What is a coach?
A coach is a person who is there just for you. A coach helps you figure out what is important in your life. Options are developed and possible paths outlined, along with preferred assistance, networks and ongoing strategies. People obtain time to create the change needed to be happier.

A coach is trained to help you get from where you are to where you want to be. It is not therapy or counseling. It differs from therapy because it does not help you heal the past. It differs from counseling because it does not analyze your behaviors or design behavioral programming.

Coaching does help people who feel stuck or who want more in life, find motivation, live more completely in the present and create a plan with options for the future. The results of coaching reduce stress, could positively change a career, help a person make more money and begin to live what is part of a plan.

In coaching sessions a person defines what she/he likes and dislikes. You identify what you really truly want, as well as the fears and behaviors that are preventing your from success. You set up a support system that helps you deal with issues you identify along the way. You create a plan with options so you can live with a purpose for the future.

Who Are the Third Agers?
Third Agers are those individuals around age 50 and over who are too young to experience the traditional retirement of slippers and rocking chairs.

During the years of childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood there is learning and establishing who a person is. This is your First Age. The Second Age is what most people today call their “career” and the time when you also establish a home, significant other, etc. In the past, after a career, there was retirement. The Third Age has not been a part of our culture previously. Third Agers are people who may be contemplating and/or planning ahead to retirement or who have retired from their Second Age, and find that they want to work (perhaps in a different capacity).

Most Third Agers want to work at something that matters to them…something with what they personally see as a “purpose”. Many Third Agers see the First Age of childhood and the Second Age of living their career as the first “half” of their life, so the second half is not at all the “sunset years” that people over age 50 have previously envisioned. Total retirement is at least a few decades away.

What is coaching for life?
It is a client-coach partnership formed to:
• Clarify the client’s vision of who s/he wants to be,
• Reveal to the client their passions and how they can be pursued
• Uncover client dreams along with a plan to achieve them
• Put together goals that can be achieved to reach the dreams
• Create strategies that make sense to fulfill the goals
• Initiate actions to make progress toward the strategies, goals, dreams, passions and vision immediately and for the long haul.

What is coaching for career change?
It is a client-coach partnership that focuses more direction, but not entirely on career/work strategies and actions.  It helps you transition from the career you are in to the career you want to pursue.

How does coaching work?
Usually you work with a coach on the phone (or sometimes in person) for about an hour every other week (or 2 times per month). In initial session the coach assists the client in defining goals and directions. Then the coach assists you in developing plans and options to carry out the goals and go in the directions laid out by the client with the assistance of exercises developed by the coach. The coach is there to hold you accountable, provide you with structure to provide the opportunity for you to succeed, give you additional perspectives, encourage you to get involved in actions and help you to obtain results that you are looking for. You can create meaningful work aligned with who you are and what you value.

In addition, Joan gives assistance via email when needed.

How long does coaching take?
Every client is different. Once overall concerns and issues are identified and the client tells the coach what s/he wants to address, it is easier to say how long a period of time it will take. Usually a client uses a coach for minimum of 3 months if some plans are developing, 6 months minimum if a person has no plans developed and beyond 6 months if there are multiple issues to address.

Who are the best candidates for coaching?
Anyone who is experiencing a change in their life, or who is dissatisfied with their present work situation. It doesn’t matter if you are a CEO, a front-line worker, a stay-at-home mom, an empty nester, an overworked employee or a person who has developed a physical shortcoming. These are all examples of people who undergo change or want to change positively, but are just not sure how to get through change smoothly and constructively. In other words, do you want something to change in your life? Then a coach can help you.

What if I don’t know what my passions are?
A coach uses a variety of exercises, strategies and methods to help you look at who you are, what you value, what you have experienced (both negative and positive), your hobbies, and other influencers in your life. From exploration of these your passions are identified, even if you have not pursued them ever before.

What can I expect to gain from the coaching when I am done?
You will be able to identify your passions, values, and satisfying activity. You will also more clearly know what you don’t want. You will have a clear idea of how to do what you love, along with a plan which has options, strategies and actions.

Can coaching help me deal with other challenges in life that come up regardless of how much money I have?
Yes, It’s difficult to pursue one’s passion without dealing with other issues that may cause barriers. Even if financials are not a problem, there may be other areas of life that need to be addressed by you. A coach can help a person deal with the tough questions that come up.

How does Joan differ from other coaches?
Joan has worked in a positive career-building atmosphere as part of her coaching network for over 16 years. She also has knowledge and a network of resources in all the post-secondary systems. Therefore, Joan can provide leads into options not usually connected with most coaches.

Also, because of Joan’s educational background, she has been able to highly develop task analysis, which can take large issues and break them into “do-able” steps.

Joan has spent years working with each age group, the new worker, the mid-level manager, the top management, and is now collaboratively working with workforce development, business, education and economic development to create infrastructure for the age 50+ person, the Third Ager, to work for additional years, but in a format and style that is stimulating for the individual.

If I am over 50, aren’t I too old for a coach?
Not at all. In fact, many people age 50 and older are wanting/needing to continue to work, or want to fulfill some purposeful activity. But it is not easy to figure out just what you can do that is satisfying and easy for you to adapt from your previous work and lifestyle. Joan is working with business, government and education to set up networks to help people over the age of 50 (the Baby Boomers) continue to address life to its fullest.