Whenever you have a client tackling a big goal in their lives, it will be important to offer motivation along the way by marking milestones and small wins that signal progress. Here are a few different strategies when you want to encourage reflection on small wins:
Mark Time
Ask a client to reflect on how far they have come from a certain time point in the past. For example, what have they learned in the last year that they did not know before? Or, how have they changed in the last five years into more of who they want to be?
Diagram a Plan
Having a visual plan that a client can follow over time will allow them to map their progress in a fun and creative way. Consider having your client mark out milestones in their larger goal as if on a map or board game. Then they can cross off small wins as they occur by coloring in the map, adding gold star stickers, or visualizing progress in some other form.
Consistently Celebrate
If a client is making consistent progress on their goal, or even if they just need to recognize really small wins, offer a space to do this consistently in each coaching session. For example, at the beginning of each session, ask your client to reflect on the small wins toward their goal that happened between your last session and this one. Logging these small wins in a shared document to see them add up over time can also be motivating.
Recognizing a client’s incremental progress on larger goals is important because it serves as a motivator when long-term goals seem to never get any closer to being accomplished. Having some kind of record that a client can point to that demonstrates how much they have accomplished over time can help to keep them on track and energized to keep going.