15 Coaching Questions to Create Your Brilliant Year!

Group of Happy Executives

These 15 Goal-Setting Questions will help you create your best year ever. Set aside 30 minutes, settle in somewhere snug and warm with a cuppa (or glass of wine) and relax. Answer the questions below—and then all you need to do is take action!

First, REFLECT on last year and take your learnings forwards

  1. What worked WELL for you last year?
    • What do you WANT to keep doing, or do more of, next year?
    • So, what WILL you keep doing, or do more of, next year?
  2. What did NOT work for you last year?
    • What do you WANT to change next year?
    • If you could change just ONE thing, what would it be?
  3. What do you need to "Just let go!" of?
  4. Where do you just need to stop procrastinating and "Just do it!"?

Next, LOOK AHEAD and UNDERSTAND what you truly want & why

  1. What do you YEARN for? What, more than anything, do you want next year?
  2. What goals would really put a SMILE on your face? What would have happened by the end of the year to leave you FEELING MAGNIFICENT about yourself?
  3. If you were to write a list of JUST 10 GOALS and aims for next year, what would they be?
  4. WHY do you want these Goals? What do they GIVE you?
  5. How will your life be different once you've achieved these goals?
  6. How will you FEEL when you've completed these goals?
  7. If you did nothing else, what THREE things would make next year a SUCCESS for you? (This last question identifies your Top 3 Goals to focus on)

Then, PREPARATION & SUPPORT:

  1. What could get in the way? If you were going to sabotage yourself HOW would you do it?
  2. What THREE things are you doing regularly that don't serve or support you?
  3. What ONE habit could you introduce that would make a huge improvement in your life?
  4. How can you bring more FUN and PLAY into your life next year? (When we have fun and feel playful, everything feels - and is - easier, we're happier too. TIP: Think not only about things you can do, but also who you can hang out with.)

Finally, WRAP it up:

  1. What is your THEME for the upcoming year? _____________________
  2. Who will you have to BECOME to have all that you want?
  3. What is the DIFFERENCE that will MAKE the DIFFERENCE to your success? (This last question may sound a bit odd, but stick with it, it's a favourite NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) question)

If you liked this article about Annual Goal-Setting, you may also like:

Emma-Louise Elsey Headshot

Contributing Author:

Emma-Louise Elsey has been coaching since 2003 and is the Founder of The Coaching Tools Company and Fierce Kindness.com. She's passionate about coaching and personal development. Originally a project and relationship manager for Fortune 500 companies she combined her love of coaching, creativity and systems to create over 100 brandable coaching tools, forms and exercises including 30+ completely free coaching tools. She now serves coaches and the coaching world through her exclusive newsletter for coaches, Coaches Helping Coaches Facebook Group and many other great tools for coaches, plus resources and ideas for your coaching toolbox. The Coaching Tools Company is an official ICF Business Solutions Partner.

Learn more about Emma-Louise & see all their articles here >>

Image of Group of Happy Executives by Shutterstock via Shutterstock

4 Comments

  1. Jo Robinson

    Fab article - so generous to share it. I think I can use this with some of my contacts to help give them food for thought. Of course will reference you. Thanks

    Reply
  2. alexander

    Thx for these questions
    These questions stimulate the brain to get clear answers

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.