An article about JournalEngine: a tool for coaching. Written by Kim Ades for our E-Coaching Community of Practice

1. The Power of JournalEngine™:
Journaling Meets Coaching
by Kim Ades
For centuries people have used the journaling process for a myriad of reasons: to stimulate a
healthier mind and body; to vent and express thoughts and feelings in a healthy, constructive
manner; for increased self-awareness; to document life experiences; even to get closer to God.
Today, journaling is widely accepted as a powerful tool for promoting increased emotional
intelligence. For coaches, trainers, mental health practitioners, and leaders of all types,
journaling is perhaps the most effective coaching tool that exists – yet one of the most
underutilized resources. Until now.
The proprietary JournalEngine coaching platform opens the door to leveraging the power of
journaling in a simple and cost-effective way, helping coaches create and provide a deeper,
more meaningful engagement with their clients.
Here’s why you should incorporate journaling into your coaching business:

Gain Access to Critical Information
Reading clients’ journals gives you critical insight into their values, beliefs and behaviors.
This information is crucial for effective coaching and for helping your clients get past the
barriers that stand in the way of their success. This source of information is vital for deep
poignant coaching that has a long term impact.

Calls are RICH – no wasted time
Reading clients’ journals in between calls keeps you up to date with their lives on an ongoing
basis. What that means is that when you are meeting on the phone or in person, you are
already caught up and can jump right into moving forward, delivering high value on each and
every call.

Continuous Self-Reflection
Asking clients to journal daily encourages them to self-reflect regularly. The effect is an
increase in attention to the role they play in their own lives and a greater sense of ownership
and responsibility for their relationships and their personal circumstances. They feel a greater
sense of empowerment with every passing week.

No Loss of Momentum in Between Calls
When you ask your clients to journal, you maintain contact and your clients keep consistent
focus on their personal development, especially in-between calls. This means that there is no
sliding backwards, but always forward movement. Some say the magic or the growth happens
in between calls.

2. 
Increased Trust and Rapport in a Shorter Period of Time
Journaling in a safe and secure online environment enables clients to share their fears, their
insecurities and past experiences with greater ease. Trust is built more rapidly, enabling you
to move more quickly with your clients.

Faster Results
Giving your clients the forum to express themselves in a journal means that you are getting
more done with your clients in a shorter period of time. You are covering greater ground and
getting to the meat of your coaching with greater speed.

Documentation of Progress
When clients journal every day for the duration of their coaching period, they are literally
documenting their progress and tracking their change over time. They can look back to the
beginning of their journey and see how far they have travelled with you.

Proof of YOUR Impact and Influence
As they are documenting their experience in their journal, they are also creating evidence of
their evolution. This is extraordinarily powerful as a testimony of your impact on their
success. Your comments are available for their review, and the value of your time together is
tangible.

Safety Deposit Box for their Story
Their journal lives long after their coaching with you has concluded. This creates a long term
bond with you that draws them back over and over again. They have a need to return to the
story they created, and you are the holder of that story.

Coaching Groups Means Journaling Together
When you coach a group of people, you can ask all the participants to share their journals
with one another and spend some time reading and responding to each other’s journals. This
adds infinite value to the coaching experience and establishes an online journaling community
that stays together long after coaching is complete.
Coaches who incorporate journaling into their businesses can boost their confidence, their
revenues and results. JournalEngine Software allows coaches to respond to client journals,
create courses, assessments, weekly homework and goals. Coaches send out newsletters,
create seminars and establish a coaching community.

3. Coaches who would like to try out journaling with their clients can sign up for a
complimentary 14-day JournalEngine trial at www.journalengine.com.