The Creation of Academic Life Coaching
In the Right Place at the Right Time
In 2005, two years into my career as a high school Latin teacher, I discovered Life Coaching. Once I got past the cheesy name and had the opportunity to drill down into its principles, I thought to myself, “Why did it take so long for me to learn these skills? What if I learned these things if I was in high school?”
Back in the classroom, I had the opportunity to talk about the Life Coaching concepts with students after school. I started to put together worksheets for my students, which formed the foundation of the Academic Life Coaching Program. To my surprise students were eager - yes, eager - to learn these skills and concepts after they got past the name “Life Coach” and realized that a Life Coach is not going to tell them how best to live their life or try to diagnose some deep problem they have.
Incorporated into my regular curriculum, the concepts helped students gain greater self-awareness and clarity about what they really wanted out of life right now, as well as in the future. My students were able to create better systems to maintain motivation and organization. Life Coaching helped students who were getting A’s do so with less stress, as well as take on outside projects that stretched their personal leadership skills which set them apart during the college application process. The students who were not performing well were able to use Life Coaching to better understand the their learning strengths and how they could change their habits and actions to make a positive impact on their grades.
I was in the right place (a middle and high school with dozens of students helping design the program) at the right time (early in my career and with time to develop the ideas) with the right idea (empowering students with this kind of skill set).
Over the course of four years, I developed and tested how to use Life Coaching concepts, ideas, and exercises in a way that is relevant for students. With the help of my students, it all came together in the Academic Life Coaching Program. To date in April 2012, I have logged over 2,500 hours of individual one-to-one coaching. I know what works with teenagers, and perhaps more importantly, what does not work. Believing strongly in the value of this work, I have also had the privilege and honor to train over 50 coaches literally around the world, from Los Angeles to Dubai. I have been a keynote speaker, columnist for Newsweek and written four books as well as appeared dozens of publications, including articles by the Associated Press.
I am personally on a mission to give teenagers the skills and concepts that make a difference in their lives. The guiding question driving Academic Life Coaching is:
“What can we do to have the biggest positive impact on the largest number of students?”
We answer that question in three ways:
- Offering outstanding one-to-one coaching through the Academic Life Coaching Program
- Delivering the first training program that specifically integrates Life Coaching skills and principles which adhere to the standards of the International Coach Federation (ICF)
- Exploring and researching the challenges and opportunities facing teenagers, their families, and schools
If you feel inspired to help further the mission of Academic Life Coaching, I invite you to contact me. I’m busy, but more than happy to speak with families interested in Academic Life Coaching Program as well as those who share a similar vision of redesigning education by integrating the concepts and principles of Academic Life Coaching.