How Many Life Coaching Sessions Would You Need?

It won’t surprise you to read that there really isn’t a clear answer to this question. People are different, with goals and aspirations that differ in size, scope and duration. One life coaching client might want to own their own company one day, while another might need urgent assistance with a large overdue project they feel overwhelmed by. The short answer: it depends on your situation. The long answer: we’re taking a look at it below…

Purpose of Life Coaching Sessions

As mentioned above, the number of life coaching sessions you’ll need depends entirely on the reason you chose to work with a life coach in the first place. Here’s a rough idea based on the type of goals you wish to achieve:

1. Short-term Goals:

Short term goals are often the most stress-causing ones as these almost always have a time limit attached. Examples of these include projects that have imminent deadlines, like if you’ve given yourself two months to quit smoking or you’re due to submit your thesis in a few weeks.

For time-critical goals like these, you should aim to meet with your coach once a week as a minimum and preferably twice a week for the first week or two. So, you’re looking at around eight to 12 life coaching sessions in total.

1. Long-term goals:

These types of goals are more common in the life coaching arena. They are often held by people who have just opened a business (or who have a failing business), people who are experiencing troubles at work or in their marriage, and people who have hit rock bottom and are searching for a way out.

In these sorts of cases, life coaching sessions should be more frequent at first, becoming less frequent as you adopt the strategies and techniques taught by your coach. Depending on your specific needs, you’re looking at around 12 – 20 life coaching sessions in total.

1. Life goals:

When it comes to life goals, things become less concrete. For example, opening a coffee shop is extremely different from, say, wanting to be a better father/husband. In these instances, the number of life coaching sessions you’ll need will depend on how quickly you action the suggestions (and how well you stick to them over time).

For life goals that require serious commitment and changes on your part, you’ll more than likely want to remain in contact with your life coach indefinitely – calling on them as and when you feel you need a refresher session.