2.2.2 Using a journal
Many coaches incorporate journaling into their coaching practice as there are benefits for both coach and client. As Pennock (2023) explains, ‘coaches can better understand their clients’ perspectives and tailor their coaching approach accordingly’ and clients can ‘uncover patterns, identify limiting beliefs, and discover new possibilities for personal growth.’
Sometimes it can be useful to use a range of prompts to start your thinking and there are many online blogs offering lists of journalling prompt questions. Regan (2023) offers 77, including:
- When do you feel most free and alive? Describe the moments or activities that have helped you tap into a sense of profound vitality.
- Imagine five alternative lives you would like to lead, each exploring different passions, purposes, or paths.
- Do you think career and purpose are intertwined?
- What's one thing you'd like to be proud of by the end of this week/month/year?
- If you were a natural landscape, what would you be?
Pennock advises you to ‘write freely and without judgement’, and to remember ‘that there are no right or wrong answers.’
Activity 3 Using prompts
a) Choose one of Regan’s prompts, either from the list given here or from her original blog post [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] . (Note: Her original blog post does include several prompts that are more obviously career related if you’d prefer to focus on one of those.)
Write your response in the box below.
b) How might what you’ve written be related to your career decisions and choices? Explain any insights you have gained in the box below.
Comment
Examples:
If you chose the question about describing yourself as a natural landscape – did that give you any insight into the kind of person you are? Or perhaps you were reflecting on the life you currently lead and how it makes you feel. Did you choose a bucolic scene or a crashing seascape or erupting volcano?
Is this something you’d like to change or something you want to develop further? Does your current career support that or conflict with it? Perhaps the landscape you chose reflects where you’d like to live in the world… what would it take to achieve that?
Reflecting on when you feel most alive can give you lots of clues about your values and what might make you happy and fulfilled in a career. For example, if you feel most alive when you are with family and friends – what could you do to facilitate more time with them? If you feel most alive when solving tricky problems with your work colleagues – do you have enough problem solving in your current role? Is this something you could increase?
These are techniques and insights that a coach could certainly help you to explore in more detail and you’ll find out more about the role of a coach in Weeks 6 and 7.