I am often asked which Coaching Tools and Exercises I like best, use most, would recommend or would not be without. Below, I share the tools that I think are most universally useful for coaches and our clients, plus a little on how to use them! Enjoy.

First, if you're wondering what Coaching Exercises are, read our Complete Guide to Coaching Exercises & Tools >>

And we'd also love to hear from you which tools and exercises you use most - or find most useful - in your practices. So as you're reading this, if you think of any essential coaching tools you use, simply comment below!

Here are the 9 Coaching Exercises and Templates I would not be without:

1. FREE: "The Wheel of Life" Coaching Exercise. Recently updated, I consider this to be the ultimate coaching tool. It's endlessly usable for different applications. Also see our article with 12 different ways you can use the Wheel of Life here.
2. "What Makes My Heart Sing?" This coaching exercise draws out the experiences where people are in flow or very present with themselves. Then you coach them to see how the experiences they've chosen are both easy to create and - usually - free! Great for helping people begin to understand what creates joy and happiness. Great for: life-coaching, spiritual workshops, one-on-one sessions and also for homework as part of values exploration. Ultimately this exercise helps our clients connect with what makes them truly happy and to see how easy it can be to create that.
3. The "Big Rocks" Coaching Exercise uses a powerful metaphor of trying to fit rocks, pebbles and sand in a jar and how we tend to fill our lives with sand and pebbles first and leave no room for our "Big Rocks" . The story and concept comes first and then a jar with "Big Rocks" is used as a visual to help them prioritise their activities and cement the learning. You coach them around identifying, learning to prioritise and action the "Big Rocks" first, and then to put their metaphorical pebbles and sand in AFTERwards. Great for: Anyone who struggles with many priorities and tasks - especially moms! Also great for business, executive, career coaches and corporate workshops to help with procrastination, improving productivity and being more focused.
4. "The Urgent Important Matrix". This coaching tool helps people become very AWARE of how they could waste less time - and be more productive. So like "Big Rocks" it's a great tool for business and corporate use. Great for: This coaching exercise is very versatile and helps absolutely everyone better understand how they currently spend their time - and to identify and eliminate their unique time-wasters. With the amount of television, internet and social media usage these days this tool couldn't be more relevant!
5. "Spheres of Influence". This coaching tool reminds me of the serenity prayer - to focus on what we have control over and let go of the rest. There are 3 concentric circles representing what we have 1) control, 2) influence and 3) everything else. The client focuses on a current issue and fills out the circles . This coaching exercise helps with identifying where and where NOT to spend their time and energy - and decide which actions to focus on. Great for: Life! OK, so any situation where your client is worrying over things they have no control over. Also, corporate situations where there's a lot of change in the environment. This concept is a powerful take-home for workshops!
6. The "Personal SWOT" Coaching Tool. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. It is an age-old business tool that has been adapted for personal use. Who wouldn't benefit from an inventory and understanding of their talents, skills and so-called 'weaknesses'? Great for: Fantastic coaching opportunities around the client's "opportunities" (goals) and "threats" (self-improvement and actions). AND this tool can also be used for confidence boosting - to help the client value themselves and spiritually to help them accept their weaknesses as part of the whole. I love this tool - while it's great for career, executive and business coaches, it's also great for life-coaching, self-confidence boosting and self-awareness generally.
7. "Energy Zappers" or "Tolerations" Coaching Tool (Free). These are simple, powerful "list" tools that help clients identify literally what's zapping their energy or what they are tolerating. Coach them around eliminating these energy sucks and freeing up more energy for their goals and life. Great for: Anyone - because we all have things we are tolerating or that zap our energy. A fun group exercise in workshops where you'd like your client to free up more energy, this coaching tool is helpful for any type of coach with any type of client!
8. "Life-Mapping Tool". This visual coaching tool gives a helicopter overview of significant events in a client's life. It specifically asks for events of importance to the CLIENT and not what others would think. And because it asks for what is significant for THEM (not just so-called achievements) it gives clues to values, meaningful goals, limiting beliefs and more! Great for: This is an awesome tool to start a coaching relationship with. It's more fun and powerful than interviewing a client or getting them to write out events - and the relative "peaks" and troughs give an instant overview for both client and coach to move forwards from together.
9. "Detox Your Relationships". We ALL have difficult people in our lives - and when it comes to family and work colleagues we may have little choice about it. This coaching exercise helps our clients assess who energises and who drains them. They will also begin to think what they can do about it! Then you coach them to find more time for people that energise them, and less time or different strategies for those who drain them. Great for: Fabulous for individual coaching - whether in a career or broader life situation. Watch out: While it's excellent for a teleseminar, use with care in a workshop situation if people know each other. Workshop attendees may appear negatively on another attendees list and will someone feel they can be honest with a friend sat right next to them?

There you have it. The tools I think are most universal. But as mentioned, I'd love to hear from you which tools and exercises you use most - or find most useful - in your practices.