by Beth Donovan – https://bethdonovan.com
Coaching clients often want inspiration and motivation. Tap into their inner expertise and bring out their brilliant nature. They know what they want.
Help them remember WHY they want it. A WHY is a strong motivator. It is the very reason that they created their goal in the first place. Perhaps your client wants to release weight, for example. The WHY might be because their knees hurt or they miss out on playing with their children like they want to, or it may be because they want to feel good in their clothes and have more energy.
Asking questions to provoke the WHY and building their self-affirmation can truly support them to see the possibilities for the future when motivation wanes.
An affirmation story is one tool that a coach can co-create with the client in very positive, flowing language. It helps the client envision and create their desired future when recorded in the client’s voice and listened consistently.
Recognize accomplishments and reward them along the way. Motivation is built in a positive and proactive way using rewards. Ask the client how they recognize and reward themselves.
Simply having a coach for accountability check-ins and brainstorming is motivation. People will perform well just to share progress and success with their coach. Coaches can also brainstorm with clients to create extra motivation when their clients run out of ideas.
Coaching is ideal for garnering motivation because it deals with exploring where a client is, where they want to go, and supporting them creating an action plan to get there. Along the way, motivation is a natural occurrence in coaching. It is simply part of the conversation of how to get from here to there.
