Coaches generally assume that their clients will be happy after they've achieved their goals which is not an unreasonable assumption and which is a belief shared by the majority of clients. It may not however be helpful as it will be argued in this paper that such an approach may well contribute to a phenomenon labelled as the 'tyranny of when' and also to a range of problems including negative self-defeating emotions such as frustration. As an alternative the author proposes that rather than waiting until success is achieved happiness and positivity should come first and foremost. By promoting the 'primacy of positivity' coaches can help their clients' achieve their goalsby capitalising on the significant findings of Fredrickson Lyubomirsky and others and by leveraging off the energy and motivation created.