There comes a point in time along most people's health journey, that they question whether they need a little extra help to reach their goals or if they simply don't know what the next steps should be for them to progress any further.
This can come at the beginning of the journey or at any point throughout the process of simply trying to improve one's health or just grow as a person in general.
Keep reading to find out what the top roadblocks to achieving one's health goal can be, what our thoughts are about them, and how you can potentially go about avoiding them.
The Benefits Of Health Coaching
Health coaching can be extremely effective or even life changing, but it can also be a complete waste of time.
For the coach... and the client...
There are many reasons why, as health coaches, we get on a call and ask a TON of questions to potential clients.
Because knowing about how they operate in other areas of their lives and/or who referred them our way can add a ton of insight to the coach if the client will be successful or not.
Below are the top reasons why people fail, if they do choose to continue holding on to or developing these types of mindsets in regard to change.
The Reasons People Fail While Getting Healthy
1. The "More is Better" Mentality
They simply want to continue doing everything they are doing but just add a few more of the "right" things to their routine.
I say this because I coach no right or wrong way-only progress.
However, their current "right" may need to look different than their future "right", unless they want to stay the same.
Either way... everyone is different.
For example: continuing to drink the same amount or types of alcohol as frequently as they have been.
Or growling at you when you suggest changing how they drink their coffee.
Often, the "replacing" is what leads to the most growth and ultimate success.
Part of our role as a coach is to simplify the process. Most people already do an excellent job complicating the hell out of things.
Once simplified, the process becomes easier to maintain and with less variables, you can assess what is actually working and which habits are simply getting in the way.
2. Confusion/Delusion
People don't know why they even want to be healthier much less how they are going to achieve it.
Health coaching is not an autopilot, GPS-type of relationship where you simply look down at your phone and ask Siri to take you to a destination.
It is meant to engage your thinking and your emotions like you have never experienced before.
For if you had, you would have come to this bitter truth about your decisions and your thinking, a long time ago.
3. Hoping As A Method
4. Stuck In The Status-Quo's Gravitational Pull
"When choosing to bet on either change or the status quo, bet on the status quo." - Lee Thayer
5. Looking For The Short Cut or "Hack"
No surprise here.
Some people would prefer to skip straight over the foundational habits and learning when it comes to health and wellness, and just swallow a pill that will magically grow them a six pack.
Even if you are mildly successful with weight loss, these folks are the ones that inevitably gain back their weight or potentially more weight than when they started once they stop taking the supplement or "stop the program" they are on.
There are many ways to LOSE weight, but only a FEW ways to MAINTAIN it.
Remember that.
6. Having An "All or Nothing" Mindset
These are the people that think that can go from performing no exercise or cooking zero meals per week, to two-a-day training and meal-prepping savants.
These are also the people who are chronic New Year's Resolution-ers.
Without taking the time to build the right habits, and learning how to bounce back from inevitable failure, they will simply quit altogether at the first hiccup of their journey and slide right back into their bad habits from before their health binge.
As cliche as it seems, you should always be measuring yourself against your previous progress. No one achieves greatness over night, and longevity and health always require a "long-game" mentality.
It is okay to AIM FOR the ideal, but you need to remember to always measure against where you have come from and the progress you have made.
What was your starting point? Where are you now?
7. "Flavor Of The Month" Addicts
These are the people who jump on each new diet that they come across thinking that it will inevitably be the most simple, easiest to adhere to, best tasting food diet ever presented to the human race.
Yet, what they eventually figure out (the easy way or the hard way) is that your diet cannot remain dogmatic and must eventually morph into a more pragmatic approach.
There is no "One Perfect Diet".
There are simply too many variables for us humans with our genetics, our training, sleep, digestion, hormones, etc to stamp a "prescription" of sorts for how your meals will look.
Learning the principles of health and diet will better suit you for the endless journey ahead of you that is "lifelong health".
8. Waiting To Get or Be "Motivated"
These are the people who claim to be "too busy" to get started on a new exercise plan or eating regimen.
They wait for summer vacation or to be invited to a pool party to kick their rear in gear on the treadmill, only to end up depressed and let down from the lack of progress and ironically drink and eat their sorrows away right before or at the actual event they were training to improve for.
The fact is, we are ALL motivated... all the time. We are just driven by the wrong things in conjunction with our goals.
Waiting to be magically struck with motivation will keep you Fat, Sick, and Stressed for the rest of your life.
Just like the ancient wisdom for writers to improve their skill set, simply sit down, daily and write.
The habit of doing what you ought to be doing is way more efficacious than waiting for when you really "feel like it".
What Can I Do To Improve Myself?
1. Decide
Some people decide they actually have to change. For reasons outside of themselves or due to internal turmoil.
Both can be effective but you still must first DECIDE.
Most people have successfully changed their minds, but have failed to change their environments.
You cannot get healthy in a sick environment.
You cannot get rich in a poor environment.
You cannot improve your spirituality in an atheist or agnostic environment.
You cannot break free of drug addiction in an addict or user environment.
None of these situations have ever produced quality results yet people continue to choose them because stagnation is always easier than conjuring up the escape velocity to produce change.
2. Stop Holding On To Bad Habits
Mediators are ongoing factors that might be driving your current symptoms.
For those looking to improve their health, some "unhealthy" mediators might be:
- a lack of physical activity
- poor dietary patterns
- lack of sleep
- environmental exposures
- high stress load
- lack of meaning, purpose, or pleasurable experiences.
There are typically many interacting mediators that perpetuate chronic illness, including a patient’s beliefs about the disease. As you’ll see, finding resiliency through character strengths can act as a positive mediator that interrupts disease progression.
3. Get Coaching... But Only For The Right Reasons
Remember, coaches can't solve your problems for you, but they CAN paint a better picture or perspective to view them.
You can't solve a problem that you haven't properly diagnosed.
Coaches can ultimately help when:
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People just flat out don't know how or where to get started
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They have failed consistently to get healthy or lose weight before
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Accountability is ultimately what is needed due to lack of consistency
- Time needs to be "found" for the client to succeed and start new habits
Want To Learn More?
If you are looking for more accountability, daily guidance, or feel like you need some potential lab work to assess if there is something else underneath the surface that could be holding you back, click below and set up a call to discuss.
