Articles
Guides, tips and behind-the-curtain insights on coaching, ICF certification and the Enneagram, from Colleen-Joy, MCC, and the InnerLifeSkills team.
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8 coaching question mistakes, and how to fix each one
A live MCC coaching demonstration. Eight of the most common coaching question mistakes, from advice disguised as a question to the hard…
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How to coach a client who won’t take action
A live MCC coaching demonstration. Why guilt and pressure make an action-avoidant client leave coaching, the three mistakes to avoid, and how…
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How to coach a client who wants to break a bad habit
A live MCC coaching demonstration. Why advice, hidden advice, and why questions fail a client breaking a habit, and how finding the…
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How to coach a client who doesn’t know their goals
A live MCC coaching demonstration. Why forcing a goal, shaming the not-knowing, or forcing a reframe backfires, and how the hot air…
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How to coach a client who can’t stop overthinking
A live MCC coaching demonstration. Why forcing solutions, positive thinking or action backfires with an overthinking client, the three mistakes to avoid,…
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Coaching vs therapy, the clear line every coach must understand
Where the line really sits between coaching and therapy, the sweet spot most coaches miss out of fear, and the three hard…
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ICF coaching goal setting, partnering without saying “goal”
How to contract a coaching session without pushing a predefined goal, using the client’s exact words, the As If frame and somatic…
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7 ways to coach a stuck client
When a client says they don’t know, seven master-coach moves to get them unstuck, from softening the edge and silence to somatic…
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Enneagram Type 9
Enneagram Type 9: its polarity and Red Pearl, growth doors to Types 3 and 6, the voices of real Nines, and why…
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Enneagram Type 8
Enneagram Type 8: its polarity and Red Pearl, growth doors to Types 2 and 5, the voices of real Eights, and how…
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Enneagram Type 7
Enneagram Type 7: its polarity and Blue Pearl, growth doors to Types 5 and 1, the voices of real Sevens, and why…
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Enneagram Type 5
Enneagram Type 5: its polarity and Blue Pearl, growth doors to Types 8 and 7, the voices of real Fives, and why…
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Enneagram Type 2
Enneagram Type 2: its polarity and Green Pearl, growth doors to Types 4 and 8, the voices of real Twos, and the…
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Enneagram Type 1
Enneagram Type 1: its polarity and Red Pearl, growth doors to Types 7 and 4, the voices of real Ones, and the…
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Enneagram Type 4
Enneagram Type 4: its polarity and Green Pearl, growth doors to Types 1 and 2, the voices of real Fours, and the…
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Enneagram Type 3
Enneagram Type 3: its polarity and Green Pearl, growth doors to Types 6 and 9, the voices of real Threes, and the…
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Enneagram Type 6 and Counter Phobic 6
Enneagram Type 6: polarities and the Personality Pearl, Phobic vs Counter Phobic Sixes, the map for growth, and why many CP6 are…
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The 10 benefits of life coaching
What good coaching really gives you: clarity on your goals, milestones that matter, motivation past the wall, and honest, judgement-free accountability.
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8 ICF Core Competencies guide
A behind-the-curtain guide to the 8 ICF Core Competencies and the 5 guiding principles marker assessors use, with tips to pass your…
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Demystifying the ICF credential journey, ACC, PCC and MCC
The three ICF credentials explained by an MCC: what ACC, PCC and MCC each require, what changed when ACTP and ACSTH retired,…
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7 reasons not to call yourself a life coach
Why boxing yourself in as a life coach limits you, and how selling the destination, un-niching and building your own brand set…
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What are life coaching skills?
The three skill sets every coach needs: questioning that spirals up and down, rapport through backtracking not paraphrasing, and coach position (the…
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Top 20 Best Coaching Questions
Colleen-Joy shares her top 20 coaching questions, in order of importance, with tips on how and when to ask each one to…
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How to become an Enneagram Coach
All nine types help people, each for a different hidden reason. How we teach typing as a coached conversation at around 95%…