Sometimes you just need to plan around yourself
Coaches, you know when clients come in saying, “I just can’t seem to follow through with my plans,” or “I always feel like I’m my own worst enemy”?
These moments highlight a gap in their self-awareness, specifically, the strategic kind. Imagine a hypothetical client, Sarah, who sets ambitious goals every year but consistently misses the mark because she underestimates her need for downtime and self-care. Sarah knows she struggles with follow-through, but she hasn’t yet connected her tendencies to actionable strategies that work for her unique personality and circumstances. This is where strategic self-awareness comes in.
For Jen Long (PCC), Jerome LeDuff (MCPC), Lisa Finck (MCC), Anthony Lopez (MCPC), and Brooke Adair Walters (ACC) strategic self-awareness is the cornerstone of personal and professional success for life coaches and their clients.
It goes beyond simply understanding oneself; it’s about using that knowledge to plan effectively around yourself and navigate life’s challenges with precision. As life coaches, fostering this awareness not only benefits your clients but also enhances your ability to guide them. Today on CLCI Live, we look into why knowing how to plan around yourself is critical to success and how you can integrate this into your coaching practice.
Understanding Self-Awareness
Betterup's article on self-awareness and how to develop it does a pretty good job of breaking down the concept of self-awareness into two distinct ideas:
Public Self-Awareness: This is the awareness of how we appear to others. Being conscious of this aspect can help individuals adhere to social norms and behave in socially acceptable ways. However, an excessive focus on public self-awareness can lead to overthinking and self-consciousness. In addition, clients may believe that they appear to others in ways that are unverifiable or unknowable.
Private Self-Awareness: This involves introspection and the ability to notice and reflect on one’s internal states—emotions, thoughts, and beliefs. This is both the knowledge of What is happening and Why it is happening.
Both of these ways of interpreting self-awareness are two sides of the same coin and you cannot have a whole picture of yourself with out both working in tandem. Strategic self-awareness, however, goes a step further. According to Hogan Assessments, it includes:
Understanding your strengths and opportunities for growth.
Recognizing how your traits compare to others.
Adapting behavior to increase effectiveness.
Making It Work: Practical Tips for Coaches
So how do you help clients move from basic self-awareness to something actionable? Let’s break it down:
Start With the Basics: Use coaching sessions to dive into what makes your clients tick. Ask open-ended questions like:
What strengths do you bring to this situation?
How does this emotion shape your decisions?
What patterns keep popping up in your life?
Shine a Light on Blind Spots: Everyone has blind spots, and your job is to help evoke an awareness of these areas. One way a coach can facilitate this process is by exploring what the client knows, what the client knows they don't know, and what the client doesn't know about entirely. A coach can also, without attachment, shares observations, insights and feelings to provide a more objective view of the client and even explore way to include a wider definition of self-awareness.
Bridge Awareness to Action: Awareness without action is only half the battle. Coaches can also partner with clients in creating strategies that work for them. For example:
Address their limitations with practical solutions.
Tailor goals to their strengths.
Use tools like SMART goals to keep plans realistic and actionable.
How to Build Strategic Self-Awareness
If you or your clients want to deepen self-awareness, here’s where to start:
Reflect: Take time to think about your decisions and feelings. Journaling can be a game-changer but also taking a moment to think about the Why can do wonders.
Practice Mindfulness: Meditation or even a quiet moment in the day can help you tune into your internal states.
Ask for Feedback: Constructive feedback from trusted sources can reveal things you might never notice on your own.
Hire a Coach: Sometimes you need a guide to help you see what’s just outside your frame of reference.
Strategic self-awareness isn’t about having it all figured out or knowing yourself. It’s about knowing enough to take action, evaluate, and adapt. It’s about creating a plan that works for you—not against you—and using that plan to build the life you want. As a coach, you have the unique opportunity to help your clients unlock this superpower. So lean in, embrace the messiness, and keep refining the process—both for yourself and those you partner with.
Thank you,
Jen Long (PCC), Jerome LeDuff (MCPC), Lisa Finck (MCC), Anthony Lopez (MCPC), and Brooke Adair Walters (ACC)
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