These books will teach you how to:
- Start a coaching business in the right way, and scale it effectively
- Implement the GROW coaching model
- Ask the right coaching questions in the right way at the right time
- Enable clients to become the best versions of themselves
- Embrace the imperfections and turn them into power
- Increase your emotional intelligence
- Make people like you, and influence them
- Unlearn old bad habits and obtain new healthy ones
- Live in the present moment and find your inner-self
- Embrace the harsh reality of life and stand with power
- Be a badass who goes through life fearlessly
- & much more
Written by the best leaders, coaches, and inspirational characters of all times, these books will surely help you to quickly become a better life coach on every spectrum.
So without further ado, let’s get into the list of the best life coaching books of 2022:
1. The Prosperous Coach by Steve Chandler and Rich Litvin
With over 75000 copies sold, “The Prosperous Coach” stands as one of the best coaching guides ever written, especially from the business perspective. Two incredibly great coaches Steve Chandler and Rich Litvin will teach you how to effectively get coaching clients and deliver high-quality service through discipline, confidence, and compassion. You will learn the invitation and referral-based coaching model that attracts a smaller amount, but high-paying clients.
According to the authors, you don’t get clients but you create them. To validate this point, the authors share a simple framework that will increase the chances of landing new clients. The framework is based on Connect, Invite, Create, and Propose principles. The authors also destroy the common coaching myths and prove that social media presence, courses, masterclasses, email lists, and other tools are not necessary for effective coaching. These things can be helpful but not required.
Instead, coaches should focus on different things, which some of them are:
- Creating a portfolio of articles, books, and quotes that is relevant to the target audience.
- Engaging in deep conversations to provide real value, and demonstrate your expertise.
- Inviting clients to join you, rather than asking them to do so.
- Appreciating your worth, and charging accordingly.
- Following up with clients in a way that makes them feel comfortable.
In addition, the authors share some practical tips and tricks that you can implement while working with your clients. For example: “If you haven’t heard back, send a gift and a note. Don’t even refer to working together. Contribute and serve. You don’t need them; they need you. Behave accordingly.”
The strategies and methods shared in the book helped thousands of coaches around the world to head start and scale their coaching businesses. Whether you are a new coach or you already have a six-figure coaching practice, this book will help you create a coaching business that is both profitable and fulfilling.
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2. The Gifts of Imperfection by
Chasing perfection could be destructive to our growth and prevent us from being happy. This statement was proved well in “The Gifts of Imperfection” written by American professor and researcher Brené Brown.
The author is known for her research which was based on shame and its effects on human minds. She conducted that those who manage to embrace their imperfections tend to live happier lives. According to Brown – perfection is an illusion. Now it doesn’t mean that we should not improve ourselves, it means we need to change our attitude toward improving.
Your coaching clients face something that prevents them from succeeding, which is why they have asked for your support in the first place. These limiting beliefs are often caused by comparing yourself to others. Apparently, comparing yourself to others is not only an unhealthy habit but also a very irrational one. Comparison is only logical when there are more similarities than differences, and people are simply too different to be compared.
This concept inspires another idea – everyone should strive to be authentic and unique, and that will ultimately lead us to happiness. This book is a real gem in the life coaching industry as it truly helps readers find their inner selves, be more grateful and strive to be a better version of themselves rather than other people.
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3. How To Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie
Dale Carnegie was a reputable lecturer, and creator of courses on self-development, corporate training, public speaking, and other areas. Even the well-known investor Warren Buffet once took advice from the author.
This best-seller book can teach you and your coaching clients the most essential principles of social interaction in both professional and personal environments. While many believe that people are born with the ability to get along with others, Dale Carnegie denies this theory and claims that it is a skill that must be learned.
Although this masterpiece was written in 1936 its methods are still very relevant today. The book outlines 30 timeless principles that are key to building solid and meaningful relationships between clients, co-workers, managers, or friends.
Here are some of the principles:
- To get the best of an argument, avoid it
- Don’t criticize, condemn, or complain
- Never tell a man he is wrong
- Ask questions instead of judging and giving orders
- Remember the names
- Talk in terms of other’s interests
- Use encouragement to empower other people
- & many more
After reading this book you and your clients will learn how to not only present yourself in an attractive way but also tactically influence people and make them agree with you.
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4. Coaching For Performance by John Whitmore
The coaching pioneer John Whitmore was the first to introduce the well-known GROW coaching model to the world in 1992. His framework was so effective that it is still being widely used today by the biggest businesses and organizations around the world.
In “Coaching for Performance” book, the author perfectly explains how enabling individuals to be their best versions of themselves is the secret to boosting productivity, engagement, development, and growth. From the day of publishing, this book quickly became a coaching bible for managers, executives, and life coaches.
The main idea of this book is that rather than passing on knowledge to coachees, we should strive to help them realize and unlock their full potential. According to Whitmore, emotional intelligence is a life skill that can be learned and is a critical competency for leaders at all levels of leadership. The author also points out how useless it is to promote someone without giving them the chance to truly feel empowered and realize their talents.
Packed with corporate examples, coaching dialogues, and proven-to-work coaching practices this book will remain a life-changing source for coaches, clients, businesses, and organizations.
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5. Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway by Susan Jeffers PhD
To discover where fears originally come from, the book introduces us to the 3 levels of fears – surface, generalized, and underlying. It also outlines and explains the 5 simple concepts about fear:
- As long as you keep growing and experiencing new things, the fear won’t ever go away.
- Going out and doing it is the only way to get rid of a phobia of doing something.
- Going out and doing it is the only way to feel better about yourself.
- When approaching the unknown, not only are you terrified, but everyone else is as well.
- Pushing through fear is less frightening than living with the bigger underlying fear that comes from a feeling of helplessness.
Packed with interesting insights, and humor, this book will surely help us practice positive thinking, take responsibility, handle changes in our relationships, make the right decisions, and ultimately embrace life to the fullest. You can highly inspire yourself and your coaching clients who struggle with fear after reading this book.
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6. Working with Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman
Emotional intelligence is the single most crucial element in work performance and career progress. In fact, emotional intelligence is a set of skills that everyone can learn. Daniel Goleman outlines these skills, clarifies their significance, and demonstrates how they can be developed in many ways,
In his book psychologist, and science journalist Danie Goleman destroyed the myth that a high IQ is the most important factor of high performance. After conducting research in more than 500 organizations and many business leaders from around the world, Goleman came up with an amazing fact – the importance of emotional intelligence is two times greater than the importance of IQ or technical proficiency.
Emotional intelligence is almost 90% of what separates high-achievers from average people. Businesses that manage to perform in an emotionally intelligent way are more likely to be striving and succeeding in the long run. Daniel Goleman provides essential skill sets and training guidelines to become emotionally intelligent.
This book will help you to become more emphatic, collected, and generally open-minded. You will get to know the best tactics to manage your emotions, and become more aware of your social surroundings. These qualities are a must to obtain for every successful life coach.
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7. Make Money as A Life Coach by Melissa Ricker
In the book “Make Money as A Life Coach” two great coaches Melissa Ricker & Sally Miller teach the secrets and strategies of life coaching from the business standpoint. It reveals how lovely it can be to make money from your home while helping other people. All you need is a phone, an internet connection, and most importantly – passion.
According to the authors, starting a life coaching business is much easier than many think, and you don’t have to be figured out everything in life for that. The methods stated in the book are easy to understand and implement in real life. If you follow everything correctly, you should land your first coaching client in as little as 30 days.
The book answers all the most frequently asked questions by upcoming online coaches, and clearly guides you through 3 main coaching business processes:
- Identifying the ideal coaching niche
- Coming up with a marketing strategy
- Confidently conducting a discovery call
In addition to buying this book, you will be invited to join a free Sally private community where you’ll receive extra training, accountability, and support.
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8. The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin
The writer Gretchen Rubin in her New York Times bestseller trains readers to define themselves by introducing our four tendencies. We all fall into one of these hard-wired tendencies from the second we are born, and we cannot escape them. According to the author, every aspect of our behavior is dependent on which tendency we lean towards, and identifying our tendency is the first step toward success.
We can make better choices, meet deadlines, experience less stress, and interact more successfully by recognizing which tendency we belong to:
- Upholders: Those who fulfill both inner and external expectations.
- Questioners: They tend to meet all expectations, but only if there’s enough reason for that.
- Obligers: They respond well to outer expectations, but struggle to meet internal ones. This is the most popular tendency.
- Rebels: Those who rebel against both inner and outer expectations. This is the least popular group.
Once we identify our tendency, the book will assist us in becoming happier, healthier, more productive, and more creative – all with the help of acute insight, compelling research, and humorous examples. This book reveals a simple yet powerful self-analysis framework, which you can successfully implement when coaching your clients.
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9. Atomic Habits by James Clear
You probably already heard about this one. “Atomic Habits” by James Clear is the #1 New York Times bestseller with over 4 million copies sold. The book teaches interesting mind tricks and strategies on how to obtain new healthy habits as well as unlearn the old ones. It gives you incredibly valuable information that you can convey to clients who have identified their goals and looking for the best ways to execute them.
As the author states – “You don’t rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems”. Entirely focusing on your goals is not an effective approach. Instead, you should establish a habit-driven behavior that will allow you to quickly achieve what you want. For that, James Clear introduces 4 laws of habit change:
- Make it obvious
- Make it attractive
- Make it easy
- Make it satisfying
Packed with interesting case studies and analysis, the book drives self-awareness and reveals some interesting concepts like habit stacking, attractive craving, or environment setup. It gives you a deep understanding of how habits work, and how minor adjustments in our lives can bring massive changes. Atomic Habits is a must-read piece for everyone, especially for coaches on life, finances, relationship, health, and other areas.
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10. The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
Eckhart Tolle has an interesting take on time. According to him, time is a notion that the human mind invented to aid us in navigating the real world. “Clock time” is important for scheduling things as well as for reflecting on the past and creating future objectives. However, in most cases, time is just an illusion.
Everything that has ever occurred or been produced has taken place in the present moment, which is simply known as “now.” And everything that is going to occur in the future, will also occur in the present moment. But the majority of people are not aware of that. Most of our time is spent thinking back on the past or wishing for a better future. In the process, we miss the “Now,” which is the only genuine moment we have.
The ultimate goal of this spiritual self-help book is to help readers find truth and light that inspires them to go on a spiritual journey to uncover their deepest selves. Since the author has sold over 2 million copies of this book, it definitely has important lessons to teach that can be useful for you and your clients.
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11. Coaching Questions by
As you know, asking questions that encourage personal exploration, concentration, clarity, and decision-making are one of the most effective things you can do as a coach. But many coaches get confused about not only what type of questions to ask, but also how and when to do so.
Tony Stoltzfus who co-founded two coaching schools and trained over a thousand coaches, explains everything you need to know about coaching questions. This guidebook not only provides you with about 1500 question examples but also teaches how to correctly ask them in specific scenarios.
The question examples are organized by the technique and they can be used in general coaching as well as in coaching on specific areas. The set of questions works great for individual coaching sessions, including self-care, transformation, business, or career training.
Besides question examples, there you will find information on how to get started, setting up agreements, different conversational models, life purpose discovery, as well as effective life coaching tools. This book is a real deal for new coaches who want to have an effective blueprint to start with and use it as a helpful reminder on the go.
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12. 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
Your and your client’s lives will be more productive if you follow the advice given in “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” book. The habits represent a proven framework of personal and professional growth that can have an immediate and long-lasting impact on individuals, teams, and organizations.
The book focuses on following the timeless principles of justice, integrity, honesty, and human dignity rather than on trends and popular psychology. The author Stephen R. Covey lays out a step-by-step process for living with these values by introducing 7 important habits:
- Be proactive
- Begin with the end in mind
- Put first things first
- Think win/win
- Seek first to understand then be understood
- Synergize
- Sharpen the saw
Stephen defines a habit as the intersection of knowledge, skill, and desire, and we need to have all of these qualities to make a habit count. Therefore, it’s essential to change the worldview before adopting the habits of highly effective people.
Packed with useful insights and anecdotes “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” is one of the most captivating books ever written, and it has been inspiring to achieve effectiveness in all areas of life for over 25 years.
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13. You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero
“You Are a Badass” by Jen Sincero is an entertaining self-guide that shows how to become self-aware, identify your goals in life, and have the courage to pursue them without worrying about what other people think. The book will spark your ambition allowing you to realize how unique you are in this world full of endless possibilities.
While the concept in this book is universal, the message especially appeals to millennials who struggle with self-doubt, fear, criticism, and other life obstacles. It reveals how our subconscious mind is poisoned with manipulating and sabotaging thoughts and suggests the best practices to eliminate them.
The book emphasizes the importance of self-love, mindfulness, and energy exchange. You must love yourself and stop looking to others for validation of your choices if you want to live a fulfilled life. Positive thinking and connecting with the “Energy Source” will elevate our frequency and also allow us to live a life of greatness.
Packed with practical knowledge, humor and occasional swear words, this empowering book will let you understand why you are the way you are, how to accept what you can’t change, and alter the things you despise. Once this book is finished and fully digested, you and your clients will be ready to go through the world with a “kick-ass” attitude.
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14. 12 Rules For Life by Jordan Peterson
“12 Rules For Life” written by a famous clinical psychologist and professor Jordan Peterson teaches amazing life lessons while guiding us in the right direction towards achieving the real purpose of life. The self-help book empowers characters by outlining the harsh reality of life and establishing practical ways of dealing with hardship. It also signifies the importance of being truthful, honest, and curious.
All the book’s values are packed in 12 effective yet a little bit controversial rules of life:
- Stand up straight with your shoulders back.
- Treat yourself like you are someone you are responsible for helping.
- Make friends with people who want the best for you.
- Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today.
- Do not let your children do anything that makes you dislike them.
- Set your house in perfect order before you criticize the world.
- Pursue what is meaningful (not what is expedient).
- Tell the truth – or, at least, don’t lie.
- Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don’t.
- Be precise in your speech.
- Do not bother children when they are skateboarding.
- Pet a cat when you encounter one on the street.
Some of the rules have literal and metaphoric meanings, For example, the first rule of life teaches us not only how to be strong and accept new challenges of life, but also how the right posture can psychologically and physically affect our lives.
The interesting Jordan Peterson’s take in a book was about happiness. The author encourages readers to look for meaning in life rather than happiness. It’s because, if happiness is the purpose of life, what happens when you’re unhappy? Then you’re a failure. Peterson explains how people are born with the instinct to be meaningful rather than happy, and that’s an amazing concept to can convey to your clients who feel unhappy.
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15. The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier
We often tend to overcomplicate the coaching process, but according to Michael Bungay Stanier, coaching can be way easier than we think. In his book “The Coaching Habit” the author offers clear guidance that can be put into practice to help anyone become a motivating coach. Although it is more aimed at the managers rather than the coaches, both types of audiences can massively benefit from this book.
The book describes the attitudes and behaviors needed for managers to inspire their staff to become more self-sufficient. It also teaches powerful lessons that form healthy and effective coaching habits.
The author explains and proves how being a good leader and coach is not that difficult at all. By asking simple questions, in the right way at the right time we can make significant changes in a team. All we need to do is to ask questions and listen carefully. In addition, instead of organizing rigid and formal meetings without employees, we should rather focus on doing short and casual coaching sessions.
The main objective of this book is to teach leaders to demonstrate compassion and interest in people by asking less and listening more. Thus that proved to be a very simple yet effective coaching strategy.
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Final Words:
If you haven’t read any of these books, you are missing out not in your personal, but in your professional life too. Not to mention the life coaches who need to have a level of expertise in all areas of life.
The books mentioned in this article will help you to build a successful coaching business and genuinely become an effective coach. They will teach practical and timeless knowledge about habits, self-awareness, performance, productivity, business, and other spheres, which you can convey to your coaching clients.
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