My passion as a health coach is to promote health and happiness. That’s it. It’s foundational to every decision I’ve made in my business as a health coach. Not only the health and happiness of my clients, but for myself. After all I must practice what I “preach”.
When I taught WW (formerly known as Weight Watchers) classes as a Wellness Coach, I saw people who came in to lose weight struggling with their routines and habits and wanted to know what to eat to lose weight. Whatever you want to say about WW, that’s fine. It’s a 60-year-old billion-dollar public company that has maintained its mission from day one and has helped millions of people around the world lose weight, sometimes, repeatedly. Some WW members called themselves “repeat offenders” which is not such a nice thing to say about yourself. What I came to realize after being on the program over many years was that it’s not about a diet, but a lifestyle. But getting to that helpful lifestyle is sometimes a long and winding road. That’s why my business logo is a (healthy green) path.
During my 14 years as a Wellness Coach with WW I heard so many people say these words. “I’m just not in the right mindset.” And my reaction was, sometimes mindset comes later, after you set the goals, do the work, fix the negative self-talk, and well… so much more. When this comment came up, and it did a lot, I would coach the room about mindset, goal setting, taking a small action, then building on that small action the next day. With successful small actions, mindset changes. There’s your mindset solution.
You know what else used to come up in those meetings? “I don’t have any willpower.” Of course not if you’ve left out the intentional steps to set yourself up for success. Your willpower gets depleted with fatigue, social and environmental situations, people’s comments (food pushers), the dopamine hit of social media scrolling or TV or the law of physics that often keeps us on the couch, doing things for others and not putting your own priorities first, setting boundaries, (“Mom, I need you to…”) and so much more. Willpower doesn’t stand a chance in the real world, and that’s why we need small actionable realistic goals and strategies.
When people have their own story of what life is like for them, a lifestyle coach can help shine a light on other options, choices, and possibilities. I listen and ask questions, listen, and ask questions, until the client comes to think of other possibilities, more helpful possibilities to get them unstuck and move on to reach their goals.
So why for the past 25 years as a wellness coach and certified holistic health coach have I been coaching on lifestyle change, the process of establishing routines and habits for health and happiness?
I’ve been interested in human psychology for a very long time, in fact my bachelor’s degree is in psychology with a certificate in rehabilitative counseling. My favorite class in college was “Group Dynamics” which was taught by a legally blind professor (good listener). I can still see that class in my mind. It was not a regular classroom style, but a small room with a large round heavy wood table and chairs to fit about eight students. Looking back, I realize the group dynamics class really informed my work with WW and now as a health coach. But I wouldn’t have had the courage to speak in front of a room or a group before many other prior work experiences in sales, client services, training and business operations. I’m grateful for all my work experiences because they have led me to do this health coaching work that I love.
Thanks for reading about me and my passion. Contact me for a complimentary discovery call to talk about your health and wellness.