Learning to coach can feel like being a cooking newbie in a kitchen full of interesting ingredients and tools. Everything looks intriguing, but you have no idea how to use them to create a delicious dish. For Wayfinder trainees, this experience can feel confusing and sometimes even overwhelming especially when you’ve got a client looking to you for guidance and direction. You may be asking yourself:
“There are so many tools to use! How am I going to know which one?”
The Wayfinder toolkit is like a recipe. It provides simple, but powerful direction, to help clients navigate change with more clarity, ease and self-belief.
But here’s the thing:
Every cook knows a that the secret to making a tasty dish lies in it is mastering the art of timing and sequencing. You need to know when and how to use the ingredients. You wouldn’t throw in all the ingredients into the pot at once and expect to serve up a delicious meal at the end of the cooking time.
Wayfinder tools are multi-purpose, but some fit well in particular parts of the Change Cycle.
Some tools are for when the client feels lost.
Some are for when they’re full of ideas.
Others help when they’re taking action or learning to trust who they’ve become.
Let’s walk through each Square in the Change Cycle, showing why a specific tool helps in that specific square, helping you support your client across all stages of change.
Square 1: “I don’t know what’s going on, and that’s OK.”
Square 1 is where the client feels confused or lost. Something in their life has ended or changed, and they are experiencing grief. They feel that there is something more out there for them, but they don’t know what it is. The goal here isn’t to push the client forward. It’s to help them pause and notice their inner environment.
Use The Work to question painful beliefs and soften mental noise. ACT tools help create distance from those thoughts so the client can begin to feel grounded (even if they still have no idea what they need to do next).
Square 2: “There are no rules, and that’s OK.”
This is the square of dreaming and scheming. Here, the client is starting to feel sparks of curiosity and possibility. But they’re not ready for action yet. Your role in this square is to help them explore without pressure and reconnect with their deepest desires.
Use Dream Analysis to allow the client’s subconscious to show them what their inner truth is. You can also use the Ideal Day to help their longing take shape without needing a plan. The Body Compass tool can also help keep the client in their truth by helping them feel their way forward.
Square 2 is all about being in a state of wonder and play. Let those take the lead.
Square 3: “This is harder than I expected, and that’s OK.”
Square 3 is where reality hits. The client now has to start moving toward change and this can feel scary. Fear, frustration, and resistance often show up in this square.
Use Conative Style to align efforts with how they naturally work. Living Space helps them see what needs clearing, inside and out. And the Metaphor Tool gives emotional blocks a shape they can identify and shift. Your role here is to provide support as the client takes action, helping them move forward one tiny step at a time.
Square 4: “Change is happening, and that’s OK.”
In Square 4, the client is integrating. Change is finally here. There’s more ease, more alignment, and a new identity forming. This is where you help them anchor, reflect, and own how far they’ve come.
Find That Feeling helps name the emotional energy they want to live from. Wildly Improbable Goals (aka WIGs) reignites their vision and allows them to stretch the edges of imagination. Your role in this square is to help them get grounded in who they’ve become.
General Tools: Used Across All Squares
Some Wayfinder tools are like the versatile Swiss army knife, and they come in handy for almost every kind of job. You can use these tools in almost any session, no matter what Square your client is in. They help your client go deeper, get unstuck, or shift direction entirely.
The Marmoset tool follows is all about sparking your curiosity as a coach, nudging you to explore a thought or feeling that the client didn’t even realise was significant. Area of Least Satisfaction is great when the client isn’t sure where to begin. Powerful Questions help the client open up for insight in every square. Turtle Steps break big goals into tiny, manageable steps. Use Categories of Human Experience to bring structure to vague desires. Say More encourages the client to go deeper. Lizard Thoughts help clients name and unhook from fear. HAT allows them to test ideas safely. And Coffee Talk is a soft, honest truth-teller, like having a casual conversation with a safe friend.
Your Presence is the Real Tool
Every tool in the Wayfinder kit is here to support the client access their own Truth.
This is why it’s important to understand what the client needs in each session. Do they need relief, vision, safety, moving forward, or a feel-good celebration of what they’ve already accomplished?
With practice, knowing what tool to use in each session will come intuitively.
In the meantime, we’ve created a nifty infograph to help you figure out what Wayfinder tools to use at a glance.
If you have any questions or need support navigating and completing your Wayfinder Training and Certification, please contact us.
(Adapted from the work of Martha Beck)
