If you coach high performers, you know this client.
Nothing is wrong, exactly. Work is going well. Home is good. They have projects they care about. But their calendar is full from morning to night, and every item on it feels important. So nothing gets their full attention. They’re busy all day and still end each week feeling behind.
The 100-Day Letter was built for that client. It’s one of the tools we return to most at Performance Coach University. It does something a to-do list can’t: it forces a choice about what matters, and then plans for the moment that choice gets tested.
How It Works
The client writes a letter dated 100 days in the future. It describes what has happened as if it’s already done. The idea is simple, but how you coach it decides whether you get an inspiring daydream or a plan that holds up under pressure.
Why the First Draft Usually Fails
Almost every client’s first draft is a wish list: ten goals, all achieved, everything tied up with a bow. It feels great for about twenty minutes.
Research explains why that isn’t enough. Psychologist Gabriele Oettingen found that people with the most positive fantasies about the future often put in less effort and achieved less than people who were realistic about what it would take. The brain gets a taste of the win and relaxes.
So the real coaching starts with the second draft.
What It Looks Like in Practice
Dana came to coaching as a senior leader juggling a demanding role, a young family, and a side project she’d been “about to finish” for more than a year. Her first letter listed nine goals.
We cut it to three. In her rewrite, she described what she did each week, not only how things turned out. She wrote about her hardest moment and how she handled it. She wrote about what she said no to.
Then we flipped it. We asked her to imagine it was 100 days later and things had not gone the way she wanted. What happened?
Her first answers were about outside pressures: her workload, her team. Then we asked, “And what did you do when that happened?” and the real answers came. She said yes to too many requests. She checked email first thing every morning, so the day ran her instead of the other way around. When she was tired, the most important work slid to “tomorrow.”
None of these were about being busy. They were about what she did when she got busy.
For each one, she wrote an if-then plan. If someone asks me to take on something new, then I’ll say, “Let me check my priorities and get back to you tomorrow.” If I reach for my phone before 9 a.m., then I’ll open my project file instead.
This is where the research earns its place. Peter Gollwitzer’s work on implementation intentions shows that deciding in advance exactly how you’ll respond to a specific situation makes follow-through substantially more likely.
Dana shared her letter with a close friend. She didn’t ask for applause. She asked her friend to text every Friday with one question: did you protect your mornings? Each day, she spent about 60 seconds reading one paragraph of her letter, picturing the obstacle most likely to show up, and saying her if-then plan out loud.
By Day 100, one of her three priorities hadn’t happened. Our debrief on why turned out to be one of our most useful sessions. But she finished the project that had stalled for over a year. She protected her mornings most days. She turned down two commitments that would have eaten her time.
Her workload didn’t shrink. What changed was that she knew what mattered and what she was doing about it. Being busy and being productive are two very different things.
Coaching Tips From Using This With Clients
Hold the line at three priorities. High performers always want to add one more. More goals usually means less follow-through on all of them.
Go deeper in the pre-mortem. Clients start with outside reasons, like “my boss” or “the economy.” Keep asking, “And what did you do when that happened?” That’s where the real coaching happens.
Check in at Day 30 and Day 60. A vision nobody revisits slowly turns into wishful thinking.
Treat a missed priority as data. The goal that didn’t happen often teaches the client more than the ones that did.
The 100-Day Letter Template
Copy this into a notebook or document and fill it in.
Step 1: Pick your focus. Choose one to three priorities for the next 100 days. For each one, write what success looks like on Day 100 and what you’ll do consistently to get there.
Step 2: Write your letter.
Dear ______,
Today is ______ (100 days from now).
As I write this, I’m in ______ and I’m feeling ______.
The biggest change over these 100 days was in who I became. I’m now someone who ______.
Here’s what made it happen. Week after week, I ______.
The hardest moment came when ______. Here’s what I did next: ______.
To make room for what mattered most, I said no to ______.
Someone who helped me along the way was ______. And someone I was able to help was ______.
Not everything went to plan. ______ didn’t happen, and here’s what I learned: ______.
I’m proud of myself because ______.
I can’t wait to see what’s next.
Step 3: Run a pre-mortem. Imagine it’s 100 days from now and things did NOT go the way you wanted. Write the three most likely reasons. Look for what’s in your control.
Step 4: Make your if-then plan. For each reason, complete this sentence: “If ______ happens, then I will ______.”
Step 5: Share it for accountability. Share your letter and plan with one person you trust. Ask them to check in weekly on your actions, not your vision.
Step 6: Practice daily for 60 seconds. Read one paragraph of your letter. Picture today’s most likely obstacle. Say your if-then plan out loud. Name one action that moves you forward today.
Step 7: Check in on Day 30 and Day 60. What’s working? What’s not? What needs to change? Update your letter.
Missed a day? No problem. Reading 20 times is better than 10. Reading 10 times is better than zero. Perfection is not required for success.
Want the printable version, complete with a 100-day tracker and the research behind each step? Reach out and ask for the 100-Day Letter, and we’ll send you a copy.
Words are powerful. And words combined with action make us unstoppable. Ready to help others turn their vision into results? Explore the ICF-accredited Level 1 and Level 2 programs at Performance Coach University. [ICF coach training program link]