Life coaching has grown into a thriving industry, offering individuals the support they need to navigate personal and professional challenges. For many, life coaches provide the tools and accountability necessary to reach their goals and unlock their potential. One such life coach is Elizabeth Williams Matthews, founder of MindingYourLiz Life Coaching. Matthews’ journey into life coaching, fueled by her passion for helping others, reflects the heart of what makes coaching so impactful.
What is a Life Coach?
A life coach is a wellness professional who helps clients navigate both personal and professional areas of their lives. By providing support, accountability and insight, life coaches help clients achieve their goals and improve their quality of life. It’s important to note that a life coach is not there to tell clients what to do; instead, they act as a facilitator, guiding clients to uncover their own solutions. This collaborative approach empowers individuals to become the best version of themselves.
“A life coach does not judge or determine what clients should do or what they need. They act as a facilitator in order to help clients figure out solutions for themselves,” says Matthews.
Types of Life Coaches
While life coaching is a broad field, it can be categorized into several specialized types. The most common include:
- Career Coaches: Help clients navigate career transitions, job changes and professional development.
- Relationship Coaches: Focus on helping individuals improve their relationships, whether personal or professional.
- Business Coaches: Work with entrepreneurs and executives to enhance business strategy, leadership skills and decision-making.
- Finance Coaches: Specialize in financial planning, budgeting and financial independence.
- Health Coaches: Focus on improving physical and mental health through lifestyle changes and wellness plans.
“As life coaching gains more popularity, more types of coaches are being created,” Matthews adds.
Finding Her True Calling
Matthews’ path to becoming a life coach wasn’t a typical one. In fact, it wasn’t something she had planned for. She shares, “My mission in life has always been to serve God and serve people. I’ve overcome a lot of adversity in my life, and my desire has been to inspire others to do the same. Becoming a life coach wasn’t a dream of mine, but I felt God leading me to it.”
While working as a Community Events Manager in Marketing and Communications for a healthcare system, Matthews started writing a book in 2021. During this process, she realized her calling to become a life coach. After obtaining her certification in life coaching in 2021, she launched MindingYourLiz in 2022, which provides life coaching with a faith-based approach.
“My day-to-day is tedious. MindingYourLiz is a multifaceted small business, and I am a team of one wearing multiple hats. I do all the administrative and marketing tasks as well as coaching,” Matthews explains. “Coaching alone consists of scheduling client sessions, reviewing client details and managing client records, accounting, managing the website and creating marketing content.”
Why People Seek Life Coaches
People turn to life coaches for various reasons. Common motivations include a desire to achieve personal goals, overcome challenges or gain clarity about life’s direction. “If a person is having trouble achieving goals, needing clarity to figure out goals, feeling stagnant and/or unmotivated, going through a life transition, having self-confidence issues or needing balance in their busy life, it may be a great time to see a life coach,” Matthews says.
Some individuals also turn to life coaches during significant life transitions—whether that’s changing careers, adjusting to a new lifestyle or simply wanting more balance in their daily lives.
How to Choose the Right Life Coach
Selecting the right life coach is essential to a successful coaching experience. Matthews offers these tips for those considering a life coach:
“You should find a life coach who makes you feel comfortable, confident and excited about working with them. You want to find a life coach who resonates with your values, beliefs and vision. Look for a life coach who is not only a professional, but also a partner, a guide and a friend,” Matthews advises.
“A life coach should be someone you feel comfortable asking tough questions to, but also be able to answer tough questions from them. A great life coach should also be compassionate, empathetic, and most importantly, an active listener. If your life coach talks more than you, you may need to find a new life coach.”
Benefits of Life Coaching: A Complement to Therapy
Hiring a life coach offers several benefits, including better goal setting, improved communication skills and more fulfilling personal and professional relationships. “Life coaches help clients hold themselves accountable while also providing encouragement. As a result, clients have a better ability to set and achieve goals, more satisfying work life, improved communication skills, stronger relationships, better work-life balance, improved quality of life and decreased stress and anxiety,” Matthews shares.
While life coaching and therapy share some similarities, they are fundamentally different. A therapist is a licensed professional who helps clients address mental health issues, focusing on past trauma or struggles. In contrast, a life coach focuses on future goals and guiding clients toward personal growth. “A therapist focuses on your past and asks questions to find answers to diagnose a problem for you. A life coach focuses on your future and asks questions to help guide you to answer your own issues,” Matthews explains.
Techniques Used in Life Coaching
Matthews has developed several effective coaching techniques that have helped her clients achieve their goals. One of her favorite methods is journaling. “I have coined and implemented BIG Journaling, which incorporates using personal testimonies and gratitude reflections as a client’s motivation to fulfill their goals,” she says. Additionally, Matthews uses visualization techniques such as vision boards, word clouds and affirmations to help clients manifest their dreams.
She even wrote a book titled That’s BIG: Believing It’s God! To share her testimony.
The Power of Coaching
One of Matthews’ clients was a single mother who struggled with pursuing multiple projects without a clear goal. “She was extremely gifted and had a heart for helping people. She had several things she felt God was telling her to do. The list would continue to grow. She would start down one path and then pick up the next thing. It started to weigh on her,” Matthews explains. “Through our coaching sessions, she has learned a structured approach to achieving her goals. We celebrate her victories and discuss any obstacles. She’s back to being more confident and driven.”
This client has since been able to establish a clear direction and take actionable steps toward her goals. “We do check-ins and each time I speak with her, I can hear her enthusiasm,” Matthews says. “She now has tools that she uses in all areas of her life.”
Common Barriers to Achieving Goals
Self-doubt, lack of discipline and the inability to articulate one’s goals are some of the most common barriers that prevent people from achieving their dreams. Matthews shares one of her favorite quotes from motivational speaker Zig Ziglar: “If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.” She encourages her clients to define their goals clearly in order to give themselves a clear path forward.
Life coaching is more than just an industry; it’s a transformative process that empowers individuals to achieve their potential. Whether you’re looking to gain clarity in your career, improve your relationships or find balance in your life, working with a life coach can provide the guidance and support you need to make lasting changes.
About the Author:
Elizabeth Williams Matthews is the founder and owner of MindingYourLiz and the author of That’s BIG: Believing It’s God! With over seventeen years of experience in marketing, communication and community engagement, she is passionate about serving and encouraging others. Matthews is a University of Alabama alumna and IAP-certified life coach, as well as a wife, board member, consultant, mentor and motivational speaker who prays, lives, loves and believes BIG.
You can go to www.mindingyourliz.com for more information.
- What is the biggest challenge you and your business have faced in the last year? My biggest challenge has been transitioning from my corporate world where I worked in a philanthropic capacity. It has followed me into my business world, and I have to find a balance.
- What do you find the most fulfilling about the work you do? Creating a judgment-free space where I can help my clients overcome challenges and live purpose-driven lives. I’m able to help people face adversity and achieve life-changing goals with God at the center.
- Best bit of biz advice? Pivot and persevere when you need to. You can plan everything to a tee and things may still end up changing. Things may not always go as planned. It’s okay! Just pivot and keep going. Believe in yourself and your business.
- Must-have work tool? My planner (Yes, I still use a paper planner!)
- What was your first job? Production Assistant at Alabama Public Television (APT)
- What are you most proud of? My obedience to listen to God and step out on faith to write my first book led me to step out on faith in so many other areas of my life.
- What is your theme song? “God Is Good” by Forrest Frank and Caleb Gordan
- What is your personal motto? Pray BIG. Live BIG. Love BIG. Think BIG. Believe BIG.
- What are your hobbies, outside of work? Traveling! Whether it’s a road trip to the beach or a flight to a random city, I love to travel.
