Life coaching is sometimes defined as a method or practice of helping people to achieve goals.

For example, at the time of writing this is the kind of definition which appears in the internet encyclopedia Wilkipedia - see:

There are aspects of this definition which is helpful – for example, it draws attention to the following features of life coaching:

* Coaching is a forward thinking pragmatic approach as opposed to some forms of counselling which are more concerned with looking back into a client's past and interpreting that past

* Coaching is usually very focused – most coaches encourage clients to set targets and a series of actions to help them reach those targets. The actions will be a step by step approach to leading a client towards the targets. As a fairly obvious example, if a client is stressed from overworking they might set a target of reducing the amount of hours they spend on work-related tasks by 20% within 3 months. The coach can then seek to assist them in helping to learn strategies which will enable them to reach that target in a series of steps.

The focus on goals or targets can however leave something out. We are all human beings with NEEDS – emotional, psychological, spiritual, artistic and other. Indeed, the psychologist Abraham Maslow suggested that there may be 7 types of need:

* Physiological needs – such as basic needs for oxygen, water, food, sleep
* Safety and security needs – such as for stability
* Love and belonging needs – such as for relationships
* Esteem needs – e.g. for respect, self confidence, independence, freedom
* The need to know and understand – to learn and gain knowledge
* Aesthetic needs – the need for harmony, balance, beauty
* Self-actualization needs – for achieving one’s potential and finding fulfilment
* Transcendence – the need to connect to something larger than oneself or to help others reach their potential

Useful as focusing on goals is, it is important to recognise that we aim for goals in order to satisfy needs. For instance, in the example given above the client might want to reduce their time working in order to give them more opportunity to improve important relationships (in Maslow's terminology that would be about satisfying love and belonging needs) or in order to give them time to pursue their own interests (in Maslow's terminology that might be about satisfying self-actualization needs). As a coach it is often helpful to discuss with a client what needs they feel achieving their goal will help them to meet. 

Another way of exploring this is to ask a client:

What are the outcomes that you would like to achieve from your goals?

Here as a coach you are seeking to clarify with the client what the end result is that the client is hoping that achieving their particular goals will bring? What is the purpose of achieving those goals? Those outcomes will usually be something relating to satisfaction or fulfilment of a personal need or needs.

Outcomes the client might be hoping for could, for example, include one or more of the following:

* Greater job satisfaction
* A more harmonious relationship with less conflict in it
* Feeling better about themself and more confident
* A more healthy and balanced lifestyle

For example, if the client is thinking of setting a goal for themself of running their own business within 2 years, the outcomes they might be hoping this will bring could include:

* Greater independence
* More satisfaction with their work and
* A sense of personal fulfilment.

It will also be important to clarify with the client whether there may be potential negative outcomes from achieving their goal which they will need to weigh up against the positive outcomes. In this instance, they might reflect that achieving the goal of running their own business could produce some negative outcomes, such as:

- Less security and stability

- Pressure on important relationships.

Understanding the outcomes that ultimately the client wants therefore helps the coach to support the client in setting appropriate goals in a number of ways:

1. By clarifying what benefits the client hopes that achieving their goals will bring them
2. By clarifying potential downsides from achieving the goals
3. By helping the client to explore whether the goals they initially set are in fact the best way of creating the outcome(s) that they want.

If you can establish these things with your client then you are part of the way towards helping them to create goals which are meaningful for them and which they can be motivated towards achieving.