With the economy apparently descending into oblivion and wave after wave of depressing layoffs, the next few months (or years) are looking pretty bleak. Fortunately Noomii, a startup that launched two weeks ago, is here to help you get your life back on track. The site aims to help friends pair up and life coach each other in an effort to set and achieve their goals more effectively than they would on their own.
For the uninitiated, Life Coaches are people who specialize in helping others achieve their goals and dreams. Unfortunately these professionals can run hundreds or thousands of dollars a week, making them primarily accessible only to the wealthy (Noomii notes that they are especially popular among celebrities). But Noomii says that while these professional Life Coaches are certainly worthwhile, anyone can be a Life Coach with a little help.
To begin using the site, you first have to find a friend that you’d like to coach (and who’s willing to coach you). Once you’re paired up, you both fill out a survey that gauges which parts of your like you’re happy with, as well as the goals that you’d like to achieve (you can set sub-goals for each of these goals). Then the site presents these goals in an intutive panel with checkboxes next to each goal.
The idea is that because both partners can see the others’ goals, you’ll feel more motivated to get things done. The site also recommends meetings once a week in person or online to discuss how much progress has been made and what needs to be done. It seems like a good idea, provided you pick a good friend to pair off with, though I could see it straining a relationship if one person refused to keep up with their goals.
The site is free, and plans to monetize in the future by offering access to professional Life Coaches online (presumably for a much smaller fee than they’d charge in person). For now you’re forced to pair off in friends in real life, but the site will eventually allow people with similar goals to pair off over the web.
For another site specializing in self-improvement, check out watchMEmelt, a weight loss site that we covered here.
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There have been career forums that do pretty much the same thing.
Except there is less privacy - but it is more like the ‘wisdom of the crowds’ type of environment
You know I think this is a great idea! eventually there would be niche life coaches…
this is like so gayyy(:
this site doesnt help with anything!
YOU STINK!
typo — parts of your like (life)…
“You life coach your friend and your friend life coaches you”
WHAT!?
I’m a little buzzed, but what the hell does that mean? LOL
Looks like a cool project, though!
yes,its not a bad idea,some times we need some one to give us a right opinion also depends on how much commited you are.
yes,its not a bad idea,some times we need some one to give us a right opinion or to show us a right path to move,taking an initiative is not sufficient,achievement also depends on how much commited you are.
http://www.stickk.com
The idea of a live coach is great, if you can afford it. Most of the rank and file just don’t have the cash for something like that. The problem with this is it’s just a checklist. The advantage of a life coach is 1) the money you’re spending which often motivates you because you don’t want to waste it and 2) the fact that there’s a physical person showing up is a big motivator. I think this could be helpful but only incrementally because the only way this type of thing works is you’re physically present and working together to hold each other accountable to a goal. And then, why do you need this tool if you’re already meeting face to face?
Noomii seems a great website and I really love the idea. However, I don’t think it’s a must for people who have enough good friends.
This is a great idea it will definitely be interesting to see where it goes. If people can find any kind of help in this kind of economy it has to be worth a look
http://www.kidsdesk.net
that’s kinda gay. Cute name though
“You life coach your friend and your friend life coaches you”
It sounds like the blind leading the blind.
I second that!
As a certified Life Balance Coach, I think this is a great idea to get friends together to formally support each other on reaching specific goals. It’s no different than setting up a work out or study buddy. Professional Life Coaches, on the other hand, can be invaluable when the support of friends and family isn’t enough, or when someone feels uncomfortable making those request of friends and family. At the end of the day though, change can be challenging but getting support of friends, family AND professionals can help make it possible. Thanks Noomii for getting people thinking of how we can all help each other.
HOW ABOUT A STARTUP THAT LISTS ALL THE REASONS THAT STUPID STARTUPS LIKE THIS WONT WORK.
Life coaching is pretty much a great way to take money off people and earn lots doing it. Sadly this site doesnt seem to have an affilliate program as I’m sure it would get a lot more traffic if they did.
Well, I won’t use it
Yay, another go-nowhere start-up. At least their service is of use, unlike Cuil. Speaking of Cuil, haven’t heard anything about that search engine in months, is it still around?
Dwayne.
http://probablysucks.com
Not a bad idea, just will be tougher to execute in this environment. Will require a large marketing budget.
Let me talk of one typical tech scenario where a programmer is stuck with no one providing help and googling not proving very useful - someone to point out just the few things that the guy is doing wrong - or maybe telling him a few things that can help him out right away - like a referral, a project, an opensource package, a few steps to switch to Linux without the wasteful attitude strutting, a book, and maybe a few kind words of appreciation or insight.
What this needs is a strong leaning towards a system like “single-point-of-contact” or “mentor” whom you can ask all formal technical questions and some informal off-the-record things. The kind of guy Socrates was IIRC - everyone in the village would seek out his help. Some people just cant get it that a dead program like Google will help them better than a friend.
They need this. It’s much friendlier too. Done right - mentoring and business-oriented inclination - might actually make it a bit like LinkedIn.
Of course, it’s a startup. Which means, mostly it’ll fail.
This site is pretty cool… it walks me and my friend through all of the necessary steps to be effective coaches - previously we just sat around and fed off of the excitement of the moment. Maybe now we’ll actually accomplish all of our great ideas?!
You must be kidding me. I have been working with a CERTIFIED Professional Life Coach for about 6 months now….it is a very complicated process to make significant changes in your life…and I would NOT TRUST THIS PROCESS with someone who is not trained to do this work. AND….YOU ARE NOT CORRECT ABOUT THE EXPENSE. MY COACH DOES NOT COST HUNDREDS/THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS A WEEK. If people look around a little, they can find VERY GOOD coaches, who are both trained and not greedy like some out there. (The super greedy coaches are also giving coaching a bad name! I know this because I had one of those first. I fired him….hired my new coach for substantially less money….and life is coming along wonderfully now!