Mindset coaching focuses on clients’ existing beliefs and patterns of thinking. A good mindset coach works to help clients recognize, question, and revise persistent patterns of thought. Mindset coaches are dedicated to rewiring an individual’s mindset, allowing them to be the very best version of themselves and to unlock their full potential. These coaches typically avoid directly giving advice or solving problems. Instead, they focus on asking questions to help the person identify and solve problems on their own.
Our mindsets have been shaped by our upbringing, genetics, and experiences throughout life.
Consequently, all of us view the world through uniquely different lenses.
These lenses can act like a set of assumptions through which we interpret everything – at least until we become conscious of them. Mindsets can be an especially important focus in coaching if we hope to live a happy life and achieve our goals.
In this article, we’ll explore the value and importance of mindset coaching as a tool to help clients notice and revise their way of thinking for the better and point you toward a wealth of resources to help strengthen your mindset coaching today.
These science-based exercises explore fundamental aspects of positive psychology, including strengths, values, and self-compassion, and will give you the tools to enhance the well-being of your clients, students, or employees.
What Is Mindset Coaching?
Mindset coaching focuses on clients’ existing beliefs and patterns of thinking. A good mindset coach works to help clients recognize, question, and revise persistent patterns of thought (Kholghi, 2021).
But why the focus on mindset in particular?
When we operate in the world with a particular mindset, that mindset will determine how we view and interpret the world around us. That is, we will look to confirm what our often unconscious mindset already believes to be true, whether that serves or hinders us in our lives (Klayman, 1995).
For instance, imagine a man named Steve who, when growing up, often received the message that working hard to secure his future and stability is one of the most important things in life.
This message was communicated to Steve directly as a teen when he was praised by his parents for securing a prestigious summer internship. However, given that money was tight for his family growing up, it was also communicated indirectly, such as when he could sense his parents’ anxiety each time a bill arrived in the mail.
As a young adult, internalizing this message of diligence was mostly useful to Steve. It drove him to secure a well-paying job and put down a deposit on his first home. However, at age 30, Steve still finds himself driven to work extremely long hours. This has placed enormous strain on his relationship as he now struggles to relax and enjoy the fruits of his labor.
In this example, a mindset coach would work with Steve to unearth and question his long-held assumptions underlying his compulsion to work, helping Steve rewire his mindset and gain greater enjoyment from life.
What do mindset coaches do?
Questions are the primary tool that mindset coaches use to understand how a client views their reality. By asking clever coaching questions, mindset coaches can uproot clients’ assumptions about the world and their place in it to identify more direct paths to achieving their ideal life.
To illustrate, look at the following video by mindset coach Bijan Kholghi.
In the video, Kholghi describes how the simple topic of money can evoke vastly different responses from different clients, depending on their prior associations and experiences surrounding finances.
“You get answers like… money is freedom for me. Other people say money is like a curse for me… You ask ten people, and you get ten different answers.”
Kholghi, 2020
Besides asking questions, some mindset coaches employ communication and therapeutic methodologies as part of their practice. Many of these are taught via training programs that package these skills together (see 3 Training Courses, Programs, & Online Options below).
These methodologies include:
Neurolinguistic programming
Neurolinguistic programming is the study of how humans create their reality using communication. By combining psychoeducational interventions about neurology and language, coaches can teach clients to organize their thoughts effectively so they can consistently achieve their goals (Erickson International, n.d.).
Time Line Therapy™
Developed by Dr. Tad James (2017) in the ‘80s, Time Line Therapy™ is a powerful methodology to help clients unpack painful emotions from the past and clear away limiting beliefs that can prevent forward momentum toward their goals.
Hypnotherapy
Although less common, some mindset coaches may employ hypnosis techniques with their clients. These coaches will put clients in a relaxing, trance-like state that unveils the subconscious. From there, they will work with clients to reveal existing mindsets and consider how to approach life’s problems in a more adaptive way (Armatas, 2009).
2 Topics Explored by Mindset Coaches
All of us will unconsciously adopt self-limiting beliefs or create walls for ourselves at some point in our lives.
Regardless of the specific coaching focus, the mindset coach’s role is to highlight and help clients critically assess restrictive thought patterns that block forward momentum toward goals.
To this end, many mindset coaches begin by assessing two high-level facets of mindset: growth mindset and locus of control.
Growth mindset
Someone who possesses a growth mindset believes they can develop their talents and achieve their goals through hard work, effective strategies, and support from others (Dweck, 2016).
It is important to note that there is no such thing as a pure growth mindset, whereby a person believes they can develop talent across all domains of life. Rather, we all possess domains in which we tend toward a fixed mindset, believing our capability is mostly fixed (Dweck, 2016).
Ensuring clients believe in their capacity to improve, at least in their main domain of interest, is critical before delving into the deeper work of mindset coaching.
Locus of control
Locus of control refers to the degree to which a person believes that they, as opposed to external forces, have control over their life outcomes (Rotter, 1966).
For instance, when receiving performance feedback, someone with an internal locus of control will be more likely to attribute their performance to their own effort and abilities. In contrast, someone with an external locus of control will point to external factors for an explanation, such as luck, timing, or other people.
Some people who seek coaching may feel that their lives have been at the whim of external circumstances. Yet, the fact that such a person has approached a coach in the first place suggests at least some belief in an internal locus of control and their capacity to create positive life outcomes for themselves, indicating that people are not wholly one or the other.
3 Growth Mindset Techniques to Apply
As noted, the development of a growth mindset is a cornerstone of mindset coaching.
If you’re looking for strategies to help develop your clients’ growth mindset, consider the following three recommendations put forward by the developer of mindset theory, Carol Dweck, in a presentation at Stanford University.
Move outside the comfort zone
It has been shown that by explicitly teaching students the benefits and neurological consequences of stretching beyond their comfort zone, they will adopt a stronger growth mindset (Sarrasin et al., 2018).
Persisting with challenging pursuits strengthens connections between neurons in the brain, helping us become smarter and develop new skills (Mateos-Aparicio & Rodríguez-Moreno, 2019).
Praise wisely
Research on young children has found that in the long run, it is much better to praise children for their perseverance, effort, and hard work rather than their talent or intelligence. This is because receiving positive reinforcement for effort rather than innate abilities encourages further effort (Gross-Loh, 2016).
As a coach, you can do the same with your clients, recognizing their efforts to persist with challenges, irrespective of the outcome, and encouraging them to view failures as valuable learning opportunities.
Encourage malleable thinking
Notice the labels that clients use when describing themselves, as these can be strongly indicative of mindset. For instance, if a client regularly refers to themselves as ‘dumb’ or ‘uncoordinated,’ this may be a sign that they are locking themselves into a self-fulfilling prophecy regarding their intelligence or capabilities.
Instead, encourage the client to think about their capabilities in a more malleable way, such as by encouraging them to think, “I can’t do this task yet, but with practice, I will be able to.”
Who can use a coach?
Mindset coaches can help a wide variety of people, from corporate clients to individuals who just want to take control of their own destinies.
Consider the following examples:
Crisis Chris — a senior sales VP of a bank who is going through a midlife crisis and isn’t sure what he wants out of life. He is adrift and losing motivation.
Plateau Paula — has plateaued career-wise and wants an extra coaching boost to get a promotion or take the business to the next level.
Gary Grower — owns a small business that has grown tremendously. He has garnered much success, and is perpetually working on self-improvement.
Decreasing Dayna — was once very successful at selling but has since declined. She isn’t sure why her sales decreased but she does know he isn’t happy they are lower!
Step number one in the mindset coaching process: you must have a desire to change. Everyone wants to be better but not everyone wants to do what it takes to be better.
Such is the reality for some people. They may believe they’re ready for change, but they’re not willing to go all-in. But if you’ve made it to this page, then you’re at least headed in the right direction. Looking into mindset coaching means that you acknowledge the gaps in your life and you’re looking for something to fill them.
How a coach can help
A mindset coach has a wide variety of tasks, and what they can help with is tailored to the individual. But in general, a mindset coach can help you do the following:
Gain Self-Awareness
Self-improvement is impossible without self-awareness. However, criticizing yourself can be hard to do without giving into bias. In these cases, an outside perspective is necessary.
The individual’s instinct here is to turn to friends and family, as they are who tend to know the individual best. Here’s the problem, though: sometimes, friends and family tell people what they want to hear rather than what they need to hear. Friends and family give the feedback you want so they don’t jeopardize the relationship.
Turning to the people you know is also not helpful because you likely surround yourself with people who think and act like you do. This means they approach problems, share biases, and deal with life the same way you do. Sharing these things means they are unable to give insights on who you are from a different perspective than your own. What they often give you is an affirmation on what you already know about yourself.
Another problem with feedback from peers or loved ones is that it tends to make people tense or defensive, which is less than ideal when trying to promote self-awareness. Getting well-reasoned, calculated, and sound advice from an official figure, though? Well, that’s a much easier pill to swallow. Think about it: would you take golf tips from a friend who is equally as good as you? What about a golf coach?
In the professional world, the mindset coach is your expert opinion. They may not improve your golf swing, but they will improve your life.
The coach is not a yes man. Instead, the coach provides genuine, unbiased feedback without tearing the client down. They teach clients to notice and address their weaknesses, while also pointing out their clients’ strengths so that they may continue to develop in a positive way.
Coaches help their clients take responsibility for outcomes. Leading clients to be more self-aware helps them to determine their own success.
How can self-awareness positively impact others?
Some may think that self-awareness only improves the self. It’s in the term, after all:
self-awareness. But people don’t exist in vacuums; they are constantly interacting with each other, pushing and tugging each other in different directions with even the simplest conversation. Just like that, self-awareness can become social awareness.
When an employee is on the path to self-improvement, they become role models for their co-workers. People are naturally drawn to self-motivated individuals, often picking up rays of motivation beaming from those individuals. If you can increase your drive and motivation, you can start to influence those around you. By increasing your motivation, you have the capacity to create a culture of perpetual self-improvement, which will help everyone around you.
Thus begins a ripple effect. Suddenly, the workplace becomes a place that fosters individual growth as well as positive relationships between colleagues. This, in turn, promotes productivity, which creates more revenue for that particular business.
With the right kind of guidance, you can take the necessary steps toward your desired future.
Create Accountability
While coaches can and do actually hold you accountable, their real value is teaching clients how to hold themselves accountable. We do this by building discipline in following through on actions.
That being said, there are actually coaches that specialize in accountability, called accountability coaches. What sets a mindset coach apart from that is their ability to move beyond simply holding you accountable. Accountability has to do with outside motivation. It requires someone else to reach out to you. However, to really change a behavior, you have to do some internal work. This brings us to the mindset coach’s main task, which is to…
Increase Motivation
Mindset coaches take an inside-out approach to motivation. We help you change, or rewire, the way you’re thinking so you can get authentic and sustainable results. Instead of you doing an activity because you know you’re going to talk to your coach about it during a coaching session, the coachee learns the hows and whys of their mind.
When you’ve been in the same career for even a few years it gets to be increasingly difficult to get better. This happens to good, hard-working, people because they get stuck in their routines.
Coaches are trained to help clients rediscover an inner drive to move forward. We teach clients to recognize and even redefine their intrinsic values. Once clients have unlocked that knowledge, they can begin to not merely survive in a career but thrive.
Ultimately, coaching helps you become the person you want to become. This means that you don’t need a coach asking you if you did a certain activity. Coaches don’t just help you achieve results — we help you become someone who always gets results.
Set Realistic Goals
Goal-setting is something most professionals know how to do. Without goals, we would all just wander aimlessly through life without ever accomplishing anything. Goals help provide focus. Nevertheless, setting goals can prove to be just as challenging as trying to achieve those goals. It’s hard to determine exactly what you’re capable of accomplishing. Oftentimes, you are too close to the situation to determine whether your goals are achievable.
With a mindset coach, though, the journey becomes much more manageable. Coaches are well aware of their client’s capabilities. They know which goals could present a challenge, and they also know when to rein their client in a bit.
With this kind of guidance, you’ll know exactly how to spend your work day. All of a sudden, you can focus on what matters and cut out the rest. In other words, that list of clear and realistic goals will enhance your productivity.
Engage in Self-Reflection
Besides helping you set the goals, your coach will help you reflect on those goals. Specifically, your coach will help you track and make sense of your progress. You will learn how to reflect on possible failures and successes. Your coach will help you see what went wrong and what went right.
This is an important part of the process of change. As Mindset author, Carol Dweck says, “Becoming is better than being.” Success is undeniably great, but it means nothing if you don’t learn from the process. That’s why we call it mountain climbing and not mountain sitting-at-the-peak. You can’t get to the top without putting in the work.
Even once you’ve achieved your goals, your coach can still help! After all, you have to find your next mountain, don’t you? Based on what you’ve accomplished to that point, your coach can help you draft new goals, so that you’re constantly looking ahead and up.
The science behind how a coach helps
Humans have an innate, internal desire to get better. Whether you’re getting better at sculpting or getting better at making more sales calls per day, we all have it. This desire to get better is ingrained in our DNA. This desire to get better is one of the things that makes us human.
Getting better is something that we strive to do but find strangely difficult. Getting better at something requires change. Our brains hate to change. Your brain looks at who you are and says, “I am not so bad the way I am.” It thinks this because it is alive today. The fact that you’re alive and are decently fed is more than enough evidence to tell your brain that what you’re doing works. The current version of yourself has kept you alive so far. So why change anything?
The Lizard Brain
We know we can get better and learn to thrive, but our brain is focused on keeping us alive by doing the same things it already knows work. This is what scientists call Lizard Brain. We all have Lizard Brain. The Lizard Brain is really good at helping humans survive and adapt to situations when necessary. On the other hand, it drastically hurts humans’ ability to change out of desire. Lizard Brain keeps us stagnant, and it takes some real mindful efforts to overcome this stagnancy. Herein lies a major reason why you find yourself on Facebook at work when you know if you just picked up the phone and made your calls life would be better.
On your own, you may not know how to send Lizard Brain to the backseat and let your higher brain power take over. That’s where the coach comes in! Through proper coaching, you can get to know your brain a little better and create better habits that will trump those basic instincts and push you toward a brighter, more productive future.
Types of coaching sessions
As mentioned earlier, mindset coaches provide you with unbiased feedback to help you improve. Every once in a while, we need to get a big old slap in the face. A wake-up, cold-water-shower kind of pattern-breaking. The people you know and love may not have what it takes to give you a wake-up call. They may not know how to give you one. They may not even recognize that you need one.
On the other hand, a mindset coach is trained specifically to give you that wake-up call. Coaches help people break their patterns in order to get to where it is that they want to go. This pattern-breaking can be done in workshops, one-on-one work, or a combination of both. Each experience has its own benefits. Each one has drawbacks. Below is a description of what each scenario could look like for you.
Workshops
Workshops help individuals by showing the coachee that others are going through the same or very similar issues. We are often tempted to keep our struggles to ourselves, because we believe we are the only ones feeling the way we do. However, by sharing our stories, we often find solidarity. We find a community of people who have the same struggles, which actually helps lighten the load.
Group settings also promote collaboration. Even the most solitary job positions require some sort of communication at some point. It could be just with a client, or it might be with another employee. Whatever form it comes in, collaboration is inescapable in the workplace. It only makes sense, then, to bring that environment to coaching.
In business, people have meetings to improve the business but not specifically to improve the people. This is why workshop collaboration can be so useful. It’s a great way to arrive at a solution. Individuals working to improve themselves might be able to accomplish something. But when you put a bunch of people who are looking to improve in a room together, things can really get moving.
Just like coaching itself, workshops provide you with an objective lens through which you can see yourself. You can bounce ideas around with others and hopefully get some tips on how to pull yourself out of your rut. Through shared experiences, workshop attendees can help each other grow.
One-on-one
One-on-one coaching is also incredibly useful when it comes to effecting change in your life. When you choose a one-on-one approach, you get a coaching strategy tailored to your needs and desires. Instead of fulfilling a common goal, you can choose for yourself what to work toward. Your coach then builds a program that will help you get you to where you want to be.
One-on-one coaching is typically done over the phone. These phone calls will happen regularly, as opposed to workshops, which are usually a single occurrence. Your one-on-one coaching sessions will keep you on task as you work toward your set goals. Coaching in this format is best for people who want focused, individualized assistance.
10 Questions to Ask Your Coaching Clients
A useful starting point for tapping into a client’s mindset is the miracle question.
Drawn from the therapeutic practice of solution-focused therapy, the miracle question invites clients to imagine how their lives would be better if they could instantly resolve their primary problems (Strong & Pyle, 2009).
From here, you can then ask some of the following questions to explore facets of the client’s mindset that may be stalling their ability to make this desired situation a reality (adapted from Olubiyi, 2019):
- What do you feel is holding you back from achieving your goal?
- What’s preventing you from making this future a reality?
- What beliefs or ideas are limiting you?
- What emotions do you feel most strongly when you get stuck?
- When’s the last time you felt like you were making progress toward this goal?
- What would make the most difference between success and failure?
- What’s one step you could take today to move you closer toward your desired future?
- What would the people closest to you say about this situation or what’s hindering you?
- Why is this desired future so important to you?
Helpful Templates for Your Sessions
Looking for some templates to get you started with mindset coaching? Consider the following free worksheets.
- Adopt a Growth Mindset
As discussed, a growth mindset is a necessity for learning and development, no matter a client’s goals. This exercise illustrates fixed mindset examples clients may notice in their own thoughts and behaviors. The exercise helps them consider how to shift toward a growth mindset. - Fact-Checking Thoughts Worksheet
When we’ve lived with a particular mindset for a long time, it’s easy to mistake the thoughts associated with that mindset for facts. This exercise helps clients differentiate between facts and opinions as the first step toward challenging harmful opinions about ourselves and others. - Simple Thought Diary Worksheet
Often, ingrained patterns of thought will be triggered by situations and events throughout our day. This simple thought diary template can help clients systematically link experiences and situations to thoughts and emotions, serving as a useful tool to review a commonly adopted mindset.
How to Become a Mindset Coach
According to Ajit Nawalkha, founder and CEO of the leading coaching platform Evercoach, there are three steps to becoming a successful mindset coach.
Understand how mindsets are created
Mindsets that drive our behaviors are a function of our past experiences, such as traumas or negative experiences.
These experiences may translate into stories we tell ourselves about our limited capabilities, such as “I got booed on stage that one time, so I’m not a good public speaker.”
Initiate mindset shifts
Mindset coaches draw on a toolkit of strategies from psychology, behavioral science, and spirituality to help shift their clients’ mindsets.
In particular, mindset coaches help clients learn emotion regulation to deal with stressful events, empower them to employ more adaptive ways of thinking about their present situation, and encourage positive habit change and behaviors.
Help clients maintain the mindset
Mindsets don’t change overnight. Rather, we must work to rewire our brains to support new, more adaptive habits and thinking patterns.
Given that research suggests it can take up to two months to ingrain a new habit (Lally, van Jaarsveld, Potts, & Wardle, 2010), commit to providing ongoing support to your clients for at least this long.
3 Training Courses, Programs, & Online Options
Looking to be trained in mindset coaching? Check out the following certified training opportunities from around the world.
Mindset Coach Academy Certification
The Mindset Coach Academy is a leading provider of mindset coaching training and tools to suit anyone from aspiring coaches to master coaches at the peak of their careers.
This four-month small group training includes access to a vast online library of coaching materials and guides you through a 90-day plan to launch your mindset coaching business.
Importantly, you can apply the skills gained from this certification to a broad range of coaching foci, including fitness, finances, and life coaching.
Best App for Your Mindset Coaching Practice
If you’re a mindset coach searching for ready-made tools to support your practice, we encourage you to check out the huge library of activities available through our very own coaching app, Quenza.
A powerful feature of Quenza that can help you assess and support the development of adaptive mindsets is the platform’s Care Pathways function.
With this, you can review clients’ responses to surveys or reflections about their recurring thought patterns and assign sequences of psychoeducational, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, or mindfulness activities to facilitate self-inquiry and questioning of existing mindsets.
With this self-managed approach, your clients can gain more control over their mindset sooner, enabling them to make progress and confidently pursue goals outside their formal sessions with you.
3 Fascinating Books on the Topic
If you’d like to learn more about the power of shifting mindsets, here are some of our favorite coaching books on the topic.
1. Mindset: The New Psychology Of Success – Carol Dweck
In this book, leading psychologist Dr. Carol Dweck presents decades of research and stories unpacking the difference and benefits of growth versus fixed mindsets.
In the latest edition of this bestselling book, Dweck explores the dangers of a false growth mindset and extends her mindset theory to apply to cultures, groups, and organizations.
Find the book on Amazon.
- Used Book in Good Condition
- Dweck, Carol S. S. (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 320 Pages - 12/26/2007 (Publication Date) - Random House Publishing Group (Publisher)
2. The Growth Mindset Coach: A Teacher’s Month-by-Month Handbook for Empowering Students to Achieve – Annie Brock and Heather Hundley
An invaluable resource for teachers, this book explores the science and benefits of a growth mindset for unleashing your students’ potential.
This highly practical book includes a range of real-life case studies, done-for-you lesson plans, and evidence-based activities to show students everything they have to gain from believing in their own capabilities.
Find the book on Amazon.
- Brock, Annie (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 248 Pages - 09/16/2022 (Publication Date) - Ulysses Press (Publisher)
3. Rewire Your Mindset: Own Your Thinking, Control Your Actions, Change Your Life! – Brian Keane
This highly acclaimed book is both a useful self-help resource and a practical aid for coaches that explores how our mindset, emotions, and fear may hamper achievement toward valued goals.
In this book, you’ll discover the tools to end cycles of self-doubt and self-sabotage and help your clients realize the success they deserve in life.
Find the book on Amazon.
- Keane, Brian (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 332 Pages - 11/27/2019 (Publication Date) - Rethink Press (Publisher)
A Take-Home Message
It’s clear that our mindset is fundamental in determining whether we realize success or crumble with self-doubt when pursuing our goals.
Thankfully, like any other muscle, we can train our minds to work with us rather than against us, helping us to approach life’s challenges with poise and a positive outlook and reach new heights.
Likewise, coaches who work with mindset are performing an important service not only by helping clients address their immediate problems and pursuits, but by establishing a solid base of self-belief from which to tackle future challenges, too.
We hope this article has convinced you of the importance of mindset and given you the tools to strengthen your own mindset coaching. If you try any of the resources we’ve recommended, be sure to let us know in the comments.
What Is Health Coaching?
