Written by: Nadia Chapman, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
When I trained to become a coach, one of the most interesting things I had to learn was not to give answers to my clients, but instead to ask powerful questions to reveal and discover a better way forward for them.
I love helping people, that’s why I trained to become a coach, so I could step in and guide my clients to live their best life, and reach for their goals. The most efficient way to transform someone’s life is by asking powerful and transformational questions, practicing active listening, and help bring insights into light. Coaches don’t hand clients the solution, but instead, they let them discover answers on their own. That’s where the magic of coaching happens!
Asking the correct question as become the skill I had to learn doing, and since I’ve literally become obsessed with the power of questions!
I recently created a self-coaching planner called “The 90-Day Goal Crusher Planner.” Every week, the readers have to answer coaching in order to stay motivated and inspire to create the change they want to see happening. I believe in the power of questions so much now, that I’m coaching myself through my very own planner because it allows me to stop and dig deeper into my limiting beliefs and what slows me down in life. When I feel stuck or lost, I coach myself by answering questions. This is how I expose what is truly going on and how I can move forward. Taking the time to reflect, and questioning things is extremely important no matter who you are, what’s going on in your life, and what goals you are currently working on.
Here are some of my favorite questions broken down in different categories. Use them on yourself, or with your clients!
Getting Started
What would a home run in your life look like this week?
What’s alive in you today?
What would make this a powerful session today?
Goals
If you had a magic wand,. What would you like to see happening in your life?
What excites and inspires you?
What is missing from your life right now?
For your life to be perfect, what would have to change?
How would you make your goal more measurable so that it’s clear when you’ve achieved it?
Why is this goal so important for you?
Reality
Where are you today in relation to your goal?
What have you tried that worked or didn’t work?
What decisions led you to where you are at right now?
Getting Unstuck
What will it cost you if things remain the same?
What’s standing in your way?
What’s the pay-off for being stuck?
What are you avoiding?
Growing Self-Belief & Revealing Identity
Where are you not respecting yourself right now?
How would you be different if you truly believed in yourself right now?
What parts of yourself are you dying to let out?
In what ways do you obstruct your own potential?
Way Forward
What’s the easiest way forward?
Which decision moves you closest to your goals?
Are there any obstacles we need to address, to make sure this step gets done?
Supposed we live in a world free of fears and anxiety, what would you do?
Wrapping It Up
What do you take way from our conversation today?
What are the biggest Aha moments from our conversation?
What have you learned that you will carry forwards in life?
What action step would you like to commit to until our next conversation?
I hope some of these questions will help you or your client. Remember that coaching is a process, and the more a client gets involved in the process, the more powerful it will be ,and the more likely they will be able to transform themselves and their lives. Efficient coaching questions are curated and require the client to think about what the coach is asking and then grow through their response. It’s a beautiful and powerful process! It’s not about the question that creates the Aha moment, but asking the correct question at the right time.
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Nadia Chapman, Executive Contributor Brainz Magainze Nadia Chapman is a leader in transformational coaching. She is a certified health and life coach, Law of attraction and success coach, and NLP practitioner. She loves to bring her wisdom, contagious optimism, and life experience to her many projects and with her clients. Nadia is also a professional figure skating coach and lives on an organic farm, she understands firsthand that a healthy body and mind are the foundation to a happy life. She is the host of "The Nadia Chapman Show," a podcast designed to inspire and motivate people with life-changing hacks on habit change, positive mindset, and wellness. Nadia was born in Montreal, Canada, and lived in France for many years before settling in Southern California with her family.