Coaching works best when goals are clear, measurable, and motivating. This article expands that idea into a simple, practical framework you can use with clients to define, refine, and follow through on goals. The focus here is on creating goals that inspire action, let you tell whether progress is happening, and can be adjusted as learning happens.
Why clear goals matter
- Alignment: Clear goals create a shared target between coach and client. Everyone knows what "success" looks like.
- Focus: When goals are specific, clients can prioritize energy and time on what matters most.
- Feedback: Measurable goals make it possible to test interventions and iterate quickly.
A coaching-friendly SMART approach
Use SMART as a starting point but adapt it for coaching conversations:
- Specific — Describe the outcome in plain language. Avoid vague outcomes like "feel better"; prefer "reduce evening work to under 45 minutes so I sleep by 10:30pm".
- Measurable — Decide how you'll know progress is happening (metrics, behavior counts, frequency, or qualitative signals like mood journals).
- Action-oriented — Phrase goals as things the client will do, not things that "will happen to them".
- Realistic & Relevant — Stretch goals are good, but they must connect to the client's values and current capacity.
- Timebound (and iterative) — Pick a short window (2–8 weeks) to test and reassess; coaching thrives on frequent review and learning.
A 5-step goal-setting routine you can use in a session
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Explore the need
- Ask what the client is trying to create and why it matters now.
- Clarify the deeper outcome (identity, relationship, career) behind surface goals.
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Draft candidate goals
- Brainstorm 2–3 potential goals and write them as concrete, action-focused statements.
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Make them measurable
- For each candidate, add one or two simple measures (counts, durations, frequency, or an anchor question the client answers weekly).
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Pick a short test window
- Choose 2–6 weeks for an experiment. Short windows let you learn fast and adjust before habits calcify.
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Agree on review cadence and evidence
- Schedule quick check-ins (5–15 minutes) and an in-depth review at the end of the test window. Decide what evidence the client will bring.
Example (case study)
Client: Anna wants to feel less anxious about work and have evenings free for family time.
Draft goal: "Stop checking work email after 7pm on weekdays and spend at least 30 minutes of uninterrupted family time each evening."
Measures:
- Count of weekdays with zero work-email checks after 7pm (target: 4 of 5)
- Minutes of uninterrupted family time (target: >=30 each workday)
Test window: 3 weeks. Check-ins: weekly 10-minute progress check. Review: end of-week 3 to decide whether to scale or adjust.
Outcome: Anna found a strict 7pm cutoff too abrupt. After learning, the coach and Anna adjusted to a 7:30pm cutoff and added a small winding-down routine to make the change stick.
Practical templates you can copy into a coaching note
- Goal statement: "By [date], I will [action] so that [benefit]."
- Success criteria: "I will know this is working when I see [measure] on at least [frequency/percentage]."
- Mini-milestones: "Week 1: X; Week 2: Y; Week 3: Z."
Example filled template:
Goal: By 2025-11-01 I will reduce evening email checking to after 8pm so I can go to bed earlier and feel more present with family.
Success criteria: 4 out of 5 weekdays without email checks after 8pm for two consecutive weeks.
Mini-milestones: Week 1 — set phone to Do Not Disturb at 8pm; Week 2 — keep a sleep log; Week 3 — review and tighten the routine.
Common pitfalls and how to avoid them
- Vague outcomes — Fix: insist on an observable behavior or a clear metric.
- Overly ambitious scope — Fix: reduce scope to a single behavior you can test in 2–4 weeks.
- Missing accountability — Fix: set short check-ins and make evidence explicit.
- Confusing means and ends — Fix: separate the values (why) from the behaviors (how).
Quick coaching checklist
- Clarify the deeper outcome (why this matters).
- Draft 1–3 candidate goals as action statements.
- Add 1–2 measures per goal.
- Pick a 2–6 week test window.
- Agree evidence and review cadence.
Next steps and resources
- Try this routine in your next coaching conversation and treat it as an experiment: expect to learn and adapt.
- Recommended short reads: any concise book or article on SMART goals, plus a quick primer on behavior change (habit formation) for applied tactics.
If you want, I can also:
- Convert this to a one-page printable worksheet for clients,
- Add a per-article frontmatter flag (e.g.,
meta.size: large) so presentation decisions are controlled in content, or - Expand this into a longer guide with exercises and a coach-facing facilitation script.
Published: 2025-09-13