“Faith is taking the first step, even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
At the beginning of a year, a common practice is to greet it with a renewed focus on fresh starts. Some even use this time to make resolutions aimed toward self-improvement or personal growth. As challenging as 2020 was, I imagine this tradition has even more relevance for 2021. COVID-19 certainly raised our awareness of the importance of taking good care of our health. Looking ahead to this new year, we have the opportunity to reinvigorate or establish habits that will optimize our physical and mental health. Perhaps your vision for this includes a renewed commitment to a consistent exercise routine or switching up your diet to incorporate more nutrient-dense foods. Maybe it includes taking the time to self reflect, declutter, identify personal strengths, or seek a more fulfilling lifestyle. Or perhaps your vision includes leaning into the slower pace 2020 offered us and mastering the skills necessary to maintain that lower stress level in 2021.
As wonderful as all these desires may be, how many of you share my experience of starting new routines only to find that developing them into habits that stick is more challenging than you thought? This experience is undoubtedly a common one. What would it look like if someone came along with you on this journey who dedicated themselves to listening to you, providing support, education, resources, and cheerleading to help you reach your goals? This person would be there to aid you in clearing the roadblocks that inevitably pop up along the way. This is what health and wellness coaches do! If you are looking to shake things up and want a partner to help you reach your goals, a health and wellness coach could be the missing link to making changes stick. Whatever your vision for wellness includes, a coach trained in positive psychology and functional medicine can help you actualize it.
You may be wondering how someone with a background in positive psychology and functional medicine can help you reach your goals. Positive psychology focuses on what is life-giving rather than on what is life-depleting. One of the most significant benefits of positive psychology is that it teaches us how to shift our perspective so that we can maximize our happiness. Positive psychology is a strengths-based approach that seeks to leverage what we do well rather than focusing on our deficits.
Functional medicine is an individualized, holistic, patient-centered, science-based approach to working with chronic health issues such as autoimmune disorders, digestive problems, and diabetes. Functional medicine health coaches have numerous tools at their disposal to help clients optimize their wellness through interventions targeting nutrition, stress reduction, improved sleep, and increased movement. Instead of promoting fad diets and unsustainable exercise regimens, these coaches partner with their clients to create doable, intrinsically motivated adjustments to their self-care.
Here are some examples of when Health & Wellness Coaching may be helpful:
- Are you feeling stressed? Out of sync? Coaching can help you find your center again and provide you with the tools to increase mindful structures and balanced routines to help you thrive.
- Have you received a recent medical diagnosis or caution from your doctor that requires a significant lifestyle change? Not sure where to begin? Coaching can provide structures and encouragement as you seek to live out a new definition of health.
- Are you continually revisiting those same few extra pounds or finding yourself struggling to fit in time for exercise but can’t seem to stick to a routine? Coaching can help you discover what will get you moving in a sustainable way and maybe even be a little fun!
- Hearing all about ‘clean eating’ and wondering what the heck that is? Overwhelmed by all the diets that social media professes as the answer? Coaching can demystify what healthy eating looks like while you figure out what’s possible for your lifestyle.
- Are you trying to commit to a better sleep schedule but find yourself scrolling social media way past your bedtime? Coaching can help you identify realistic steps to get more rest and rejuvenation.
- Maybe you’re not really sure what you want to achieve with your wellness goals, but you feel that something in your life needs to shift? Coaching can help you explore your priorities, identify your strengths, and clear the way for impactful changes.
Sometimes taking action is toughest when we can’t see or predict the outcome. Investing in our well-being by embracing healthy habits and preventive measures is one of those leaps of faith. As a health and wellness coach, I firmly believe the leap is worth it. I feel strongly that we all possess the ability to positively influence our well-being, heal, challenge what we think is possible, and thrive.
If you recognize yourself in the statements above or are just curious about how coaching could help you achieve your goals, click here to book a complimentary 30-minute health & wellness consultation.