In a world where external narratives tell us who we should be and what success looks like, you need a way to find your own path and make positive changes.
This is self-authoring.
It’s an intentional approach to personal development that puts you back in the writer’s chair of your own life story, not a character swept along by circumstances.
If you’re a life coach looking for a self-discovery tool for your clients or someone who wants to live a meaningful, healthy, and productive life, this guide is for you.
What Is Self-Authoring?
Self-authoring is a series of structured writing programs to help people explore their past experiences, present personality, and future goals. It’s an evidence-based process that turns vague, introspective questions into useful personal insights.
Self-authoring exercises aren’t simply casual journaling sessions or online writing programs.
The approach is based on solid research on the benefits of expressive writing. The Cambridge Core study and National Institutes of Health report show that writing about emotional experiences and trauma positively influences health, including mental and physical health outcomes.
When people turn their experiences into coherent stories, they often experience reduced stress and anxiety, better academic and professional performance, and greater clarity about goals and values, among other things.
Dr. Jordan Peterson’s Self-Authoring Suite
Dr. Jordan B. Peterson developed the Self-Authoring Suite with his co-founders, Daniel M. Higgins and Robert O. Pihl, clinical and research psychologists at McGill University and the University of Toronto.
The Creator Profiles:
- Dr. Jordan B. Peterson, Ph.D: Founder, Psychology Professor, UofT
- Daniel M. Higgins, Ph.D: Founder, Head of Software Development
- Robert O. Pihl, Ph.D: Founder, Psychology Professor, McGill.
The suite is a series of online writing programs that collectively help you explore your past, present, and future. If you’re purchasing the entire suite, it costs $29.90.
Parts of the Self-Authoring Suite
Each part of the Self-Authoring Suite addresses a different temporal dimension of human experience—past, present, and future.
Here’s what each program entails and how they work to achieve overall personal growth and self-love:
Past Authoring Program
The Past Authoring program asks you to divide your life into epochs (childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, etc.) and identify key events within each.
You then write detailed accounts of those events, exploring their emotional impact—positive and negative—and what you learned from them.
The past authoring program does several important psychological things:
- Integration of tough memories: By revisiting painful experiences in a structured way, you can process emotions that may have been suppressed.
- Recognition of formative influences: When you understand how past events have shaped your beliefs and behaviors, you become aware of patterns that may be helping or hindering you.
- Story coherence: Writing your life story helps create a stronger sense of self and meaning.
The goal of past authoring isn’t to dwell on the past but to put it to rest by understanding its influence on your present self.
Pricing: $14.95
Present Authoring Program
Source: Simply Psychology
Present Authoring, which is structured around the big five personality models, consists of two separate but complementary programs:
This program helps you identify and understand aspects of your personality that are causing problems in your life. Rather than just listing flaws, you explore how these traits show up in your behavior, what triggers them, and how they impact your relationships and goals.
Here, you examine your positive qualities and strengths, how they’ve helped you overcome challenges, and achieve success. This present authoring program builds self-awareness of your capabilities and how to use them better.
As you get a clearer picture of both your limitations and strengths, you’ll have a more balanced understanding of yourself and be able to make better, intentional choices.
Pricing: $14.95
Future Authoring Program
Future Authoring guides you through creating a detailed vision and implementation plan for your life 3-5 years out.
The process includes:
- Reflecting on what would be a good life for you (not based on others’ expectations)
- Identifying the specific goals and skills you want to achieve
- Understanding why these goals matter to you
- Developing concrete, actionable plans to achieve them
- Anticipating obstacles and planning how to overcome them
The research supporting the future authoring approach is impressive:
- A study with undergraduate students found that completing an abridged version of the Future Authoring program during freshman orientation led to significant improvements in academic performance and retention. Only 14% of students who completed the Future Authoring program dropped out by the second semester compared to 27% in the control group.
- Other university studies showed that Future Authoring improves their performance in terms of GPA and credits earned.
- More than 10,000 people have used Future Authoring to achieve more while reducing anxiety about the future through increased clarity of purpose and direction.
This structured approach to goal setting emphasizes that goals are more motivating and achievable when they’re specific and personal, and you have an implementation plan.
Pricing: $14.95
How They Work Together
While each can be valuable on its own and is available for separate purchase, you’ll get more when you do all of them.
Together, they create a process of self-knowledge and intentional development:
- Past Authoring helps you understand how you became who you are and how to resolve past issues that may be holding you back.
- Present Authoring (Faults and Virtues) clarifies your current strengths and weaknesses to create an awareness of where you are right now.
- Future Authoring channels this self-knowledge into a meaningful vision that drives positive change. This program addresses our basic human need to make sense of our lives by creating coherent stories that connect our past, present, and future selves.
When people take the time to write carefully about themselves— processing their past, understanding their present self, and envisioning their future—they become happier and more effective at pursuing what matters most to them.
Is Jordan Peterson’s Self-Authoring Program Worth It?
When deciding whether to invest in the Self-Authoring Suite (for yourself or to recommend to clients), you need to know what you’re getting and who benefits most from this approach.
What’s Included In the Program
When you buy the Self-Authoring Suite, you get:
- Access to all four modules (Past, Present-Faults, Present-Virtues, and Future Authoring)
- A series of structured writing prompts for each module
- A secure online space to write and save your responses
- The ability to revisit and revise your writing indefinitely
This is a self-paced program with no live components or interaction with the creators. This makes it more accessible and affordable than many other personal development programs, but it requires self-motivation.
Who Benefits Most from Self-Authoring
Based on reviews and research data, certain types of people get the most value from the self-authoring process:
- People at transition points: Those going through major life changes (graduating, changing careers, ending relationships, etc.) find the structured reflection particularly helpful for clarity.
- Those seeking direction: If you feel lost or uncertain about your path, the Future Authoring program can be especially valuable for priorities and direction.
- Those processing difficult experiences: Not a replacement for therapy, but the Past Authoring program can help make sense of tough life events in a constructive way.
- Students and young adults: Research shows strong benefits for young people who are still figuring out their identity and direction.
However, it may not be as beneficial for those who struggle with written expression or prefer more interactive personal development.
Self-authoring can enhance the coaching experience by providing structure for reflection and a private space to explore complex thoughts. This builds awareness and makes coaching sessions more impactful.
While individual results vary, most reviews suggest those who complete the full program get a lot of value for the money, especially compared to multiple therapy or coaching sessions addressing similar issues.
Here are some real-life reviews of this program:
Source: Richard Meadows
Source: Nelisiwe Zangana
How Coaches Can Use Self-Authoring
The Self-Authoring Suite can be a coaching exercise that offers several benefits for you and your clients. These include:
- Research-backed coaching technique: You can offer a structured process grounded in science, and this adds credibility to your practice.
- Deeper insights: Self-authoring can reveal patterns and priorities that might not come up in conversation alone, so you get more to work with in coaching sessions.
- Between-session progress: Clients can work on self-authoring exercises between coaching calls to keep the momentum going.
- Scalability: For group coaching programs, self-authoring provides a framework all participants can work with independently.
With Paperbell—the all-in-one coaching platform that handles scheduling, payments, and client management—integrating self-authoring into your coaching practice is seamless.
Here are some ways to do this:
- Create self-authoring offers as writing assignments between coaching calls.
- Send automated emails to clients about their self-authoring assignments to increase completion rates.
- Use the file-sharing feature to provide custom self-authoring prompts and coaching questions to clients.
- Have clients upload their completed self-authoring exercises before sessions to review.
This integration will enhance the client experience and reduce your administrative burden so you can focus on transformative coaching.
FAQs About Self-Authoring for Coaches
What does self-authoring mean?
Self-authoring means actively writing your own life story through structured exercises. The term comes from the idea that each person can be the author of their own life story, consciously shaping its direction and meaning.
Is Jordan Peterson’s self-authoring program worth it for clients?
Most clients who complete the program report positive outcomes that justify the investment. Research shows particular benefits for academic performance, goal achievement, and reduced anxiety.
How much is the self-authoring program?
The Self-Authoring Suite, which includes all the programs, is $29.90. Individual programs cost $14.95 each.
How long does it take to do the self-authoring program?
Time commitment varies depending on writing speed and depth of reflection, but each program is around 4-5 hours. Most people take several weeks or months to complete the work in 1-2 hour sessions.
Do I need special training to guide clients through self-authoring?
No special certification is required to offer self-authoring as part of your life coaching practice, but you should know how the process works.
Can I create my own self-authoring for clients?
Yes! Many coaches create their own guided writing exercises inspired by self-authoring. Your own version can be tailored to your specific coaching niche and clients’ needs. You can create a life coach workbook that includes these exercises.
Start Your Self-Authoring Journey
Self-authoring helps many who are stuck in cycles of negative thinking or drifting through life without direction make lasting positive changes that move them forward.
As a coach, offering this structured process to your clients gives them a powerful tool for self-awareness and growth.
Ready to create a coaching package around self-authoring? Get started with Paperbell today.
