time. “My fiancé ended our relationship and I didn't know how I was going to move on,” she said. The relationship was an unhappy one, but Sally didn't see that at the time. “Life coaching helped me recognise this and now I'm in a new, much more fulfilling relationship, and happier than I've ever been,” she said. The term “coach” is derived from a means of transport. The first use of the term to mean an instructor or trainer was around 1830, when a tutor was described as someone who “carries” a student through an exam. Coaching is now understood as the process used to “transport” people from where they are to where they want to be. Since the mid-1990s, life coaching has developed into an independent discipline, and professional associations such as the Association for Coaching, the International Coaching Federation, and the European Coaching and Mentoring Council have helped develop a set of training standards. Hassan Ezz, 28, a physician, said that he had become bored with his life. As a solution-focused person, Ezz wanted to do something about it. At the same time, he didn't want to talk to anyone about why he was depressed. “I just wanted to look to the future and find out how I could get out of my situation, so I decided to see a life coach,” he said. Ezz explained that life coaching had helped him to see things differently, opening his eyes to how he was focusing solely on his work rather than on the other things in his life. He took up running as a hobby and this allowed him to get outside more, something he had been missing when he worked in a hospital all day. “I realized how much more there is to life than how I'd been living it, and I think this was the reason for my depression and boredom,” he said. Ezz now makes sure he sees friends and family on a regular basis, has new pastimes, and looks after his body by eating well and exercising. His job is no longer the sole focus in his life. “Life coaching helped me to realise how negatively I talked about myself in my own head,” said Laila Nagi, 35. Just by being more aware of her negative thoughts, Nagi has changed her life. “I can now recognise the negative thoughts and try to turn them round,” she said, adding that this had increased her confidence and made her far more self-aware. Nagi explained that before she started life coaching she had not recognised that her thoughts were negative, and that this internal dialogue was hurting her overall wellbeing. Now she treats herself with more kindness. Life coaching has helped her to do this. Life coaching, as described by Al-Zayat, is simply “empowering people through self-knowledge to become the best versions of themselves, as individuals and communities.”
