PERSONAL HEALTH
Coaching Designed To Bring Out the Best In You
More Americans are overweight and out of shape than ever before. Their sedentary, high-calorie lifestyles are causing an epidemic of obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease and degenerative arthritis among other preventable conditions.
THE INTERNATIONAL COACHING Federation defines coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.
If those aren’t bad enough, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle also raise the risk of breast cancer, colon cancer and other common forms of cancer.
Doctors all across the nation are struggling to treat these lifestyle-induced conditions with new and advanced medicines. Medical care helps a little, but if the lifestyle doesn’t change, the illnesses get worse.
So doctors try to help there too, advising their patients to, “lose some weight, start working out, eat fewer calories, stop smoking.” Indeed, doctors are expected to help their patients live a healthy life.
However, most physicians aren’t actually trained to help individuals change their behavior – and they shouldn’t be. In actual practice, most doctors need three or more years of residency after four years of medical school just to be great at treating diseases.
Then they must be continuous learners to keep up with the ever-changing field of medicine.
Most physicians are working hard just to give the right treatments, and we want them to be behavior change experts too? Forget about it.
If you’re a patient, your unhealthy lifestyle is not a medical problem. It’s a behavior problem. If you’re a doctor reading this, I recommend you just be the medical expert. Stick to diagnosis and treatment.
Regarding helping your patients change their lifestyles, I’m letting you off the hook. Explain to your patients that their lifestyle is causing their illnesses and you recommend they live differently. Once. Then just do the prescribing.
Well then you ask, “Who will help patients change?” I recommend life coaches, also called personal coaches. These are professionals dedicated solely to enabling individuals change behavior to achieve their goals. Coaches help clients achieve greater focus, see new possibilities, identify methods to change, and adopt new behaviors.
How Coaching Works
The International Coaching Federation (www.coachfederation.org) defines coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.”
CoachU (www.coachu.com), where I had basic coach training, describes coaching as “a catalyzing relationship that accelerates the process of great performance.” You can see the core idea that coaching is designed to bring out the best in you.
The process of coaching happens through conversations. When you enter into a coaching relationship you agree to be honest and open with your coach, and your coach agrees to complete confidentiality and to act in your best interest.
In that way it’s similar to a doctor/patient relationship. However, your coach does not diagnose or treat you. Through conversation, he or she helps you to decide upon and take actions to achieve your goals.
Can that all happen by talking? Sure, if you are honest with your coach and want to change. The coach is trained to listen and ask questions that help you see things differently.
A big reason we get “stuck” in life is that we have trouble breaking free of old ways of thinking. A coach will have an expanded or higher view of your situation and, through conversation, will broaden your perspective, which can get you moving again.
Let’s consider an admittedly extreme example. Imagine an airplane crash survivor wandering in the desert dying of dehydration. He is about to give up, collapse and die, even though an oasis is just over the hill in front of him. Why? Because he can’t see the oasis. He doesn’t know it’s there. Do you doubt that one sentence could save his life? If he could hear us, we would shout, “Keep walking – an oasis is over the hill!”
A coach can inspire you to research topics and generate your own new ideas, or may suggest “homework” or exercises to expand your thinking. He or she will ask you for a commitment to action and then follow up on it at your next coaching session. Knowing that someone is going to ask you about your activities is a great motivator to stay on track.
Once you’re on your way with new ideas and new behavior, your coach will be a great cheerleader encouraging you forward. Who among us couldn’t use more encouragement?
It’s actually much easier to understand coaching by experiencing it rather than reading about it. Many coaches are willing to give a short 10 or 15-minute sample coaching session for potential clients. Try it for yourself. Coaching works.
Invest In Yourself
Coaching does cost money. Most personal coaches work as independent professionals and may charge between $300 and $500 per month depending on how well established they are in practice. Some very popular coaches may charge more than that.
But spending money for coaching is worth it. Coaching is not just another extra monthly expense of questionable value. The coach is helping you to improve and get to the point where his or her services are no longer needed. Hiring a coach is investing in yourself.
Make An Investment In Yourself
Personal coaching for a year or two might be the best investment you ever make. What would it be worth to finally have control of your lifestyle, lose the weight, be fit, have energy and vitality, and be more at peace with yourself? In the MasterCard commercial the answer would be “priceless.” And they would be right.
Now some of you may be saying, “I could use coaching, but I can’t afford it.” That’s fine if you want to stay stuck. How about asking yourself these questions: “Where could I find the money for coaching?” or “Can I find a coach who will work with me for want I can afford?” You can find a way to hire a coach if you are determined.
A COACH can inspire you not to give up – and realize an oasis is just over the hill.
Do a little reality check on expenses. How much do you spend monthly on cable TV, coffee at Starbucks, restaurant lunches, and other areas where you could make changes? Google “saving money” and see what you get. It’s quite clear that there are a lot of ways to redirect your spending to invest in yourself.
So you decide how to spend your money, but the truth is health and wellbeing don’t come from your insurance company. They don’t come from your doctor and they don’t come from the government. Health and wellbeing come from you – your lifestyle, your habits and your choices, including how you choose to spend your money. Spend wisely and invest in yourself.
I hope that doctors and coaches are still reading. If you’re a doctor, please prescribe coaching. Meet some coaches and get familiar with coaching. Establish referral relationships with several coaches and recommend them to your patients who are seeking to change their lifestyles. It could be the best way you ever helped a patient.
If you’re a coach, keep spreading the word. Tell people what you do and how you do it. Take a copy of this article to your doctor. Give him or her a stack of your business cards and ask for referrals.
With help we all can change, grow and improve. Coaches want to be that help.
Peter Weiss, MD
Peter Weiss, MD
‘Dr. Pete’ Empowers Individuals To Manage Their Own Health
Peter J. Weiss, MD FACP (www.morehealthlesscare.com) is a physician, healthcare executive, author, speaker and health coach with a passion for helping others to health and wellness. Dr. Pete has recognized that traditional medical care isn’t helping many people to become well, and his personal mission is empowering individuals to manage their own health. His book on personal health, More Health, Less Care, is due out soon.
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