5 Tips To Maximize Your 2025 Coaching Journey

“Proper planning promotes positive performance.” No doubt you’ve heard at least something similar to that at one time or another. And for the most part, we do it quite well — most often, for everyone and everything around us except ourselves.

When it comes to a successful personal coaching journey, the most important thing we can do is set intentions that include both our mindset and the action. This principle holds true for our professional development, our personal lives, and all the ways they intersect.

Without setting intentions or goals, it becomes difficult to know if we are making progress, says Leadership Coach Shari Jo Watkins. “All too often, we try to do it by ourselves and fall short. So we quit.”

Kickstart the new year with intentional and meaningful coaching experiences with the tips below from TaskHuman’s very own coach community.

Acknowledge Your Fear Of Being Coached

Whether it’s fear of judgment, change, misconceptions, or previous negative experiences, acknowledging what’s holding you back is the first action to navigating hesitations you may have around coaching. Doing so can help you fully commit to your unique coaching journey.

Fitness Coach Stefan Mihaljevic shares an empowering client success story from one of his coaching experiences: “She told me that her whole life she felt like she was just standing on the outside, watching life passing by her. And for the first time, she felt like the main character.”

Learn more from Coach Stefan about how to find the right coach and align expectations.

Start Small

Coaching goals and milestones can feel more intimidating than they are. Coach Shari Jo Watkins offers a helpful metaphor:

“When we stand at the bottom of a mountain and look at the peak, it’s overwhelming to think about climbing to the top. And you would never decide on a whim to go climb a mountain. It requires planning, it requires that you have the tools AND it requires that you have the support needed.”

That mountain is huge and appears insurmountable until you focus only on today’s steps. This is exactly how coaching and goals can be. In order to work through overwhelm and better understand where to begin, it can be necessary to break it down into smaller pieces so we can take action without feeling chaotic inside. 

Coach Shari Jo reminds us how small wins build momentum: “It is crucial that you collect your wins daily. Every action matters.” 

Related reading: Small Changes Create A Big Impact For Emily Kulas & Boost Happiness Through Habit Change

Invest In The Coaching Relationship

“Coaching has a significant effect on all our relationships. And relationships are the key to the vault to everything,” says Leadership Coach Margrete Chadwick.

Safety, understanding, and validation are key pillars of the coaching relationship and set the foundation for a positive experience. When communicating with coaches, do you want to feel heard, motivated, challenged, or all of the above?  

Learn more from Coach Margrete about how to build a bond with a coach and pursue a genuine connection.

Related reading: Using Relationships As The Key To Success In Burnout Prevention

Commit To Boundaries

Boundaries and a sense of self-awareness lay the foundation for a fruitful coaching experience, affirms Coach Shari Jo Watkins.

“In life, there are non-negotiables. Your personal boundaries and self-awareness are key to getting everything you want out of coaching. Becoming self-aware is not a reason to beat yourself up, and boundaries are not bad. Your boundaries are for you. 

The commitment you make to yourself is the most powerful one one can ever have. At the end of the day, the only person who loses when you don’t do it for yourself and make yourself a priority is you. You were not made to be average. And you don’t have to achieve greatness all by yourself.

I remember the moment that I finally realized that I am equally important, my boundaries are real and matter to me, and I don’t have to be everything to everyone. Once I decided that, I was able to take action and work with a coach to dismantle my limiting beliefs and break down my huge dreams into manageable pieces. That’s when I truly started winning!”

Related reading: How To Set Professional Goals With Boundaries & How To Commit To Boundaries This Year

Embrace A New Mindset

To experience the transformative power of coaching, it’s critical to believe that you are in fact capable of growth and change – even as a coach yourself! 

Leadership Coach Paul Durant shares his own learnings with these reflective questions, “How am I going to develop myself? How am I going to get past the roadblocks I put up for myself? (As a Coach) I’ve got to have the courage to do the things that I might tell somebody else they should do.”

Shifting your mindset to this possibility and approaching all the self-isms (self-confidence, self-esteem, self-awareness = self-growth) with an open mind can be scary! 

Gain further insight from Coach Paul about unlocking your potential.

Related reading: Five Mindset Hacks To Build A Better Version Of Yourself & Improve Relationships By Disrupting Your Limiting Beliefs

Feeling inspired to start 2025 on course? Explore our community of 2,000+ coaches and build out your personalized support network today! 

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