Nudging – Applications in Coaching

  • Post category:Personal Growth
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This image explains Nudge Theory- Applications in Executive Life Coaching
Nudging- Applications in coaching

‘Nudge’ theory was proposed originally by Thaler and Cass Sunstein. This concept can be adapted and applied to life coaching for enabling and encouraging changes in behavior and perspectives to get desired outputs.

By knowing how people think, we can make it easier for them to choose what is best for them,” wrote Thaler and Cass Sunstein in their book Nudge, which was published in 2008.

In life coaching, a nudge is more like an enabler of, cognitive functioning which facilitates a person to proceed with the desired behavior.

This works by designing an environment to influence behavior in what is called “choice architecture”.

As an executive life coach, I use this to create a better choice architecture to help my coachees make good decisions in their life. This happens when coachees are made to think about their current reality, factors holding them back, and available options. 

In life coaching, modifying the choice architecture to encourage a certain behavioral output, without proscription of any options, is a “nudge.” It taps into the free will coachees’ display in decision making. 

Using associations, identifying with social norms, introspective probing, and deepening awareness, empowers coaches to choose their path with confidence.

Success in life coaching lies in getting the coachees to think reflectively on the choices they make, paths they go down and goals they aspire to reach in their lives. It is based on understanding and allowing for the reality of situations and human tendencies.

Additionally, Nudge theory offers a wonderful methodology for identifying, analyzing, and re-shaping existing choices that influence coachees. 

Nudge methods are easier for people to imagine doing, and less threatening and disruptive to do. They are indirect, less confrontational, non-judgmental, open-minded, and based on cooperation.

To know more contact me on www.percyvaid.com

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