Without a doubt, the best part about being a health coach is seeing someone with a smile on their face as they tell you how good they are feeling because of the changes they have made in their life. With almost everyone I work with, there will come a moment when I know the penny has dropped for them. The effort is starting to pay off and the gains are evident. I can see them thinking “man, this stuff is working”. And the true benefit comes from them knowing it is their own decisions that have acted as the catalyst. They themselves now own the stage.
Patience is a virtue when you are making changes to your lifestyle. For most of us, we will make many small adjustments as opposed to throwing out the kitchen sink. The little things matter, they add up, and then come the gains. It is an absolute truth - there is no such thing as a quick-fix. But good results can come surprisingly fast and you can be on the right track from the outset. This early success acts as a motivator to keep up the good work.
If you want to get more sleep try going to bed 30 minutes earlier each night for one week. If you want to exercise more, diarise a walk or a workout. Then, next week make it two.
And if you hang in the fight and give yourself a chance, it can be amazing to see what you can achieve. One exhausted mother-of-two gave up drinking soft drink and couldn’t believe the results. Within one week she had greater mental clarity and fewer mood swings. She had never considered dropping Coke but now she doesn’t go near it and doesn’t miss it. She knows she is better off without it.
Many people think they can’t make changes and never realise what they are capable of. Making a start is normally the hardest step. It can seem scary when you confront what you might have to give up, what you might need to sacrifice. But if you go easy on yourself and reframe this as a great opportunity to be healthier you are already winning. If you focus on what you will gain, as opposed to what you are losing, it is a very powerful mindset.
Positive change will come. Because you have chosen it to be so.
A client said to me smilingly he couldn’t believe he had taken back control of his life. When I asked him what he thought about that he paused and disbelievingly said “I never thought it would be possible”. He had lost weight, was eating well and exercising, and was so much more energetic. He’d made changes to his lifestyle only six weeks earlier.
There is so much you can do to help yourself. Take a shot of courage and you can get started. There really is nothing to be scared of.