I derive a great deal of fulfilment through developing positive relationships with clients and walking beside them on the path to improved health and fitness. I sincerely believe that support and accountability is the difference between success and failure. I have a spiritual belief that it is our duty to support people if we have a skill set that they need.
I love helping people change the way they look at their wellness and how they look at their life—and to help them make changes over the long term. Sometimes results happen fast, and sometimes they happen slowly, but when you look back over a period of six to 12 months of positive steps forward, the results are enormous. Small steps, and small, consistent positive changes lead to big improvements in the medium and long term.
The best approach I have found to assist people is support, combined with education and weekly accountability. Checking in with someone who cares and supports you and who will keep you on track and challenge you when you are not doing your best will help you attain your goals.
The support is often about meal ideas, calories, and exercise programs. But more often than not, it’s about journeying with someone and knowing that while they might sometimes let themselves down, they won’t let someone else down. Support is the theme of my life. I have received a lot, and I like to give a lot. I am here to serve. Some people think service is beneath them; however, in many cultures, serving others is the noblest way to live.
A good coaching relationship isn’t magic. It’s a lot more subtle than that. It’s a partnership built on trust and understanding. It’s a series of conversations and mind shifts over an extended period of time. It’s facilitating the shift in a client’s mindset to make better decisions.
It is also the accountability of knowing you will be checking in each week that leads to better decisions. In a great client/coach relationship, the coach often believes in the client and what they can achieve more than the client does.
I really believe in the power of support and accountability from someone who is on your team. Be it a business coach, counsellor, life coach, financial advisor, sports coach, dietitian, or friend. It can be the difference between massive success and going nowhere. Or backwards.
There has to be a line in the relationship. Many professional relationships fall down and lose effectiveness because they become too familiar over time. We cannot just be friends. You rely on me to help you with a specific set of goals, so let’s both pull our weight and get there together. Anyone who ever achieved anything worthwhile probably didn’t do it alone.