What Coaches and Mentors Can Learn from The More of Less
A coach finishes her sixth client call of the day, throat tired from talking, and thinks the thought she's had for a couple of years now: once she gets a better system for managing clients, she'll finally have energy left to actually help people well instead of just keeping up. She has tried three different scheduling tools already. Her client roster keeps growing because turning anyone away feels like a failure of purpose, her toolkit of frameworks and worksheets keeps expanding because each new certification adds more material, and the energy she wants never shows up, because she has never named what she actually wants that energy for. Owning less, whether it's client load or the materials she offers, only works as a means toward something specific you've chosen; trim commitments without naming what you're clearing space for, and the trimming has no direction, so the schedule fills right back in. Once that destination is named, it becomes obvious which clients, tools, and offerings actually serve the work she set out to do.
The whole book, compressed
This edition works through 4 core lessons — take them one at a time, not all at once.
What's different for your conditions
Tap whichever ones sound like you. Nothing here is sent or saved — it's just for your own noticing.
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The core lessons, applied to you
Naming what your coaching practice is actually for
Before turning away a client or archiving a framework, name what you actually want your time and energy for — deeper impact with fewer people, income that supports a specific life, room to keep developing your own skills. Without that anchor, any space you clear in your schedule just fills with the next inquiry.
A coach declines new clients for a month to "protect her energy," then fills the freed hours with unpaid administrative tasks and content creation, ending the month just as depleted because she never named what the protected time was actually for.
Write one sentence naming what you want more energy and time for in your practice this quarter, and check new client inquiries against it.
How client load and tools compete with that goal
Every additional client, framework, and certification draws on the same limited attention and energy your best work requires, and each one seems reasonable to take on alone while together they leave nothing left for the clients who need you most.
A mentor accumulates five different coaching frameworks from various trainings over the years, then spends each session mentally sorting through which one to apply instead of simply being present with the person in front of her.
List your current clients and tools, and mark which ones clearly serve the specific impact you named as your goal.
Removing the easiest excess first
Start with unused frameworks, outdated worksheets, and low-fit clients you've been meaning to refer elsewhere, before addressing anything tied to a long-standing relationship. Small, low-conflict cuts build the clarity needed for harder conversations later.
A coach tries to overhaul her entire client roster in one week, feels guilty about every name on the list, and abandons the effort instead of starting with the outdated worksheet template she hasn't opened in a year.
Retire one unused framework or worksheet this week, and notice whether your sessions actually suffer for its absence.
Re-examining as your practice grows
A well-matched client roster rarely stays that way indefinitely. New certifications tempt you with new tools, referrals bring new types of clients, and work that once fit your strengths can quietly stop fitting as your practice matures. Revisiting your client load and toolkit on a regular basis, rather than trusting one adjustment to hold, keeps your energy pointed at the impact you actually set out to have.
Naming your goal and trimming client load can conflict when a long-standing client no longer fits your focus but the relationship still matters to you. Resolve it by referring them to someone better suited rather than framing it as abandonment — the relationship can continue in a different form.
Name one thing, honestly
If your current roster of clients and tools only reflected what you named as your practice's real purpose, what would you change first?
Good. Now look back at the "Try this" line under whichever lesson feels most connected to what you just wrote, and treat that as this week's actual assignment — not all 4 at once.
The practices from this edition
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Run this for seven days
Retire one unused framework or worksheet this week, and notice whether your sessions actually suffer for its absence.