ChatGPT Prompts for Life Coaching: 12 for Sessions and Goals

ChatGPT prompts for life coaching help coaches plan a session and help clients think between sessions, as long as the person being coached does the deciding. The 12 prompts below cover session plans, open questions, values, goals, accountability, and knowing when to refer. Use them as a thinking partner, not as a replacement for a trained coach or a licensed professional.

Not professional advice: coaching is not therapy or medical, legal, or financial advice. If you or a client are in crisis, call or text 988 in the US, call 911 for immediate danger, or find a local line at findahelpline.com. Chats may be stored, so leave out names and identifying details.

What to paste first

Give the model the client's goal in their own words, notes from the last session without names, what they committed to and what happened, and the values they have named. Without the last commitments, ChatGPT plans every session as if it were the first. Without the client's own words, its questions sound generic.

Plan the session

1. Session aim

My client said, "[quote]". This is session [number] of [total]. Suggest three possible session aims, each one sentence the client could agree with, and the question I would ask to choose between them.

2. GROW question set

Write 3 Goal, 3 Reality, 3 Options, and 3 Way forward questions for a client who wants [goal]. Use open questions only and reuse these phrases from the client: [phrases].

3. Check-in on commitments

Last session my client committed to [actions] and did [what happened]. Write two curious, non-judging opening questions and one question that looks for what worked.

Values and direction

4. Values sort

I wrote down these things that matter to me: [list]. Ask me one question at a time to narrow them to my top three, and do not suggest values I did not mention.

5. Wheel of life debrief

I rated these life areas from 1 to 10: [areas and scores]. Ask me five questions about the gaps, then help me pick one area to work on first.

6. Letter from the future

Guide me through writing a short letter from myself one year from now about [goal]. Give me the prompts for each paragraph, then ask what the letter tells me to start this week.

Goals and accountability

7. Goal statement

Turn this wish, "[wish]", into a specific goal with a date and a way to measure it. Offer two versions, one smaller, and ask me which feels doable.

8. First three steps

For the goal [goal], list up to three first actions with when I will do each, how I will know it is done, and what might get in the way.

9. Weekly check-in

Here is how my week went against my plan: [notes]. Ask me three reflective questions, name one pattern you see in my own words, and help me adjust next week's plan without guilt.

Stuck points and scope

10. Reframe a limiting story

I keep telling myself, "[belief]". Ask me questions that test the evidence for and against it, then help me write one more useful sentence to try this week.

11. Obstacle plan

My goal is [goal] and the usual obstacle is [obstacle]. Help me write three if-then plans for that obstacle and a backup for a bad week.

12. Referral check (for coaches)

Here are my anonymized session notes: [notes]. List anything that may be outside life coaching scope, such as lasting low mood, trauma, health, legal, or money crises, and draft a kind way to pause and suggest a licensed professional.

Worked example

A coach was preparing session 3 of 6 with a project manager who works about 50 hours a week and wanted his "evenings back" to run again and spend time with his two children. He had promised to close his laptop after 7 pm on two weeknights and managed it once. The flagship prompt opened with a curious question about what made Tuesday work, wrote GROW questions in his own words, and linked the goal to the values he had named, family and health.

It drafted a goal for him to edit (laptop closed by 7 pm on three weeknights and two 3 km runs a week), three next steps with what might get in the way, a 60-minute timing plan, and a scope check that found no referral need but listed what to watch for. Get the full life coaching session plan prompt.

Variations

• Self-coaching: write the notes about yourself and ask the prompt to coach you one question at a time.
• Career focus: swap the values link for a skills inventory and ask for Options questions about roles you could test.
• Group coaching: give the shared goal of the group and ask for questions that each member answers in pairs.

Tips

• Ask for questions, not answers. If ChatGPT starts giving advice, tell it to return to open questions.
• Keep the client's own words in the prompt; questions built from their phrases feel personal, not scripted.
• Treat the scope check as a prompt for your judgment, not a diagnosis, and know your local referral options before you need them.

Related prompts

For goals outside coaching sessions, see ChatGPT prompts for goal setting and ChatGPT prompts for journaling. Clients who struggle to follow through can try the if-then habit system prompt or the weekly reset prompt.

If things feel heavy rather than stuck, talk to a licensed professional; in the US you can call or text 988 at any time. Find more in the Lifestyle prompts hub, browse all prompts, or share your own prompt.