Coaching, an Investment in Ourselves
02/01/2023
Give me a fish and I’ll eat for a day. Teach me to fish and I’ll eat for life.
This old adage partly captures the power of coaching for gaining more control over our health and wellness through applied learning. Other major factors to attaining personal goals are understanding our unique motivations and practicing healthy habits. Health and Wellness Coaches are trained in psychology, behavior change and life coaching, critical skills they use to guide us as we explore and experience our individual capabilities.
Following are several techniques used by coaches to help their clients; you may be able to use one or more to good effect before committing to paid coaching services.
To-Do Lists
Making a list and updating it often is one of the simplest things you can do to keep track of where you are at today, and to monitor progress made over time. To-Do Lists become much more powerful when used to populate activities or goals onto some form of schedule—be it paper calendar, productivity software or your smartphone’s built-in app.
80/20 Thinking
The 80/20 rule states that the relationship between input and output is rarely, if ever, balanced. When applied to nearly all activities, it means that approximately 20 percent of your efforts produce 80 percent of the results. Taking a daily mental inventory of tasks can help you identify activities most likely to yield measurable gains made with reasonable effort. Such victories made consistently may be all you need to keep moving forward.
Accountability Partners
An accountability partner is someone who helps you stay on track while you work toward achieving your personal goals. An accountability relationship can also be a mutual coaching arrangement in which you and your partner agree to check in regularly and exchange honest feedback as you both move toward specific goals.
Setting SMART Goals
Assess your goals to verify they are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-Bound. Think carefully about each of these parameters to help ensure that your objectives are attainable within a certain time frame.
Staying the Course
Perhaps the single most important habit for attaining goals is being consistent. Do this by:
If you are a strong self-learner and able to maintain focus, one or more of the topics above may be all you need to stay on track with your objectives. While each item has had books written about them, try them at their most basic level to see where it leads you. Conversely, if you’re pressed for time or have urgent needs, enlisting the services of a professional coach can be invaluable.
On a final note…
Based on return on investment, employers are increasingly covering costs for employee health and wellness coaching services.* It is important to understand that, done properly, coaching is about individuals gaining independence, as opposed to becoming overly reliant on their coach. The number of sessions could vary from every week to perhaps a packet of five, followed by a monthly maintenance session.
For more information about Health and Wellness Coaching at In Step, please call 630-262-2640. The staff will be able to answer general questions or schedule you for a free informational phone consult with certified Health and Wellness Coach Min Acharya.
Give me a fish and I’ll eat for a day. Teach me to fish and I’ll eat for life.
This old adage partly captures the power of coaching for gaining more control over our health and wellness through applied learning. Other major factors to attaining personal goals are understanding our unique motivations and practicing healthy habits. Health and Wellness Coaches are trained in psychology, behavior change and life coaching, critical skills they use to guide us as we explore and experience our individual capabilities.
Following are several techniques used by coaches to help their clients; you may be able to use one or more to good effect before committing to paid coaching services.
To-Do Lists
Making a list and updating it often is one of the simplest things you can do to keep track of where you are at today, and to monitor progress made over time. To-Do Lists become much more powerful when used to populate activities or goals onto some form of schedule—be it paper calendar, productivity software or your smartphone’s built-in app.
80/20 Thinking
The 80/20 rule states that the relationship between input and output is rarely, if ever, balanced. When applied to nearly all activities, it means that approximately 20 percent of your efforts produce 80 percent of the results. Taking a daily mental inventory of tasks can help you identify activities most likely to yield measurable gains made with reasonable effort. Such victories made consistently may be all you need to keep moving forward.
Accountability Partners
An accountability partner is someone who helps you stay on track while you work toward achieving your personal goals. An accountability relationship can also be a mutual coaching arrangement in which you and your partner agree to check in regularly and exchange honest feedback as you both move toward specific goals.
Setting SMART Goals
Assess your goals to verify they are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-Bound. Think carefully about each of these parameters to help ensure that your objectives are attainable within a certain time frame.
Staying the Course
Perhaps the single most important habit for attaining goals is being consistent. Do this by:
- Making it a priority—if it’s fitness-related, get on that bike or glider every day, even if you can only manage to spare a few minutes.
- Maintaining perspective & purpose—write down your agenda and why you’re doing it, then revisit the scope and purpose any time you feel you’re losing momentum.
- Tracking your Progress—keep it simple by jotting down the date and a 1-10 rating of progress or use one of hundreds of apps specific to your goals for more detailed tracking.
- Managing expectations—judge your progress fairly and make adjustments in scope or schedule as needed; if necessary, be the tortoise.
If you are a strong self-learner and able to maintain focus, one or more of the topics above may be all you need to stay on track with your objectives. While each item has had books written about them, try them at their most basic level to see where it leads you. Conversely, if you’re pressed for time or have urgent needs, enlisting the services of a professional coach can be invaluable.
On a final note…
Based on return on investment, employers are increasingly covering costs for employee health and wellness coaching services.* It is important to understand that, done properly, coaching is about individuals gaining independence, as opposed to becoming overly reliant on their coach. The number of sessions could vary from every week to perhaps a packet of five, followed by a monthly maintenance session.
For more information about Health and Wellness Coaching at In Step, please call 630-262-2640. The staff will be able to answer general questions or schedule you for a free informational phone consult with certified Health and Wellness Coach Min Acharya.
