The best person to hire to help you get healthy should be judged by the results you end up with after working with them.

Here are 5 of the main traits that people usually look for when deciding on a health coach:

1. Best advice
2. Best training
3. Obvious personal health
4. Temperament
5. Recommendations

Advice

As I have written before, I don’t give advice because you are the only expert of you. Anything I say could be very wrong. When I coach someone the conversation is client led. Once the client becomes clear on the subject of coaching we continue to talk until we are sure the subject is what your most motivated by. From this point the only time I offer wisdom first only after I ask your permission. In fact not all session will result in action steps because its so important to my process that we stay on the path the client sets that many times the action steps might mean the client needs to do more inner research.

Hiring a coach based on the advice that they dispense then your actually playing a lottery. It is possible for a coach to develop a sense for the population and could develop a winning streak. The coach may become more and more convinced that their advice is best because when followed it always works. The Missing piece is therefore the fact that they are rigid about their method then they miss the the mark by wasting the clients time because if they had been client led then they would more easily find what could be being done more because its working for the specific person and possibly leave the other stuff for when or if it comes up.

Education

Its possible for a coach to obtain many certifications. A coach could really benefit from training. Many of us enjoy education and we use the information to help others and ourselves. Its very important though to not confuse the training we know with the unknowns of a unique person with a unique set of life circumstance.
In the event that a problem arises that seems to fit something I might learned in my studies I make sure to remember that its out of the scope of a health coach to diagnose anything. In the case that something that I share leads the client to self diagnose I always recommend that for a real diagnoses that they seek a qualified clinician.

Looks healthy

Of course its great when a health coach is healthy. I personally feel healthy. Health is a personal thing. Something that is healthy for me may not be the same for you. Its fine that a health coach is healthy but they shouldn’t assume that the same will work for the client.
The health of a coach is a result of complex interactions in that persons body. Trying to replicate the results of a person in all people is truly hard because small things can have huge affects and vice versa.

Is nice

Many coaches get the reputation of either being nice, stable or really tough. Emotions and emotional language is very important to master as a coach. Not all coaches act nice. However some coaches are nice. They express proper emotions based on what is going on in front of them. Being able to talk and be creative around a person who is truly thinking about your best interests will help you achieve health easily because its a natural and authentic conversation every time.

Ratings

Its important to have a highly recommended coach. Of course as a coach get his business going then they will accumulate more and more reviews. Here are some things to read in the reviews.

• Indication if clients aren’t taking responsibility. As a coach I don’t guarantee results. Results are based on client effort.
• If there are serious infractions then hopefully the client follows up by reporting it to a official.

Two important things to keep in mind is: 1. A coach can be good and just not have much experience. 2. A coach can have great success but clients who value privacy. Even though a client might like compliments from those close to them, they might not want to advertise to the whole world.

Here are 5 more traits to add to the list:

1. listens
2. Humbleness
3. Helps you set up smart experiments
4. Stays truly positive when things go wrong
5. Has training that you align with.