51 Curious Questions to Transform You and Your Coaching Business

From the desk of Ajit Nawalkha, Founder, Evercoach

Curiosity. I believe if we turn to curiosity in our life to find answers to our challenges, our fears,
we can change the course of our life. Our businesses. Which is why I send a curious question
with each email I send over to you when you are subscribed to Evercoach.

Here you see a compilation of 51 curious questions that might insight some thoughts and
hopefully shift your paradigm just a little bit more.

1.“What is your motive to take action?”

I found if I know the motive for my clients’ action, if I know their purpose, their motivation, it’s
easier for me to bring them to alignment, to find their mojo again, to go through a tough time
and come out strong.
You should try to diagnose that. Note that even. Find your clients motive to take action.

2. Do you learn or “copy”

You might have seen a bazillion online ads promising the greatest new trick to get clients.
While it’s important to learn from others about what’s working, what is even more important is
the understanding, that you only learn from them. Don’t copy.
As you learn, find your way to do things. To build your business. Learn. Don’t copy.

3. “What scares you?”

Fear can lead to inaction. What are you scared of? If you can find out what scares you, you
can build a strategy to get past it. You can get past it.

4. “What do you believe in?”

Our decisions and opinions are a reflection of our beliefs. By beliefs here I don’t mean
religious beliefs. Knowing what your client believes in different aspects of life, specially in
context of your conversation, can be transformative for you to build great rapport with them.
Or at least a better understanding.

5. “Tell me more about that”

A useful ability while coaching a client is your ability to spot when there is a shift in energy
when the client is speaking about something. If you spot that, and you go down that rabbit
hole, you can often find gems of transformation waiting for you there.
When you spot that energy an open question like, “Tell me more about that” is more powerful
than a complex idea.
Look for these energy shifts and be brave to ask the question. Find those gems of
transformation.

6. “What are you focused on?”

I got reminded of this question while helping out a friend this afternoon. They are in a tricky
situation. They came to me for some guidance.
I ended up telling them this story.

Ajit Nawalkha
I had a friend, her name was Psalm Isadora. Phenomenal teacher. We lost her last year. She
came to me when she was struggling in her business. We sat down together over coffee, and
I asked her the same question, “What are you focused on?”.
I started writing down everything she was focused on. There were too many things to be able
to have any focus.

That conversation changed her approach to what she did. It changed what she would end
up doing, in the following 12 months she would grow her business by 200%.
Which is why today I ask you, “What are you focused on?”

7. “How do you fuel your brain?”

You already know that if your brain is fueled well, it will create some outstanding results! So,
how do you fuel your brain, and how do your clients do that, too?

8. “Is this person helping me grow or holding me back?”

I had a little challenge in my life recently. I was experiencing a little stress and I wasn’t feeling
very aligned to what I was working on. I realized it was stemming from my personal life. I am a
very inviting person when it comes to friendships, and so is my wife, Neeta. This means often
we invite people to our house, and even to our lives.

I found myself challenged with a particular person which lead me to asking the above
question to myself.

Is this person helping me grow or holding me back?

This is a hard question when you ask in relation to a pre-existing friendship. Even for a new
friendship, but this tough question can sometimes show you the reason for why you are
feeling the certain way at a certain time. It’s important to answer this question, for you and
for your clients.

Ask yourself, “Is this person helping me grow or holding me back?”

9. “Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity. To seize everything you ever wanted in one
moment. Would you capture it or just let it slip?” This question is from Eminem..
What would you do?

10. “Are you meeting game changers?”

Not just excellent people in their field, but game changers. The ones who make an industry.
They often can show you something in yourself that you may otherwise never see.

11. “Do you tap into your innate intelligence?”

When you coach someone as you using the infinite resource that you have access to or are
you limiting yourself to the limited resource that is in front of you? Won’t it be powerful to tap
into the infinite. Think about that.

12. “Do you make a personal growth plan?”

Most of us make a plan for business growth. We write down what our goals are, how we will
get there and so forth. But do you write your personal growth plans? On how you will become

Ajit Nawalkha
a better human being? Same for our clients. Ask them this, “Do you make a personal growth
plan?”

13. “How do clients experience your work?”

One of the questions I ask myself is: How can I have my clients experience my work even if I
was not there with them. Even if they can’t afford me. Books are a great channel for that.

14. “What do you do to rejuvenate?”

We work so much behind our laptops and screens that it causes creative fatigue. Our emails
become dry. Our processes mundane. If on the other hand we can create rituals to
rejuvenate, it allows creativity to flow.

15. “How are you making your business simple to understand?”

This has often been a question on my mind. You see we grew so fast here at Evercoach that
our business just became really complicated. Earlier this year we started to make our business
easy. I want to invite you to think → how are you making your business simple?
This also is a great question for the businesses you coach.

16. “What is success for you?”

Think about that.

17. “What are different ways you are create a positive change for your clients?”
We know that our clients are not just one-dimensional. They are not only working with us
when they are on calls with us. They follow us on social media and other public forums. Why
not be an example for them there? I am making my feeds more consistent and positive. Are
you?

18. “What scares you?”

Asking someone this question and waiting for the response, letting them sit in silence to find
that answer in their heart, can be impactful. It reveals what they are secretly scared of. Not
just the surface stuff, but deep rooted fears. Fears which hold us back subconsciously.

20. “Who are you inviting in your inner circle?”

It is important to have a strong inner circle. It is also important to constantly expand your
inner circle. Which is why it’s important to be careful of who you invite in your inner circle.

21. “Is it true?”

It’s a simple question that without context means nothing. But with context it can allow you
to challenge your facts that you may assume to be true.
For example, “Coaches don’t make money” → Is it true? If you would do some research you
would find it to be not true despite the fact that it is a commonly stated and accepted myth
in the industry. Always ask the question: Is it true?

22. “What is the learning in this experience?”

We intellectually know that all experiences provide us with learning. When it comes to
embodying it, when it comes to really asking what we did learn from it, we seem to forget.
When it’s trying times we focus our attention so much on the event itself, we forget to ask for
the meaning of it.

Ajit Nawalkha
23. “How do you learn best?”
We all have different learning styles. Books, programs, events. We all learn differently. How do
you learn?

24. “What is the outcome you are looking for?”

Often we do take action as a reaction. A response to something that’s happening in the
world. I invite you to start with the outcome in mind. A few days ago I asked you about your
vision 10 years from now. If that was where you wanted to be in 10 years, what do you need to
do today? Who do you need to learn from today?

25. “What would you do to be more productive in your workplace?”

It has been found that most of us spend 70% of our lifetimes at work, yet we go about our
work reacting to situations instead of creating more productivity in life?

26. “Are you getting in your own way?”

We often become the biggest reason for our failure. We block our own way. We intellectually
know we are stopping ourselves, but we fail to ask for help. We fail to engage with a coach
that can really shift our reality.

27. “What can you do to bring together your tribe?”

If you feel lonely, if you feel alone, ponder on that question. Ask yourself how can you bring
your tribe together... and then bring them together :).

28. “What is exciting for you in the coming 10 years?”

This is a great question to ask your clients. When they get in their minds and start panicking
about what’s happening in their now, it shifts the way they look at things.

29. “What bothers you about your industry?”

It bothers the heck out of me that we are getting trained for greed. We are getting trained
for making more money only and not for true transformation. Create transformations and you
will make money. It’s not a hypothetical. It’s not some bullshit story. It’s the truth. What’s
bothering you about your industry? Fight that paradigm. Change that paradigm.

30. “How do we bring more fun to work?”

As we built our business we started to wonder: Why is our business becoming increasingly
boring. Why is there so much “work” in the air? Why can’t we have more fun while we were
“working”? How do we induce play at work?
It’s a fun question to ask and it makes work so much more joyous. Bring fun to work.

31. “Are you willing to bet it all?”

Sometimes we shy away from putting our money where our mouth is. We make it less risky.
But when we are willing to bet it all, the results can be juicy. When we bet a major chunk of
change to create Master’s Circle for you, it seemed like a stupid idea. It surely has turned out
to be a platform unmatched and uncontested... and we are just getting started.

Ajit Nawalkha
32. “What promise does the future hold?”
We can look at the future with a sense of fear, or a sense of hope. If we keep the perspective
focused on the promise, we can see what possibilities are there for us.

33. “Are you learning from the best? Are you connecting with most progressive? Are you
keeping your learning practical?”
This will change the programs you will enroll in. Communities you will connect with.

34. “How often do you read?”

Reading is a way to learn. An effective way. We are always tempted to buy a lot of books.
How often do we reference them? How often do we read them? How often do you and your
clients read books?

35. “What’s your business growth budget?”

Sometimes a few things are obvious to you but are not so obvious to everyone else. One of
those things that have been rather obvious to every business I have started is
having a business budget. I always start with a certain budget. Seems obvious but you might
not have considered that. You might not have considered that starting a business does need
some investment.

I invite you to think about that budget. When you start. When you are looking at scaling your
business to. Financial budget and time budget. Also, look out for questions this week. I think
they might give you a little more insight on how to plan this part in your business.

36. “What’s your why?”

Often the big difference between a master enroller and a novice is their why. Their belief in
why they do what they do. Why should the client say yes? I invite you to explore your why
more.

37. “Do you know at which stage of business you are?”

One of the keys to move through one stage of business to another is to be able to know and
recognize where you are in the journey. The awareness of that alone gives you confidence in
the future and an understanding of the journey.

38. “Are you asking your clients how you can help them?”
It is the same question as yesterday. It is so because it is the foundation of an innovative
business. It’s in alignment with understanding your clients. I know we are aligned with your
needs, because we are always asking questions that will give us more insights. Are you doing
the same?

39. “How am I becoming a better coach everyday?”

At the back of our minds we are always asking a question that gets us to show up the way
we do. Sometimes that question is “how much can I enroll this client for?”, sometimes, “Who
can I enroll?”.

Ajit Nawalkha
40. “What is the small step you can take towards this big dream?”
It’s the same question as yesterday. There is a reason for it. This is a question we listen to.. And
then we just move on. The key step is to start thinking and taking the small steps

41. Have you scheduled what you want to get better at? Are you getting down to it and
doing it?

42. “How do you think about sales?”

Sales sometimes is seen as a bad thing. A dirty term. How do you see sales? Is that an
empowering belief? If not, would you like to challenge it?

43. “Are you training yourself for higher conversions in your conversations?”
Like any business, every interaction with a potential client in your business is critical. A good
hearty sales conversation may lead to a sale, or can lead a client to have the aspiration to
work with you someday. You need to know how and when to position your sales when in a
conversation. Train for it.

44. “What’s your conversation starter?”

We know, to enroll a client we need to serve them first. We need to get them a result. But
before that, how do they even know about us? How do they even start a conversation with
us? Why would they even start a conversation with us? Think about that. “What’s your
conversation starter?”

45. “What’s your wish list?”

Do you have a wishlist for who you want as a client? Maybe some names you would love to
work with? Or at least a profile? Have you looked at it in a while and wondered if you still
want to serve them as clients?
Could be a good idea.

46. “Do you let them stop you?”

It might be subconscious that “their” opinion affects you. Work through it. Don’t let it stop
you.

47. “What do you believe to be absolute truth?”

It’s a question we never think about. We never write down what we absolutely believe in. Here
is what knowing and stating that can do for you.

I believe that my life is about love and service. Which makes my values Serve. Love. This
makes me always come from a place of service and love and also allows me to challenge
anyone who thinks otherwise.

I believe that entrepreneurs can live big. They don’t have to be stressed and anxious all the
time. They can be joyous, fulfilled and happy most of the time. I am willing to argue it with
everyone.

Ajit Nawalkha
I believe that clarity fuels intensity and outcome. For when an entrepreneur gets clear. They
become unstoppable.
These beliefs of mine allow me to be able to help any client in these areas. It helps me attract
clients who are looking for these things in their lives. It helps me build my methodology
around having my clients experience these outcomes.
So.. “What do you believe to be absolute truth?”

48. “Does your current business model serve your vision?”

A quality question that checks in if your business is still in alignment with your goal is to ask if
your business model is serving your vision. If it’s not, it needs to change.

49. “What would Seinfeld say?”

Do you know Jerry Seinfeld? If you don’t I recommend you to look up Comedians in Cars
Getting Coffee. Watch a bit of it to understand the personality of the host of the show, Jerry
Seinfeld (he also was the writer and main character Seinfeld in the popular comedy series
Seinfeld).

The reason I ask you to check it out is because I find him to be a truth teller. He keeps it real.
He is on point. At the same time he is light and chill about it.
Which is why I ask myself this question when I am hoping to get an honest answer. “What
would Seinfeld say?”

50. “How do you deal with “new”?”

Is “new” scary for you? Or do you get curious about it? I have seen often that new can mean
scary, because it means change to our clients. As you explore new ideas there is some
stiffness there in their body. You might want to check in on that. Also, check in for yourself.
What does new mean to you?

51. “Do you ask when you need help?”

This is possibly the hardest thing for me. To ask. The good thing, I have people around me
who would tell me when I am just being scared. They would challenge me. They will make me
do things that I won’t because of fear. Do you have these people around you?

Ajit Nawalkha