The answer to the question really lies in your journey. Let me say this, well-being is not a destination. It is a continuous journey that we will all take in our lifetimes. Think about it. Has there been a day pass that you haven’t at least thought about something wellness-related?

…..I’ll wait.

For most, the answer is NO. This is because everything we do typically contains some component of wellness (sleep/wake cycles, what we eat, how much physical activity we get each day, do we wear our seatbelts, whether we are taking care of our mental health, taking our medications on time, how we treat each other). The list is endless and each of our actions typically contributes to some aspect of our well-being.

Let me back up. There are 8 components of wellness: Physical, Emotional, Social, Intellectual, Spiritual, Environmental, Occupational, and Financial. Now, think about your daily activities. Considering your actions, what category does each action fall into? I bet we could classify most.

Now, back to the question about health coaching. Throughout our journey most of us have a desire to live long, healthy lives. But, our health & wellness journey is definitely NOT the only thing on our minds. Society throws so much at us, that often pieces of the wellness puzzle get left behind. Then before we know it, we are 50 lbs overweight, at odds with our family, struggling at work, in debt up to our ears, and just not feeling ourselves anymore! While this may not be your actual situation (or maybe it is), we all have our own struggles. Think of each of these components of wellness as on a sliding spectrum. My spiritual wellness may be on point, but physically, I’m riding the struggle bus.

Since these 8 components of wellness can definitely not be our full-time jobs, let it be mine! Health coaches often do the following:

Evaluate a person’s current state of health. My preferred way of doing this is to talk with you about each component. I want to know what your goals are and how “well” you are feeling in each area. Often a person will say, I do well in _______. Then when we get to discussing more in-depth, the truth is, they cannot see the small changes that might make a huge difference!

Set goals WITH the person. I will not set goals for a person. I want to hear from YOU! Everyone will have a different place in wellness they want to be.

Create personalized plans considering all needs. This includes medical history, limitations, prescriptions, social preferences, etc. I will always use evidence-based strategies to work with clients and create these plans.

Provide education & support. I will set reminders to call, text, email, whatever you choose in order to keep you on track! I will answer your questions based on my extensive knowledge in the field. If I don’t have an answer, I’ll say that! But get back to you with the answer. If there are times when you are not feeling up to it that day, let’s talk. Providing support through every part of the journey is crucial in health coaching.

There is no way to describe all of the ways health coaches can assist a person in reaching their goals and maintaining their optimal wellness. However, it is worth a shot…. I Promise! Reach out if you or someone you know could benefit from health coaching services. I look forward to hearing from you.

Yes…. this is a recent change for me!

I’m going to answer this question but I’d like to first start by introducing myself to those I’ve yet to meet. My name is Amanda and I have been determined to help people in the realm of health throughout my entire life.

There are points in my life that have influenced my goals more than others. You will hear about many of these if you continue to follow along. As this will be the first of many posts to introduce my health coaching initiative, I’d like to say WELCOME and enjoy the read. Feel free to relay any questions, as I’d love to have a conversation.

Throughout my life, health and wellness has been a huge part of what I valued. My mother introduced me to the health field from an early age. I can remember reading medical journals, the DSM, and the Physician’s Desk Reference for fun. There was a point at which I wanted to go into orthopedic surgery. Interestingly, my thought was, that’s way too many years of college! How in the world will I afford that? Fast forward to 2002, I had decided to go into teaching.

But the focus on health and wellness continued to be of interest. While I was teaching health and physical education, it never met the need of wanting to help adults in their wellness journey. I would often see people make decisions about their health that I just didn’t quite understand, but would later research to find out that every action we take has some sort of meaning….or derives from a need!

Now I’m REALLY in! I decided to pursue my doctoral degree in Health and Human Performance from Oklahoma State University. I completed the PhD program in 2014 and went into higher education. One thing that I absolutely loved was hearing stories from my students about their lives and what brought them to my classroom. More than that, I became very interested in their views on health and wellness and the choices they made.

Recently, I made a decision to leave my full-time role in higher education and go to a company that I learned very quickly would transform the way I saw business and workplace wellness. Never in my life have I ever felt as low as I did working for this company, although I was in a management role. The negative influence that it had on my mental health and others around me was daunting. Within a year I had decided this was not for me and I must get back to doing what I love. However, it was too late to go back to my previous position.

This is where the fun part comes in.

I’ve always wanted to work with individuals that have new clinical diagnoses and want to do everything they can to be on as few medications as possible. So I did it! I made the decision to do this thing on my own. Something I’ve only dreamed of at this point.

Having a new diagnosis is not a prerequisite to accessing health coaching. In fact, it is a component that is rarely tapped in to, but badly needed. This Medium (pun intended) is the first of many ways I’ll reach out to people.

I’m going to reach out by saying you can do this. I’m going to reach out by saying this is hard. I’m going to reach out by saying you will be thrown curveballs. But you’ve got to have Hope.

Hope consist of two things:

1. The belief that the future can look brighter than what it is today. (Keep in mind, this is not tied to a specific outcome. There is simply a positive future ahead.)
2. AND you have some sort of control of what that positive future looks like.

This is often achieved through our actions. Lifestyle factors play a huge role in our health outcomes. What I want to do is teach people the various ways in which they can influence their health outcomes. I’d like to encourage people and guide people to those positive outcomes, whatever they may be. The outcomes I set for myself likely look way different than the outcomes you’ve set for yourself… And should! This is where coaching services come in. This is where my unique approach will help you succeed!

As I previously mentioned, feel free to reach out and inquire more about how we can work together. I’d love to help you or someone you know set and work toward goals in health and wellness. Next time, I will take a deeper dive into health coaching and what exactly health coaches do!