Before you are able to help a coaching client move forward, it is helpful to know about his thoughts, past experiences, and beliefs. I use journaling to learn about what makes my clients tick. Instead of relying on weekly telephone calls alone, I ask my clients to write daily in an online journal. Often I’ll give a journaling prompt to get their wheels turning. The data I receive from this process allows me to significantly propel them forward.

Below is a client journal sample. Pretend you are this client’s coach, and use the guiding questions below to respond to this client.

“I feel like I’m juggling a million priorities. It seems like everything needs to be a priority to really take good care of myself and my life. How in the world does anyone find time to do it all? I feel like it is such a balancing act that I find it difficult to completely pull it off consistently. I think a lot of it has to do with an overabundance of work stress, which I have noticed seems to spill over into everything else.

I can't be too hard on myself. I accomplished a lot at work today. I made dinner for the first time in a super long time, and here I am journaling for the first time in more than two weeks. Streaks of good decisions always start with one good decision building on another. So today I made two healthy choices, and tomorrow I will make three. And the next day four. And then five.”

Put yourself in the shoes of this client’s coach. Use the space in the comment section below to respond to the following questions.

_What is the real issue here?

Are there any underlying beliefs that are creating difficulty for this client?

How can you help this client identify his true priorities?_