There are numerous tools in the life coach’s toolbox, and each life coach will likely have their own tools, exercises, and methods. However, there are some tools that have so much potential, they would be at home in almost any coach’s practice.
1. Wheel of Life
One of the life coach’s most valuable and versatile tools is the Wheel of Life. It’s a simple and easy-to-use exercise that can help clients find out which areas of their lives are most satisfying and where they would like to focus attention on improving their quality of life (The Coaching Tools Company, 2012).
There are only two steps to this exercise:
1) Review the 8 categories on the wheel and think about what would represent a satisfying life in each area:
Health
Friends & Family
Significant Other
Personal Growth
Fun & Leisure
Home Environment
Career
Money
2) Draw a line across each segment that best represents the current level of satisfaction, with the center of the wheel equal to 0 and the edge of the wheel equal to 10, the maximum level of satisfaction.
The end result looks a bit like a spider web and can give your client a general idea of their overall life satisfaction in relation to their desired life satisfaction.
You can find the Wheel of Life exercise and download a copy for yourself here. For more information on how you can use the Wheel of Life, check out this article.
2. Spheres of Influence
One of the many ways that we tend to get off track or bogged down while striving towards our goals relates to our “spheres of influence.” The idea behind the spheres of influence tool is that there are three distinct areas we can sort the comings and goings of life into:
Things we can control
Things we can influence
Things we can’t influence, either right now or at all times
While we feel like there is nothing under our control, there is often at least one thing that we still have direct control over—our attitudes and behavior. Even when under enormous pressure or when we feel trapped, we always have that. What else are things we can control?
We also have the ability to influence certain factors we can influence in the right direction, even when we cannot completely change them. For instance, while we cannot control others’ attitudes or behavior, we can offer them advice and guidance, or provide evidence to help them make good decisions.
The final area in this exercise is for things that we have no control or influence over. This is the largest area since the majority of what happens in life is not under our direct control. A good life coach will help clients recognize and accept that there is much we cannot control, and how to concentrate energy on what we can influence.
Life coaches can walk their clients through the spheres, helping them identify what is within their control, what is in their sphere of influence, and what cannot be controlled.
3. Journaling
Keeping a journal can be useful for many different reasons as a life coaching exercise. Daily Journaling facilitates reflection and can spark useful brainstorming about how to better strive toward your goals. Coaches can help ensure that their clients’ journaling is helpful by providing some guidance.
To guide your client in journaling, use can use the handy JOURNAL acronym:
J – Judgement-free Encourage your clients to write whatever is in their heart. This journal is personal, private, and a safe space to express their thoughts and feelings.
O – Observation Journaling is an excellent opportunity for clients to step into an observer role. Instruct your clients to write down things that happen to them and spend some time thinking about how they interpret them.
U – Understanding Piggybacking off of observation, what we observe can help us reach understanding about ourselves. How we perceive what happens to us is more important than what actually happens to us, and observing how we think can help us understand our own thought patterns, which can lead to effective management of our thoughts and behaviors.
R – Revelation This process can often lead to revelations about our desires, our dreams, our goals, and aspirations. Journaling can help us get in touch with our core selves.
N – Needs Assessment Keeping a daily journal makes it easier to notice problems and potential solutions, as the simple act of writing something down can make it seem simpler and clearer. Keeping everything bottled up can be extremely harmful, and just putting pen to paper can sometimes be all that is needed to release some pressure.
A – Awareness Writing down your experiences helps your client to take a wider perspective on his or her life, as well as reminding them of problem areas and things they have to be grateful for. Raising awareness of these areas is the first step towards making the necessary changes and appreciating what they have.
L – Life Quality Journaling is known to be an effective way to de-stress and decrease anxiety. Just a few minutes a day can have a major impact on health and happiness.
4. Action Brainstorming Worksheet
The action brainstorming worksheet can help clients get out of a rut or a sticky situation.
This easy to use tool is only one page long, with a table that is split into five columns. The instructions are to think of actions or behaviors that you frequently engage in or would like to engage in, and direct them into the appropriate column.
In the first column, the client writes down the actions or behaviors they would like to stop doing. These are behaviors that are not helpful for meeting any of their goals, or actively harmful.
The second column can be filled with activities the client would like to do less of, such as activities that are sometimes helpful but time-consuming, or ways to destress that have been taken to an extreme.
The middle column represents the actions or behaviors a client would like to keep doing. This is where clients will write down the things they do that they are satisfied within their current frequency, like regular exercise, paying their bills on time, or a weekly dinner with a loved one.
The fourth column is the “do more” column, where clients are to write down the things they would like to do more frequently. For example, maybe they want to engage in a fun and fulfilling hobby more often or devote a little more time to a project that has real potential to succeed.
The final column is the “start” column, which is where clients should list the actions and behaviors they would like to begin doing. This could be anything that helps them meet their goals, such as weekly Yoga Class for someone who is stressed, monthly networking for someone who is looking for a better opportunity, or an annual vacation for someone who is letting their life get overrun by work.
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