7 Reasons Health Coaching Works
What if you had someone in your corner,
to walk alongside you, and to support you?
Do you ever find yourself feeling stuck or overwhelmed when trying to get motivated to make healthy changes that you know will be good for you? Maybe you tend to start off strong but never seem to be able to make these new healthy habits stick. You are not alone! This is the main reason so many of us continue down the same path, with the same routines, even if they are negatively affecting our health.
The unfortunate truth is that major health issues are on the rise. Now more than ever our medical world is diagnosing alarming numbers of patients for chronic preventable health problems. Conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, and high cholesterol, just to name a few. Patients are given high cost prescriptions to treat only their symptoms and some, if they are lucky, are told to make changes to their lifestyle to reverse or slow these conditions before they progress. The extra lucky patients may even get told to consider working with a health coach!
Being struck with any type of health problem is hard. It can be depressing, frustrating, and with all the contradicting health information out there, confusing. This can be paralyzing and unfortunately keeps so many from taking those first steps towards making lifestyle changes. But what if you had someone in your corner, someone to walk alongside you, and to support you. A health coach is just this, your team member, your partner.
Why Health Coaching Works:
Personalized - A health coach partners with you to co-create a wellness plan that works for you and only you. There are no one-size-fits-all plans. Your specific wellness plan is personalized specifically for you, to take you from where you currently are to where you want to be with your overall health.
Small Steps – Imagine trying to in one day begin exercising for 30 minutes, eating healthy every meal, drinking 80 ounces of water, meditating, taking care of your family’s wants and needs, and practicing self-care, all at once. Ha! Who can do that? This is a recipe for failure. A health coach is there to help break down those giant goals into actionable, achievable small steps, in a way that will work for your unique life and schedule.
Exploration – A health coach can help you explore areas of your life you may never have before. Not only your physical health but areas like relationships, career and professional development, movement and rest, spirituality, stress, environment, and more. Coaches can help you with those barriers and challenges that may get in the way or have in the past, formulating a plan for you to rise and conquer when those situations surface!
You Run the Show – It is all about you! You pick the speed, the direction, and the final destination. Your health coach is there for you each step of the way but never are they there to push or force you into anything. A health coach is someone you will build a connection with. Someone whom you can trust and grow with. For that reason, there will be comfort in sharing when things go right for you and when they do not. Things don’t always go as planned. A health coach is there to help pick you up, dust you off, and find that different path for you to take instead!
Expertise/Navigation - Health coaches are trained in effective behavior change and are experts in the health and wellness field. Of course, you may not know all the foods in your cabinet that contain gluten or how in the world to lower your stress that your doctor keeps telling you to lower. But they do! Coaches can also become a part of your health care team, if you wish, speaking with your doctor or helping you do so, to make sure you hit all the areas on your wellness checklist.
Accountability – Let’s face it. We all need this sometimes! Change can be difficult and for most, knowing that someone will be checking in with you can be exactly what you need to stay on track. You can use your health coach as much or little as you need with the unlimited support between sessions too! The coach-client relationship is a true bond. Coaches want the best for you.
Setting Up for Success! – A health coach wants to see you succeed! This is not a program designed to forever have you as a member. As much as a coach enjoys the time they spend with you, there is nothing better than watching their clients soar on their own. Every step of the way is designed to build you up the confidence and knowledge to fly high after your time together is through!
If you feel you could benefit from working with a health coach (Who couldn’t? Really!), then reach out to myself or any of the amazing coaches emerging in this rapidly growing field. Keep in mind to always look for a coach who is willing to speak with you before committing to a package. Seek out a coach who is educated, trained, provides testimonials of past clients, and most importantly that you feel a connection with.