Christian Life Coaching Handbook; book review
This is an interesting one and very cool. It’s a “companion” handbook to A Leader’s Life Purpose Workbook”. This book is for the coach, much like a teacher’s manual goes along with a student text book in school.
The book isn’t about life coaching in general so much as it is a guide for coaching leaders through a specific life calling discovery process. You can also use it with groups by getting the Presenter’s Package from the author’s website at Coach22.com
It is helpful but not completely necessary if your client has the Leaders Life Purpose Workbook, (for small groups the book is called Calling Discovery Workbook). There is only one exercise form that is in the participant book that is not in the coach’s book.
This book stands out from other Life Purpose materials in two important ways
1 – It confronts the mistaken belief our life purpose is a unique task only we can do, and when done well will lead us to a life of happiness, health, and wealth.
2 – Our purpose is not about finding “our” gifts and living out “our” passion. Purpose is discovering how we are to model Jesus to the world.
Christian Life Coaching starts with a one chapter overview of what life Coaching is, then it jumps into the heart of the matter with chapter 2 – The On Purpose Life.
The author goes in depth into the concepts of a life purpose that lasts beyond this life and a godly definition of how we measure success. This first section lays the philosophical background for the life destiny discovery process.
Part 2 goes into the 6 sections, each one a part of the discovery process
- Whose am I?
- Who am I?
- Why do I desire this?
- What has life prepared me for?
- Where is the Master sending me?
A Very Cool Bonus
The last section, made up of 4 chapters and a final summary could also be extremely relevant to you as a coach as you develop your business brand!
These chapters help the client (or you!) determine a life message, the specific audience to share it with, and how it is shared.
Those are the exact same steps a business coach would have you work through to develop your business brand message. It’s also part of building a business plan.
If there is one thing I would change about the book is the variety of jargon. It’s not always clear if this is a new topic “life mission” or if we’re still talking about destiny. And it that different from Purpose in the author’s mind? We don’t know.
This is a very weighty and thorough book. You and your client will spend several weeks going through it. I strongly recommend that you go through the whole process by yourself first and become very familiar with it before leading anyone else through it.
Create Your Own Life Destiny eCourse!
If you study the coach’s handbook and create your own worksheets and lessons, you can use this book as a springboard to your own, signature Life Destiny course.
Quick caveat – the Presenters Package mentioned above gives you outlines, lesson plans, brochures and power point slides to lead a life calling and destiny program. However, you cannot sell it as a product or give it away on your website. You can only use it to lead classes. If you are interested in selling a life destiny course, you’ll need to develop your own outline, lesson plans and handouts.
Right now there are potential clients trying to figure out on their own how to discover their life destiny and live in their calling. You want to have the answers they are looking for!
I think you’ll be happiest with the physical Christian Life Coaching book instead of the kindle version so you can photocopy pages as needed if your client doesn’t have the workbook (again, you can only use them with your client, you can’t sell them or give them away as a freebie)
I’ve seen this one as a used book for as little as $15. Check it today and if you can find a copy for less than $24 grab it!
