JO HAYWOOD talks to a woman who says "get a life" but means it in a good way.

LIFE coaching is not rocket science. It deals in simple concepts. But often it is the simple things in life that pass us by.

Lisa Clifford, 34, of Howden, East Yorkshire, felt not only the simple things but her whole life was passing her by.

"I was just unsatisfied with my lot," she said. "I had a good job and a comfortable life, but it wasn't enough."

Then, while waiting for a train, she bought the 10-Minute Life Coach by Fiona Harrold. It changed her life.

"It made me question everything," she said. "The book asks you what you would do if you knew you couldn't fail. You then have to write down two reasons why you haven't done it anyway.

"None of my reasons were to do with finances or practical circumstances, it was all down to lack of self-confidence and self-belief."

Lack of confidence is not something normally associated with a high-flying sales executive. But while Lisa believed in her selling abilities, she had little belief in the rest of her life.

"I knew it was now or never," she said. "It struck me that if you always do what you have always done, you will always have what you have always had.

"It's simple but true: nothing changes unless you make it change."

After a few months of hard work and £6,000 investment in course fees, Lisa is now a qualified life coach and clinical hypnotherapist.

She is working her notice and has already launched a new career helping other people change their lives while working towards her ultimate goal, to be a motivational speaker.

"A few months ago I would have said that my chances of standing up and talking in front of hundreds of people were about on a par with learning to fly," said Lisa. "Now I know I can live a bigger life."

When she was a child she wanted to be an actress. That ambition was dashed, however, when she got chicken pox and ended up with a small scar on her forehead.

"It sounds stupid now, but at the time I thought I couldn't be an actress because I wasn't perfect," said Lisa with a laugh.

"Life coaching has taught me that it's important for us to go back to our childhood dreams. I don't want to be an actress any more, but I want to tap into the energy and drive I felt as a child.

"I believe that the energy you put out equals the energy you get back. If you are positive in the decisions you make, you will get positive outcomes."

Which all sounds wonderful, but what does a life coach actually do?

Lisa equates what she does to the work of a personal trainer. She helps people whip their lives into shape, just as trainers help clients whip their bodies into shape. But she doesn't do the hard work for them.

"Personal trainers don't do sit-ups for their clients, do they?" she said. "I'm right by my client's side, cheering them on and encouraging them all the way. But the changes they make are down to them.

"I have the skills to help them ask the right questions, to find out what their goal is and to achieve it.

"I don't give people my opinion, because that is about me and not them. I am a facilitator."

People who opt for life coaching tend to be naturally positive and proactive. They might be stuck in a rut of procrastination, but they actively want to find a way out.

Life coaching is not counselling or therapy. It is more like self-help with an enthusiastic cheerleader.

In the first session, the client establishes want they want to achieve. Sometimes their goal changes as the weeks progress, but they always leave each session with a practical action - a change - to perform before the next.

"These don't have to be big steps," said Lisa. "Even if it's just to stop screaming at the kids; we can work on that and take action."

People usually need between six and eight sessions. At £75 per hour-long session (£25 less than is recommended by the Coaching Academy), this isn't cheap. But the price is high for a reason.

"It's one way of ensuring that people are serious about wanting to change," said Lisa. "Yes, I want to make money out of this, but I also want my clients to be successful.

"I really believe that people can do anything they set their hearts on - if they are willing to work at it."

She might have only been qualified as a life coach for a matter of months, but she feels she has been doing it all her life.

"I've always been supportive," she said. "I've always been the one saying 'go on, go on, you can do it'. It's in my nature I suppose."

If she has one regret, it is that she didn't make the change sooner. But she doesn't really do regret.

"I have no fears at all now," said Lisa. "I know this is what I should be doing with my life.

"Life coaching is not a passing fancy. Personal trainers are here to stay and so are we. If you need a new body, do some sit-ups; but if you need a new life, call me."

Updated: 08:46 Tuesday, October 05, 2004