Have you heard about the ‘afterburn effect’ from exercising? It’s the phenomenon where your body continues to burn calories at an elevated rate for several hours after you’ve finished your workout. So the benefit is not just in the hour you’ve spent at the gym – the increased energy burn can last for several hours after exercise, depending on the intensity and duration of the workout you’ve done.
But what if I told you that the afterburn effect isn’t just limited to exercise? In fact, there’s a similar phenomenon that can occur with coaching – and it’s all thanks to the power of journaling.
Your coaching client is investing in themself and in their future – taking the time to explore their goals, values, and their vision for their life. And just like exercise, this investment can pay dividends for the client long after your coaching session has ended.
But to really amplify the benefits of coaching, clients need to do more than just show up for your sessions. They need to actively engage in the process, both during and in between sessions. And that’s where a coaching companion journal can be a game-changer for your clients.
By using a journal to reflect on coaching sessions, your client has a feedback loop that can help them to integrate the insights and learnings from each session into their everyday life. They are not just waiting for your next session to come around – they are actively engaging with the material and insights, and building momentum that can carry them forward towards their goals.
And just like the afterburn effect of exercise, this increased engagement and momentum can last for hours, days, or even weeks after each session. By making journaling a regular part of your coaching practice with clients, you’re encouraging the client to build a habit that can help them to stay focused, motivated, and on track towards their goals – even when life gets busy or challenges arise.
A coaching companion journal is a tool used by coaches to help their clients reflect on their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. By providing a space for clients to record their insights and experiences, a companion journal can enhance self-awareness, promote personal growth, and ultimately lead to greater success in coaching. In this blog post, we will explore the benefits of journaling alongside coaching, and find out how incorporating a companion journal into your coaching practice can boost your effectiveness as a coach and help your clients achieve their goals.
Why journaling should be part of your coaching approach
For ages, people have been using journaling as a fantastic tool for self-growth and development. And when it comes to coaching, journaling can help clients uncover all sorts of juicy insights into their thoughts, feelings, and actions, even when they’re not in a session. It’s like having a secret hideout for self-reflection and introspection. Here are some of the ways that journaling can level up your coaching game:
- The power of self-reflection: By reflecting on their experiences and thoughts, your clients can gain a deeper understanding of themselves, their strengths and weaknesses, and their goals. This self-awareness can lead to increased self-confidence, better decision-making, and improved relationships. And it is insight they can bring back in to their next coaching session with you which will make the following session more productive and effective too.
- Tracking progress and monitoring success: Journaling can help clients track their progress toward their goals, celebrate their successes, and identify areas where they need to improve. By recording their experiences and insights, clients can gain a clearer sense of their strengths and weaknesses, and can see how they are improving and developing over time.
- Insights from sessions are reinforced: During a coaching session your client will often have lightbulb moments where they see things in a different way from how they have seen them previously. Keeping a note of those insights and reflecting on them after the session helps to reinforce that new way of approaching an issue.
Here are some best practices for incorporating a companion journal into your coaching practice:
- Agree with your client how journaling will be used in your coaching relationship: Discuss with your client how often they will journal, and encourage them to be honest and reflective in their writing. Emphasize that the journal is a tool for self-exploration and personal growth.
- Offer prompts and exercises to encourage meaningful reflection: Provide your clients with prompts or exercises that can help them reflect on their experiences and insights.
- Integrate journaling into coaching sessions: You can incorporate journaling into coaching sessions too by asking clients to free-write for a while to see what comes up for them. You can also encourage clients to make a note of insights and a-ha moments during your discussion so they can reflect on them afterwards.
- Introduce the journal gradually: If your clients are new to journaling, it’s important to introduce the practice gradually. Start with simple prompts or exercises, and encourage clients to build their journaling practice over time. Set a couple of journaling questions as ‘homework’ after a session, and then ask for your clients reflection on what they learned in the following session.
So if you’re looking to get the most out of your coaching sessions, consider adding a coaching companion journal to your toolkit. It may just be the missing piece that helps your clients to unlock their full potential and achieve the transformation they are looking for. My Client Onboarding Bundle includes a done-for-you coaching companion journal that you can amend and provide to your clients as added value in addition to your 1:1 coaching sessions.
If you’re interested in learning more about using journaling in coaching, here are some additional resources to explore:
- “Journal to the Self” by Kathleen Adams: A comprehensive guide to journaling techniques and exercises.
- “The Life Organizer” by Jennifer Louden: A guided journaling tool for setting and achieving goals.
- “The Artist’s Way Morning Pages Journal” by Julia Cameron: A tool for daily freeform writing to promote creativity and personal growth.
