Don't Believe Everything you Read on the Internet...Except Us!

Have you ever fallen for an April Fools’ prank that was just a little too convincing? Believed a “Nigerian prince” email for a split second too long? Maybe you’ve clicked on a toll road scam link or found yourself seriously considering an ad promising 100K in 90 days.

We laugh about these things after the fact, but being gullible can lead to more than just minor embarrassment. For coaches and clients alike, gullibility can become a form of self-sabotage. It erodes critical judgment, opens the door to manipulation, and can compromise the very foundation of a healthy coaching relationship: trust. Not just in others, but in oneself.

This time on CLCI Live, watch Jen Long (PCC), Anthony Lopez (MCPC), Brooke Adair Walters (ACC), Jerome LeDuff (MCLC), and Lisa Finck (MCC) as they look at gullibility, naivety, and how we can make sound judgments without being taken in.

What Is Gullibility, Really?

Gullibility is more than just being a little too trusting. According to Psychology Today, “Gullibility, defined as the psychological state whereby a person can easily be deceived, often results in ‘being duped or taken advantage of’ because the person makes decisions based on unlikely propositions that lack proof.”

In other words, gullibility is a cocktail of over-trust, emotional vulnerability, and uncritical thinking. It's not always about lacking intelligence—it’s often about having too much hope or too little skepticism.

As life coaches, we need to be especially mindful of this trait—not just in our clients, but in ourselves.

Gullibility vs. Naivete: What’s the Difference?

Gullibility often includes naivete, but it’s broader. Naivete is about lacking experience or knowledge. Gullibility is about a pattern of being easily persuaded, manipulated, or misled, even when we should know better.

A helpful analogy: being naïve is like walking into a room you’ve never been in before. Being gullible is walking into that same room again and again, despite the trapdoor you keep falling through.

In coaching, we’re not here to shame a naïve client. We were all naive once. And in fact, a little naivete, when paired with curiosity, can be a powerful coaching tool. It helps us stay open-minded and nonjudgmental. But when we lose the ability to assess, reflect, or question, we’re not practicing presence, we’re practicing passivity.

How Gullibility Becomes Self-Sabotage in Coaching

Gullibility doesn’t show up wearing a red flag. It can look like empathy. It can look like optimism. But when left unchecked, it can lead us into dangerous territory:

• Believing inflated promises from “coaching gurus” who claim they can make you a millionaire overnight.

• Trusting clients' narratives without exploring inconsistencies or helping them question their limiting beliefs.

• Falling for manipulative sales tactics or business decisions that aren't aligned with your values.

Coaching Gullible Clients: What It Really Takes

Many clients don’t walk into a coaching session and say, “I’m gullible.” Instead, they might say:

• “I keep getting into relationships with people who lie to me.”

• “I bought into another program that overpromised and underdelivered.”

• “I feel stupid for trusting someone again.”

  
  

Behind these admissions is often a deep desire to trust, to hope, to believe in something good. And while that’s not inherently bad, coaches must help clients strike a balance between openness and discernment.

So how do we do that without becoming cynics ourselves?

Ask, Don’t Tell

Good coaching doesn’t involve telling a client they’re being duped. It means asking the right questions so they can come to their own realizations.

For example, if a client is considering a “100K in 90 days” program, don’t roll your eyes—even if you want to. Instead, get curious:

• What draws you to this program?

• What does your gut say about this offer?

• If this doesn’t work out, what would the consequences be?

• What evidence do you have that supports or refutes this promise?

  
  

These questions don’t accuse. They activate critical thinking, something we often bypass because we only want something to be true, despite evidence to the contrary. In this way, you're not yanking hope away from a client, you’re empowering them to protect it.

The Cartesian Tool: Breaking the Spell

One effective method we teach at CLCI is the Cartesian logic tool. It helps clients think through all sides of a situation:

1. What will happen if I do this?

2. What will happen if I don’t?

3. What won’t happen if I do?

4. What won’t happen if I don’t?

   
   

This framework exposes consequences and assumptions that might be hiding behind persuasive language or emotional appeals. It also puts the power back into the client’s hands where it belongs.

Why Coaches Must Guard Against Their Own Gullibility

It’s not just clients who are at risk. Coaches themselves can fall for flashy business coaches, marketing schemes, or unvetted partnerships that drain their energy and finances.

A great test is to pause and ask: “Does this sound too good to be true?” If it does, it probably is.

As the Psychology Today article puts it, “Gullibility goes beyond a lack of critical thinking... you succumb to a false premise.” That’s a dangerous slope for a coach, who must guide others toward clarity and agency.

If you can’t question something, you can’t coach through it.

What's important to keep in mind for both us as coaches and our clients is that being gullible is not a fixed trait. It’s a tendency, a spectrum we all exist on depending on our emotional state, experiences, and relationships. But at its worst, gullibility is a form of self-sabotage. It replaces self-trust with self-doubt and leaves us vulnerable to manipulation.

Coaching helps clients (and coaches) come back to themselves. To trust again, not blindly, but wisely. Not in every promise or pitch, but in their own judgment.

And that's how you go from being gullible to grounded.

Thank you,

Jen Long (PCC), Anthony Lopez (MCPC), Brooke Adair Walters (ACC), Jerome LeDuff (MCLC), and Lisa Finck (MCC)

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