Habits that sound simple to some people — don’t procrastinate, journal every day, take walks, manage your time better, speak up, stay calm under pressure — often feel anything but simple to others.
For a growing number of Kenyans, these personal battles (bad habits) are now driving them to seek a habit coach and pay upwards of Sh50,000 to unlearn counterproductive behaviours and build good ones.
Sarah Awour's decision to hire a habit coach last year was not only to unpack her emotions but also understand her purpose.
“Emotionally, my major recurring ones were anger and anxiety, especially driven by work and family,” says Sarah who is in her early 30s.
She says she wanted clarity on what she was good at, what she enjoyed, and how to better manage her highs and lows.
Sarah had tried therapy before but says it did not help much because she lacked an accountability partner and did not connect well with one of the therapists.
Her habit coaching sessions involved working through Brené Brown's Atlas of the Heart List of Emotions and journaling daily about a specific emotion.
“For instance, at the workplace, I may have been having a couple of rough weeks because it is peak season at the office and I’m overstretched. So, whatever I’m feeling is not anger. I’m just exhausted. Being able to understand what I am feeling and then having the tools to deal with it better, has helped,” she says.
Her habit coach also encouraged her to meditate, exercise, and have difficult conversations that would help her unpack her past and release emotional baggage.
Sarah says she attended two sessions a month over eight to 12 months, under a hybrid arrangement. Almost a year later, she says one of the habits she has managed to build is journaling every day. She is also more patient with people and less defensive.
“On purpose, it is still a work in progress. I have been trying different things to see what sparks me, including revisiting childhood hobbies like drawing and painting,” she says.
Sarah says habits such as journaling and taking walks sound simple until it is 6:30pm, a meeting has not ended, her brain is fried, and she has to be honest with herself about what she can manage.
To anyone considering hiring a habit coach, she says: “It is a lot of work in terms of self-introspection, so you really need to be ready to unpack yourself.”
I used to procrastinate and avoid
Last year, Miriam Wanjiku, 30, rejoined the finance industry after being away for several years. She quickly realised the workplace had changed.
“I struggled with keeping up with everyone and needed to change a few habits, like procrastination and how to talk with staff, especially having hard conversations, because I came back in a managerial position,” she says.
Recognising that avoidance had become her coping mechanism, Miriam says her brother recommended a habit coach. “I trusted his habit coach because of his results. He really struggled with timekeeping and communication, and the more sessions he did, the more he improved,” she says.
During the first session, Miriam says they took time to get to know each other and lay a foundation for the work ahead. “We started with the emotional workbook every week, tackling three emotions: avoidance, procrastination and dealing with stressful situations. I realised that most of my procrastination comes when I have to deal with stressful situations,” she says.
Though change was difficult, Miriam says she started noticing progress about three months into the programme. Today, she says, she is a better manager.
“I became vulnerable and open with them; they also opened up to me, and now we are working so well I can’t imagine it is the same team,” she says.
Besides working on bad habits, Miriam says she has also built healthier ones, including empathy, connection, belonging, and learning to navigate negative emotions from a place of calm. Still, she says the hardest part was the emotional work and being truthful with herself.
Her advice to anyone considering a habit coach is simple: “Don’t approach it with a closed mind, but an open one. Approach it as a way to improve your life.”
I struggled with time management
Lewis Muiruri, 45, an ICT consultant, says he hired a habit coach in 2024 to improve his time management and prioritisation, especially when everything seemed urgent.
He says that in a business networking organisation he belongs to, members receive biannual leadership training, including lessons on how to manage the 168 hours in a week.
“Sticking to that timeline becomes a problem. I can take a simple habit like researching and go deep into the rabbit hole for an hour or two, yet I have other important things pending,” he says.
To change, Muiruri says he had to become very deliberate, even when the process felt draining.
Since beginning coaching, he has created routines for both the end and start of his day.
“In the past, after 10pm, I would probably work and then do some research until past midnight. In the morning, I would feel like I was in a marathon because I had not slept enough. Now, I have a wind-down routine that involves journaling, assessing the day and planning what I want to do the next day,” he says.
Though he is yet to fully incorporate going to the gym into his morning routine, he says he now exercises from home and spends more time with his children before they leave for school.
His advice to anyone planning to hire a habit coach is to make sure the person is professional. “Ensure he or she is professional because there are confidential things that you will share,” he says.
My relationship exposed my bad habits
For Richard Gitau, 29, who works in the fitness industry, it was his romantic relationship that pushed him to seek the help of a habit coach.
He says that although he had previously gone to therapy to understand his struggles with dishonesty, fear, avoidance and people-pleasing, he still lacked the tools he needed to overcome those habits.
“I’d avoid confrontation or conflict with my girlfriend, and do things to please her even though I didn't want to do them. So, I realised I was not being my authentic self,” he says.
Two years later, Richard says working with a habit coach has made him more self-aware and more conscious of the situations around him.
Richard says the impact of coaching has also spilled over into his work as a fitness coach. “Before, if I got mad at my clients, I would not tell them. Now, I am able to speak up and create boundaries," he says.
Why habit coaching is catching on
Edwin Moindi, a habit coach at Moindi Consulting, says much of daily life is driven by habits. “About 43 to 50 percent of your day is habitual. You do not structure it, but it happens unconsciously," he says.
Edwin Moindi, a habit coach at Moindi Consulting.
Photo credit: Shutterstock
“The question then becomes: can you control it better so that it gives you better success in the things you are doing? When we are intentionally thinking about the things we want to do, most of the time we are worried, anxious, indecisive, or we make a decision and fail to follow through. Then, when we are not thinking, we are living off a script that is not even ours.”
He says many people seek motivation through church, support groups or inspirational spaces, but often find themselves slipping back into old patterns once the motivation fades.
We can be motivated in January, then in February, you fall back into a script, which is your habits. So, the question is, how do you best change?
The starting point is awareness. “We start by asking, what are those habits that you have, and what can you change in them? They do not have to be negative, but good habits allow you to succeed while bad ones pull you back,” he says.
Who is the clientele?
Mr Moindi trains top-tier corporate women in their 40s and 50s, to men and women building their careers, to mid-level professionals seeking career shifts.
“Most people who engage me are dissatisfied with where they are currently in their lives. Sometimes you also find parents with children in their 20s who want them to start off well, build a career better, and become more visible and understanding of their lives,” he says.
Habit coaches are not life coaches. The difference between life coaching and habit coaching lies in how deeply he engages with a client's past, psychology and operating system.
“That is why habit coaching starts with a lot of self-awareness. Can you get to know yourself first before you try to change yourself in terms of habits?” he asks.
With his coaching programmes running between six and 12 months, Mr Moindi shares that the first three months are focused on self-awareness and the next three involve taking small, intentional steps.
“Anything that counters your core beliefs is, for most people, very difficult to change. So, it calls for accountability, integrity, and willingness to move forward.”
For example, high achievers. If you ask them intimately, what is driving you, what is pushing you towards success, when they sit quietly by themselves, you may find it is loneliness, a desire to be seen, to be validated. So, a lot of people find high success, but they are very lonely.
How I became a habit coach
According to Mr Moindi, the hardest part of being a habit coach is seeing people's potential while resisting the urge to push them.
“A lot of people do not want to take responsibility for their lives, and you see it in blame, guilt, shame, apathy and anger. Part of taking responsibility is owning your emotions. A lot of people say, 'You made me angry.' It is not that person, but you deciding to be angry. So, taking agency is for how you think, how you feel, and how you act," he says.
His journey into habit coaching was shaped by personal loss and self-examination. After quitting his job and losing his father to cancer, Mr Moindi began asking himself what he needed to change to become a better person.
“So, I did counselling, learned how to communicate better and learned how to swim in the ocean. When I looked at the three things, they were more together than apart. The counsellor allowed me to unpack my fears, my past, and my life issues. Based on that, it also helped me face my fears in water and communicate not from a place of fear,” he says.
That transformation inspired him to start habit coaching. Today, he charges between Sh20,000 and Sh50,000 per monthly session, depending on a client's needs.
