How to Create Coaching Magic: The Mindset is Curiosity

In our first blog, we explored the foundational state of love in coaching. Today, we turn to the mindset that unlocks growth and transformation: Curiosity.

Curiosity: The key mindset in Coaching

If the state of BEing is LOVE, then the mindset of a great coach is curiosity.  In the world of coaching, curiosity is more than a buzzword—it is the engine that drives discovery and insight.

When clients come to coaching, they often seek new perspectives after exhausting familiar solutions. They’re searching for the illumination of blind spots, fresh insights, and more effortless ways forward. Curiosity is what allows both coach and client to uncover the root of what’s holding them back and to see new pathways ahead.

The Magic of LOOSING your mind

Curiosity as a mindset means inviting the brain to do what it does best: decide, connect dots, gather, store, and retrieve information. Our brains are marvels—magical, even if they don’t sparkle. But magic happens more effortlessly when we loose our minds.

To “loose your mind”—spelled L-O-O-S-E—is to shake things up, stretch out, and make space for new connections. When we hold too tightly to what we already know, curiosity can’t breathe. As coaches, we must keep our minds limber, just as athletes stretch to stay flexible and ready for optimal growth.

Practices to Spark Curiosity

Here are three playful ways to cultivate curiosity, for yourself and your clients:

1. Play Every Day  

  Make play a daily habit. It doesn’t have to be big—think back to something you loved as a child and do it for just five minutes. Play shakes up a tight mind and makes space for open ended activities that don’t require a conclusion.

2. Take Curiosity Walks  

  Inspired by Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, try taking two twenty-minute walks each week. On these walks, notice something you’ve never seen before, even if you’ve traveled the same path countless times. You might even find that  these walks help you  find new stories, analogies, and approaches to life’s challenges for you and your clients. 

3. Talk to Strangers  

  Break out of your usual circles. Talking to strangers—people outside your family, friends, and colleagues—broadens your perspective and connects you to humanity’s rich diversity. Each new conversation offers a fresh lens through which to view the world.

Creating Space for Insight

Coaches who nurture their own curiosity are better equipped to create the spaciousness needed for insight. When we approach each session with a loose, playful, and open mind, we invite both ourselves and our clients to see the world—and themselves—differently.

Curiosity isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a way of thinking. It’s the mindset that transforms coaching from a process into a journey of discovery.

Stay tuned for the next blog in this series, where we’ll explore the skill of listening in coaching magic. Until then, loosen your mind, play a little, and let curiosity lead the way.