If we asked you to think about your goals, something would immediately pop into your mind, right? Maybe you want to go for a run every morning or read before bed every night. Maybe you even want to be more proactive with your team at work.

Your goals are right at the forefront of your mind, but you just can’t figure out how to change your day-to-day habits to get there. Frustrating, right?

Why do we find it so hard to shift our habits? Why do we hit the snooze button instead of going for that run? Or pick up our phone instead of our book at night? Why do we struggle to implement new plans at work?

It all comes down to the beliefs and habits that are so ingrained in us that we don’t even recognize they’re there.

That’s where a mindset coach comes into play. This specialized coach can help you recognize the bad habits and negative beliefs you formed at a young age — and then break free of them. They’re trained to help you identify and alter the subconscious mindsets that keep you trapped — and in the process, help you reach your full potential.

What Is Mindset Coaching?

Mindset coaching is an approach to leadership coaching that focuses on shifting habitual mindsets to become more positive or productive.  

What does that really mean in practice? 

Your mindset influences your thoughts and actions. Change your mindset, change your results. 

Consider someone who had extremely strict teachers in school, as an example. That person has likely learned the false lesson that authority figures are always out to get them. In the office, they might work to either avoid or appease their leaders. And if they’re ever promoted to a managerial role, they’ll probably replicate the strict habits they associate with successful leadership. 

Their experiences turned into a mindset, which then turned into habits, beliefs, and actions. 

A mindset coach could help this person examine the mindset they hold about authority and recognize that it’s false and unhelpful. Then, the coach could guide them in replacing their unproductive mindset with one that sees authority figures as supportive collaborators. 

What Does a Mindset Coach Do?

Mindset coaches follow a step-by-step process designed to help clients gain clarity on their ambitions and shift their mindsets so they can reach those ambitions. Here’s what that process looks like at The Pacific Institute: 

1. Identify your top goals. As with anything, having clear goals is key to success. A mindset coach will work with you to pinpoint the behaviors you want to change, align those with your personal professional development plans, and help you set relevant goals.
2. Understand what’s been holding you back. Then, the mindset coach will teach you how to identify the thoughts, beliefs, and habits that keep you stuck in a rut. You’ll participate in targeted exercises to practice spotting the thought patterns and automatic responses that pop up in situations related to your goals. And you’ll learn to question where those responses have come from.
3. Empower you with new strategies. Once you know what damaging mindsets you hold, you can begin dismantling them. The mindset coach will help you develop a strategy for recognizing unhelpful thoughts and countering them with more productive ones.
4. Provide you with tools to continue growing. Mindset improvement doesn’t end when your coaching relationship ends. Instead, your coach will give you tools and strategies to help you cultivate a healthy long-term, lasting mindset. 

What Are the Benefits of Working With a Mindset Coach?

When you control your own mindset, few achievements are out of reach. By successfully completing mindset coaching courses, business leaders can gain a whole host of benefits, from becoming a more impactful leader to inspiring greater employee productivity.  

Here’s what you’ll get out of a coaching program:

Improved self-awareness

The most important benefit of working with a mindset coach? Gaining a newfound understanding of how your own mind works — and how to make it work for you. 

After all, research shows that high self-awareness is one of the most important factors in executive success. 

Greater self-awareness empowers you to turn away from the negative thoughts or perceptions that would hold a less self-aware person back. You’ll be able to reject this negativity and embrace a more productive, growth-oriented outlook.  

Self-aware leaders are also humbler about their own strengths and weaknesses, which helps them capitalize on their strengths and give team members with different strengths more space to shine.  

Increased decisiveness

Better self-awareness brings two benefits: You’re more open to others’ ideas and more likely to know when to stick to your own. 

Instead of feeling paralyzed by anxiety or low self-esteem, a leader who’s worked with a mindset coach has the confidence to make strong decisions and stick to them. You can boost your own confidence and your team’s confidence in your leadership. 

Heightened positivity and motivation

Positivity isn’t just nice to have in the office. It’s also a motivation tool that drives teams to success. 

Without negative mindsets plaguing you, you’ll be better able to envision a positive future for yourself and your team — and feel empowered to work to make it reality.  

Better communication skills

Once you’ve shaken off the mindsets that make it tough to relate to your team members or leaders, you’ll be a much better communicator. 

People who have received mindset coaching are often more comfortable being open and honest with both their teams and their superiors. Your improved positivity, motivation, and honesty will naturally make you a more inspiring leader.  

Remember that your team members are looking to you to set the tone for their work. When they pick up on your confidence in them and the team’s goals, you’ll see boosts in employee productivity and the organization’s overall culture.  

Get Your Leadership Team Out of a Rut

You might have goals or even a detailed professional development plan in place, but you still might struggle to change your core habits. 

It’s normal to feel stuck like this. But it doesn’t have to be the norm. 

A coach can help you identify what’s keeping you in a rut and break free of it.  

With the support of a mindset coach, you and the rest of your leadership team can transition from a fixed mindset to a mindset focused on positivity, productivity, and growth — and bring the same traits to your entire organization.  

Ready to reach your full potential? Contact us to learn about our mindset coaching programs, anchored in behavioral and cognitive psychology.