Small Steps in Coaching: Turning Intention into Action
Someone has been meaning to prepare a portfolio before changing jobs. For weeks, they have saved examples and reviewed employers’ requirements, yet their own document remains blank. “Just get started” adds little: the intention is already there, while the difficulty comes when it is time to do the work. It is more useful to explore which action is being postponed and what happens just before the person decides to put it off.
Coaching can help explore the gap between intention and behaviour. The client clarifies what the goal means to them and chooses an action they are willing to try in their circumstances. A small step is useful when it produces an observable result or gives the person new information for a future decision. Its size alone cannot guarantee progress.
What Is Getting in the Way of Starting?
There can be different reasons for postponing something. A person may need more information or may have little time after work. Sometimes they fear being judged and try to eliminate the possibility of making a mistake. The coach needs to test assumptions with the client: it is easy to attribute a delay to perfectionism before understanding the situation.
One place to start is the person’s most recent attempt: when did they open the document, where did they stop, and what did they do next? The details help identify what might be changed. If the difficulty arose while choosing a project for the portfolio, it may help to agree on selection criteria. If extra work regularly takes up the evening, the workload may need to be reviewed.
External constraints call for their own solutions. A brief planning exercise has limited value when someone’s schedule leaves no time to recover. COACHING.UP explores this context in its article on reviewing priorities and managing workload.
How to Choose a Step That Supports the Goal
Before making a plan, it helps to clarify why the result matters. Changing jobs may be connected to wanting different responsibilities or a more predictable schedule. The answer can shape what belongs in a portfolio and what makes a vacancy worth considering. Following someone else’s idea of success can lead to actions the person has little interest in pursuing.
The 2025 ICF Core Competencies describe client growth as turning new awareness into action while supporting the client’s autonomy. A coach helps the client consider available support and potential obstacles. Decisions about goals and ways to track progress remain with the client.
A first step toward building a portfolio could be drafting a description of one completed project. It helps to define what “done” means in advance: the project’s purpose and the person’s contribution are written down. Formatting can come later. This agreement makes the end of the task visible and helps prevent endless revisions.
It is also useful to check whether a step is connected to the goal. Reviewing ten more examples may help when the person needs to understand how portfolios are structured. If the structure is already clear, further searching may delay the central task. The coach can invite the client to consider what uncertainty another round of preparation would resolve.
How to Fit an Action into Everyday Life
“I’ll work on my portfolio this week” leaves the start time open. A more specific plan might be: “On Tuesday after breakfast, I’ll open the document and spend twenty minutes describing one project.” The time is only an example. The client chooses an amount of work that fits their schedule and the task.
It can help to consider an obstacle in advance. If an urgent call takes up the morning, the person might choose another time or reduce the task to a few sentences. A backup plan needs to be genuinely available. If the plan regularly requires giving up sleep, it needs to be reviewed.
Preparing the environment can also support the effort. The person might gather source materials in advance and turn off notifications during the chosen period. After the attempt, they can reflect on which conditions helped them focus. A universal recommendation to spend five minutes on a task every day may not suit work that requires a longer period of concentration.
How to Review Attempts and Breaks
It helps to look at a first attempt from two angles: what got done and what became clearer. A draft may show that the client finds it difficult to describe their contribution. The next conversation with the coach could focus on that. If the work stopped because information was missing, the person may need to gather the necessary material or choose another project.
Consistency of conditions can matter when someone is repeating an action. In Phillippa Lally and colleagues’ study on habit formation, participants repeated a chosen behaviour in similar everyday situations. The time it took for the behaviour to become more automatic varied. A single missed opportunity did not significantly disrupt the observed process. The study focused on simple behaviours related to eating, drinking, and physical activity, so its findings should be applied to other kinds of life changes with care.
If postponement continues, it may help to revisit the plan. The action may be too large, or the goal may have lost its relevance. The client and coach can agree on a time to review it, such as comparing the plan with what happened after a week. The number of consecutive days completed tells only part of the story.
How to Arrange Support Without Pressure
The client can agree with the coach on how they will discuss actions taken between sessions. One person may find a short written note helpful; another may prefer to review the attempt at the next session. It is useful to agree on the form of support in advance and leave room to change it if it increases pressure.
Difficulty taking action calls for careful exploration. “What was happening when you were preparing to start?” invites a specific answer. Blaming someone for a lack of motivation can narrow the conversation. A coach may point out a recurring gap between the client’s chosen goal and their behaviour, then invite them to consider what that observation means.
Professional support has boundaries. When a client’s needs go beyond the coach’s competence, the coach discusses an appropriate referral with them. COACHING.UP explores respect for client autonomy and context in its article on humanistic coaching and developing the client’s potential.
How to Develop a Coaching Approach
Supporting change takes practice and feedback. Coaches can notice when they rush a client or propose a plan that is more convenient for themselves. Reviewing practice sessions can help them see these interventions and better support another person’s decisions.
For those developing coaching as a profession, COACHING.UP’s International-Level Professional Coach program includes seven months of group training, practice with written feedback, and mentor coaching. The program page lists accreditations from ICF, EMCC Global, and the Association for Coaching. The training offers a structured way to develop competencies for working with clients.
You can begin your own change process with one task you have been putting off. Decide what useful result you want from the next attempt and set aside a suitable time. Afterward, write down what helped and where you got stuck. Reviewing the attempt gives you a basis for choosing the next step and shaping an approach that fits your goal and available resources.