Lately I have noticed a lot of people proclaiming to be “life coaches”; frankly I cannot help being a little puzzled by their claims.
On television and in magazines, life coaches always appear to be young and handsome and I couldn’t help wondering where these whippersnappers got their experience and wisdom. In high school, the Playboy mansion?
But maybe a life coach doesn’t need to be experienced. Perhaps he doesn’t even need to be trained. Life coaching could be a calling, something like the priesthood.
Some morning you wake up, and you can feel very clearly that you should be a Life Coach.
Just like Moses.
Moses never trained to be a life coach. One morning he woke up and feeling a little cranky, he decided to climb the mountain nearby for a little exercise and relaxation.
Upon returning he simply told his people: follow me, I’ll be your life coach. Nobody asked for his credentials. But by then he was pretty old and people assumed that he was experienced.
Personally, if I were to look for a mentor, I would probably also settle for an older person.
In Greek mythology, Mentor was a friend of Odysseus king of Ithaca. When Odysseus left for the Trojan War, he put Mentor in charge of his palace and his son Telemachus.
I can understand that, because by then Mentor was an old man and he had seen a lot of action in his younger days.
So the first thing to remember is that a Mentor should be a relatively older person. Somebody no younger than sixty.
And no, chiseled abs or a large bosom do not compensate for a lack of experience.
The second nagging question I asked myself is: why would anybody need a life coach?
If you are handicapped, feebleminded or totally incapable of making a single decision (congressmen come to mind) I can understand, but why would a normal human being put his fate in the hands of some unknown dude?
Is this potential guru widely travelled? Has he/she spent some time in an Indian ashram? Did God reveal to him/her stuff that common mortals like us are not privy to?
Excuse me for being so crass, but like Saint Thomas I have a lot of doubts and need to be reassured before putting my fate in somebody’s hands.
I’ll tell you what…
I am over sixty, I have been around, I know a thing or two about pétanque… I am offering to share my infinite wisdom with you.
For a modest fee, I will change your life, and mine.
When I am through with you, you’ll be a different person and I will finally be able to live in style somewhere in the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia.
Is it a deal?
No rush. Think about it.
I am always available for a free consultation.
Alain