The Coaching Habits That Are Slowing Your Clients Down
Back then, I felt responsible for the success of every session. If my client wasn’t having big insights, I worried I was doing something wrong. If they were quiet, I rushed in with a new question. If they seemed stuck, I felt like it was on me to guide them out of it.
These 3 Coaching Mistakes Will Drain Your Energy—Are You Making Them?
It took time (and a lot of practice) to realize that coaching isn’t about doing (sometimes forcing) more—it’s actually about doing less.
I’m sharing three early coaching mistakes that drain your energy—so you can move through them quickly or hopefully skip them altogether.
What Happens When You Bet on You?
Most people don’t hold themselves back because they lack ability. They hold themselves back because they focus more on what could go wrong than on what’s possible.
The Relief You’re Feeling—Is It the Right Kind?
Relief is a beautiful thing when it comes at the right time, in the right way. It can signal that you’ve honored your capacity, completed something important, or given yourself permission to move toward something you truly want (even when it feels very hard.)
But if your relief is coming from stepping back too soon, it might be worth staying with the discomfort just a little longer—because your success/dream/breakthrough/certainty may be right on the other side.
Are You Overworking in Your Coaching Sessions?
Early in my coaching career, I worked with a client who had big dreams of leaving academia. She came to every session full of ideas but rarely took action to move forward. I cared deeply about her vision, so I pushed harder to help her create momentum. I asked more questions, introduced new tools, and even spent time outside our sessions brainstorming how to support her.
Still Stuck? Here’s How to Finally Decide & Move Forward
Decisions don’t have to be perfect to be powerful. The real power comes from commitment—trusting yourself enough to follow through without constantly looking back.
The Decision You Think You Made (But Haven’t Really)
This pattern—flip-flopping, second-guessing, and revisiting decisions—has a cost. It drains time, energy, and confidence. And often, the biggest thing holding us back isn’t the decision itself—it’s our fear of commitment.
What If the Best Thing You Could Do as a Coach Is Less?
When you first start coaching, it's natural to equate effort with impact. You prepare extensively. You ask question after question. You introduce frameworks, suggest exercises, and make sure your client leaves with something tangible. It feels productive. It feels like you're earning your seat.
Compassion in Uncertain Times
Compassion isn’t about minimizing pain, having all the answers, or figuring everything out right away—it’s about creating space for tenderness, listening, and kindness, even when things feel upside down.
The Art of Truly Seeing and Hearing Another Person
That kind of knowing goes beyond listening to words. It means noticing tone, body language, pauses, and the emotions that sit just underneath what someone is willing to say out loud. It means catching the moment when a client says "I'm fine" but their voice catches, and having the courage to stay there rather than move on. It means reflecting back what you see with enough care that the other person recognizes themselves in your words and thinks, "Yes. That's exactly it."
Unveiling The Transformative Power Of Awareness
Awareness helps you make meaning between what you feel, how you interpret information, and what you do.
This connection is crucial because it shapes how you show up in the world, relate to others, and care for yourself.
Lights, Camera, Self-Doubt Drama
I’ve decided to commit to taking small daily actions that help me be present with my self-doubt instead of using it as a permission slip to stay paralyzed in fear of what could go wrong.
The Self-Protection Solution
The first step is just to be aware as we stare at ourselves in the mirror or sit down at our computers to write and post, to notice that our brain is making meaning of what it is experiencing.
Our brains write a story that is separate from who we are.
And precisely because of this separateness, we can see and opt out of negative thinking.
When My Confidence Hit Rock Bottom
It motivates me to help as many coaches as I can believe deeply in themselves, trust their wisdom and instincts, and treat themselves impeccably.
For the past 5 years (and counting), I've guided coaches in breaking negative self-doubt patterns and stepping unapologetically into sustaining confidence.
Because I’ve been there and seen what self-doubt and shame cost us
Just Because
The simple answer is that our intuition, heart, energy, or gut always knows, and we can choose to listen.
A more complex (and honest) answer is that we also seek external approval, which means that no one’s feelings are hurt, and we aren’t judged. This makes listening to and honoring our wants very challenging.
Understanding this, here’s an approach you can take this week to incorporate more of doing what you want.
Redefining People Pleasing
People pleasing may involve subtly trying to control someone else’s emotions—hoping to make them feel happier, more appreciative, or more respectful.
But often, the reason we go to these lengths to please others is because of the sense of peace, security, or validation we hope to feel in return.
Your Brain Loves to be Right
I have spent an extraordinary amount of my life wishing that I was smarter than I am.
I’ve been self-conscious about this for as long as I can remember.
Bounce Back – Making Setbacks Success
Failing well means fully accepting the experience—acknowledging that we didn’t achieve the goal and the flood of emotions that come with it, such as disappointment, rejection, or embarrassment.
Don’t Believe Everything You Think
Self-doubt is based in fear, not facts.
Self-doubt feeds on fear—fear of failure, fear of judgment, fear of not fitting in, fear of missing out, or fear of success.
It tries to pursuade you to stay where it’s “safe,” rather than risk trying something you haven’t done before.