Authors, Work from Where You’re At and What You Want: Setting the Agenda and the Takeaway

4 of 28 big ideas from the world of coaching to grow your author business

Photo by Brandon Lopez on Unsplash.

The fourth in a 28-part series on 28 big ideas from coaching for authors to coach themselves, adapted from my book, The Coach Within.

“A human being is a deciding being.”

— Victor Frankl

One of the first points of responsibility for a coaching client is to bring a session’s agenda and takeaway. The coach does not decide, direct, fix, or plan the course to a client’s better life — or, in the case we’re examining in this series, the route to an author business you love.

That is 100% the choosing of the client. Together the client-coach pair works on the items the client names and brings — the agenda (What do you want to work on?) and the takeaway (What do you want to get out of the session?).

So, when you’re in need of an author coaching session with yourself, start with the agenda: What would you like to work on? Once you have it, make sure you understand correctly. Reflect it back to yourself. Does it sound right? Is it clear?

For example:

• Hmm. Today I want to work on why I tend to avoid book…