Navigating change to achieve your health goals

Why is it so hard to make health and wellness changes that stick?

Think back to a time when you set yourself a goal or task. When you started you were probably laser focused on wanting to achieve it, had all good intentions but then after a couple of days, weeks, or months, did you start to drop the ball and find it harder to maintain your focus and energy toward the goal?

When setting new goals, we often look at the end result and expect that we can sustainably go from 0 to 100 overnight. For most people, this isn't sustainable long-term and negatively impacts our wellbeing once you feel like you're not achieving what you set out to achieve.

Big goals, such as "I want to be more healthy", need to be broken down into smaller steps if they are to be achievable and sustainable. This starts with considering the process as a journey, not a flick of a switch.

Let's say for example you want to become fluent in a new language - you expect that it will take time and

commitment. You might seek the support of a tutor to work with on a weekly to develop your knowledge and skills, eventually leading you to your goal of speaking a new language. The weekly appointment with your tutor will help to keep you accountable to your commitment to learning a new language and the tutor will guide you through step by step, maintaining your energy to keep working through the learning curve.

The same longer-term thinking should be applied when you set out to achieve a goal of 'being more healthy' because improved health comes from a result of various lifestyle changes. These require time and commitment as you learn and start to form new positive habits.

Just like when you're learning a new language, working with a professional ie a health coach, can help you on your wellness journey by keeping you on track, motivated and accountable – rather like a personal trainer or business mentor. Regular lines of honest and open communication support you to be consistent in your journey and give you the benefit of having someone in your corner.

So if you're looking to make changes to improve your health and wellness, start by thinking about the incremental changes you can make towards the bigger picture and know that there are certified health coaches who can support you on your journey and keep you on track. Also, check our corporate, group and individual wellness programmes.