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Life Coaching Skills that Guide Clients to Greater Success and Boost the Value of Your Practice

Effectively use life coaching skills so your clients make progressThere is something so satisfying about using your life coaching skills to help your clients succeed. It’s the greatest feeling to make a real difference in their lives! Conversely, there’s nothing more frustrating than spending hours with clients, helping them plan out their goals and strategies, and then checking in a week or two later to discover nothing has changed.

What goes wrong at times like these? What are some reasons your clients may not be making the kind of progress you expected? Possibly it’s one of the following:

  • Your client told you what she thought she was “supposed” to want.
  • Your client is unclear about what she really wants.
  • Your client hasn’t found her motivation for making the change.
  • Your client didn’t have the necessary tools or techniques to accomplish her goals.
  • Inadvertently, you imposed your agenda, instead of listening to what was important to your client.

Essential Life Coaching Skills

Your role is to help your clients increase awareness of their process for behavioral change.Your role is to help your clients increase awareness of their process for behavioral change. Leaping straight into goal setting bypasses three crucial steps to sustainable change – tapping into your client’s core values, vision and mission. When you enhance your life coaching skills, such as deep listening, you’ll routinely explore your client’s personal core values first, then you’ll find the key to stimulate your client’s motivation and commitment to change.

Let’s examine how an effective leader uses this to add value to a client’s experience.

1. Conduct a “Values Interview” with your client. So many people are struggling with their identity, trying to discover who they are. Knowing how to conduct a Values Interview is a critical life coaching skill. Your clients will perceive it as an extremely valuable exercise. Why? It helps them cut through the distractions and confusion, so they can learn who they really are and what they value most.

How do you conduct a Values Interview? Use a stack of 100 value cards and ask your client to organize them according to what is 1) most important, 2) very important, 3) important, 4) somewhat important, and 5) not important. As she flips through each card and sorts them according to their personal relevance, they will evoke an emotional response that allows her to reach her strongest motivation for change.

2. Use the core values she chooses as a guide for discussing her big vision for the future. Keeping a journal or creating a vision board are two highly effective ways to make this vision come to life for your client. Help your client dream big, without being limited by the self-restricting “I should…”

Ask open-ended questions and reflections that create greater self-awareness and foster discussion. For example, if the client says she wants to lose weight to look good for a class reunion, you can reflect it by saying, “You feel better about yourself when you feel attractive.” Be mindful to say as little as possible, and listen carefully.

3. Help your client craft a personal mission statement based on her values and vision. It doesn’t need to be a long, formal document. It could be a single word or phrase. This mission statement becomes your client’s compass. Reflecting on it before any decision or action will help her remain aligned with her biggest sense of purpose. 

By increasing self-awareness and helping your client build a framework that links core values with the big vision, you’ll naturally uncover the steps your client needs to take to succeed. It becomes evident which well-formed goals and intentions will help her become the person she really wants to be. 

 “Dream Big, Start Small” Here’s the one thing you can do today.

Use this 3-2-1 exercise to develop life coaching skills that prioritize your client’s needs and values over your perspective.

The Listening Pause – 3

During your next client session, intentionally pause after your client speaks. Reflect on what they’ve said without immediately offering advice or feedback. This allows the client’s words to sink in, and it gives you space to check if your response is truly in service of their goals or shaped by your own thoughts.

Over time, this practice will help you naturally attune to what your client really wants, building trust and clarity. In each session, aim to include 3 “Listening Pauses” before responding.

The Client-Centered Mirror – 2

After a client expresses their thoughts, reflect back what you heard, but in their language. Avoid adding interpretations or solutions. For instance, if they say, “I want to feel more in control of my life,” you might respond, “You’re looking for ways to regain a sense of control.”

This step helps your client feel heard and affirms their ownership of the process, fostering self-awareness. During each session, practice mirroring your client’s statements 2 times, ensuring your feedback is neutral and without advice.

The Values Lens – 1

As your client begins to articulate their goals, ask them, “How does this align with your core values?” This simple question invites them to pause and reflect on whether their stated goals truly resonate with their deeper motivations. Clients will start grounding their goals in personal values, which will lead to more meaningful and sustainable change. Ask this question at least 1 time per session, particularly when discussing new goals or plans.

More Life Coaching Skills for Guiding Client Sessions 

  1. Emotional Intelligence: Being attuned to both your emotions and your client’s feelings allows you to respond with empathy and understanding. This skill helps in navigating difficult emotions and guiding clients through them without becoming overwhelmed.
  2. Accountability: Holding clients accountable in a supportive, non-judgmental way is vital to helping them achieve their goals. By checking in regularly, setting realistic milestones, and celebrating progress, you can ensure that clients stay on track.
  3. Resilience: Teaching clients resilience techniques—such as reframing setbacks, stress management, and focusing on strengths—empowers them to overcome challenges and keep moving forward even when progress slows.
  4. Goal Clarification and Structuring: Helping clients clarify their goals and break them down into manageable, actionable steps is key to turning visions into reality. 
  5. Adaptability: Flexibility in your approach allows you to adjust strategies based on the client’s changing needs and circumstances. This ensures your coaching remains aligned with their evolving vision and goals.
  6. Self-Awareness and Self-Regulation: As a coach, maintaining awareness of your own biases, triggers, and emotions is critical. This prevents you from projecting your views onto your clients and helps you stay grounded and centered in each session.
  7. Self-Reflection: Guiding clients to reflect on their experiences, thoughts, and behaviors fosters a deeper understanding of themselves. Journaling or my 7-Point Wellness Assessment can help increase their self-awareness.
  8. Positive Strengths-Focus: Shift the focus from fixing problems to expanding potential by emphasizing what clients are already good at, and how they can build on those strengths. This enhances motivation and boosts self-confidence. 

Embodying these skills, along with mindfulness and tuning in to your inner wisdom, will not only guide your clients toward success but also increase your credibility, effectiveness, and the long-term value of your life coaching practice. If you’d like to explore this further, download my free report, 10 Steps to an Embodied Practice.

 

Photos by Drahomír Hugo Posteby-Mach and  Jill Heyer

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