A lot of clients don’t come to coaching with clean, specific goals.

They don’t say, “I want to increase my revenue by 20%” or “I want to launch X by this date.”

They say things like:

“I want to feel more confident.”

“I want to feel sexy again.”

“I want to trust myself.”

“I just want to feel better.”

And if you’re a newer coach, this can feel tricky.

You either run with it as-is…

Or you get stuck because you don’t know how to actually coach something that feels so abstract.

Here’s the truth:

Those aren’t bad goals.

They’re just incomplete.

Your job as a coach is to take that vague desire and turn it into something your client can actually experience and move toward.

Intangible goals are:

Subjective
Emotional
Undefined
Different for every single client

So if you don’t clarify them, your sessions stay:

Abstract
Circular
Insight-heavy but action-light

You end up having conversations that feel good… but don’t actually create change.

Because you can’t coach toward something your client can’t see.

This is the work.

You’re not dismissing what your client wants to feel.

You’re translating it.

Confidence becomes:

What does confidence actually look like in your life?

What does it sound like?

What changes because of it?

Feeling sexy becomes:

How are you carrying yourself?

What are you doing differently?

Where does this show up in your real life?

Self-trust becomes:

What decisions are you making?

What are you no longer outsourcing?

We’re not coaching the word.

We’re coaching the lived experience.

This is where your coaching deepens.

Instead of staying at the surface, you start asking questions that create awareness and specificity.

When your client says “confidence,” you might ask:

What does that mean to you specifically?

How would you recognize that you’re feeling confident in a real moment?

To make it visible:

If I watched a video of you being confident, what would I see?

What would you be doing differently than you are now?

To anchor it in real life:

Where in your life do you most want this to show up?

What situation would immediately tell you this has shifted?

To explore contrast:

When do you already feel a version of this?

What’s different about you in those moments?

To define outcomes:

What would feel like a meaningful shift by the end of our time together?

How will you know this work is working?

And to bring in identity:

Who are you being when you feel this way?

What are you no longer doing when this is fully online?

When clients get specific:

They take clearer action

They recognize progress faster

They build real evidence

They start trusting themselves

And for you as a coach:

You stop guessing

You coach with direction

Your sessions actually go somewhere

This is high-level coaching.

This is evoking awareness.

This is active listening.

This is establishing clear agreements.

If you don’t slow down and clarify:

Sessions feel good… but don’t move.

Clients stay in “talking about it” mode.

You feel like you’re spinning your wheels.

Clarity is what turns coaching into change.

The next time a client says:

“I want to feel more confident”

Pause.

Don’t run with it.

Ask yourself:

Do we actually know what that means yet?

And for you as a coach, reflect on this:

Where are you coaching the word… instead of the experience?

Where could you slow down and get clearer?

If you want to build coaching skills like this, where your sessions actually lead somewhere, download the Anti-Hustle Business Checklist.

And if you want deeper support, Anti-Hustle Business School is where we practice this in real time.

You’re not here to coach vague feelings.

You’re here to help your client experience real change.

And that starts with clarity.

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How to Coach Around Intangible Goals