The following is an excerpt of an actual transaction between David and a client in Top Coaching Techniques.

Client: Doing what makes me feel happy would be a great situation for me.

David: Okay, how can you even shorten that? Let’s get it punchier, so you can remember that whenever you need to?

Client: Maybe, ‘Doing what makes me feel happy is fantastic’?

David: Right. Okay. I get that. How about, ‘I should do what makes me happy’.

Client: Yes, but I want to get away from the ‘shoulds’.

David: Yes. I get it.

Client: What about, ‘Doing what makes me feel happy lightens up the world’?

David: Aha. Now you’re talking. How do you like that?

Client: Yeah. I like that. That feels really good. I’m actually going to print this up on my computer in really big writing and just stick it up on my desk.

David: [laughing] That’s great. I was about to suggest it. You need some kind of structure to support this shift and you jumped right in. ‘…lightens up the world’, which I know you believe too. We’ve just done two really important things for your authenticity and your integrity.

Client: It feels huge. Feels like one of those really big areas under the carpet that’s affecting everything, until you can gradually peel back the table that was on top of the carpet and then actually do some cleaning.