Coaching has become quite the trendy career path that many are embracing in today’s job market. With all the coaches out there, it is pretty difficult to understand what is a Coach and what is an influencer. Knowing the difference may change your view on Coaching all together. There are different levels of coaching that many are in the dark about. While some individuals begin coaching practices with the best of intentions, they may not be fully educated with a background in Human Psychology, or even basic Nutrition. This can lead to complications down the road if the coach does not have the proper education, and can cause more damage than good for some clients. Let’s put it this way: would you buy a car because of it’s appearance, or would you do some research on it before you sat in the drivers seat and went full throttle? Sadly, many buy into the “appearance” side of an influencer or a coach without digging into any research at all.

Becoming A Coach

One does not wake up one day and decide to open up shop as a coach. Depending on the area of practice one wants to specialize in, it can take quite some time to develop the tools and skills to properly assist clients with complications and struggles. My area of specialty is Overall Health and Wellness (In particular within the Family). Before beginning my Academic Education in Integrative Nutrition, I had a few years of personal experience and study. By the time I earn my certificate I will have 4 years of studying the human Psyche and Nutrition in my background. I don’t say that to brag, (Although, heck yeah me!!!) I use my own background as an example for you to see how long it can take to become a coach in my field. While my schooling may only be a year long process, I have already logged hours of research and experience of my own. In order to be a fully present and empathetic coach, one has to be confident and well-rounded with facts and knowledge…not just positive opinions. (Those do come in handy though.)

Becoming a coach is not for the weak of heart. Most clients that enter your office are eager to look better and feel better, open hearted to all your questions because they trust you. It’s not all rainbows all the time though. Occasionally, a client is very distant, and clearly battling severely dark obstacles. It takes them a while to reach out of that deep dark pit for your hand in order to help them out. It’s a beautiful thing when they take hold, but it doesn’t always happen…that is when being a coach becomes a tough call. Learning to set up boundaries, learning to break away from clients, learning when to go to a higher knowledge, learning when to report situations, and learning how to decompress all the emotions we as coaches encounter. It is such a HEART career. In order to convey self empowerment and self respect, we, as a coach, must embody strengths of empathy, compassion, boundaries, and confidence. So when I say becoming a coach doesn’t suddenly happen one day, THIS is what I mean! You have to pour every ounce of your life into learning how we, as humans, function inside, as well as out.

What Is A Coach?

Standing on the side lines, cheering you on in your next massive challenge!! Okay, so there’s a bit more to it than that, but to sum it up, coaches present you with options; with tools and skills. It is then up to you on how you use them. Yes…it is up to YOU! Coaches (at least is my realm) never direct you on how to conquer an obstacle. We allow you to see it from multiple perspectives, opening your mind to ALL the possibilities that you may have never even thought of. It is truly an internal healing process when you commit to yourself. And, that is exactly what you are doing when you feel as though you have had enough; you want to feel better and take back control of your health…you commit to YOURSELF!

As a Coach, we peel open every aspect of your life. We DO NOT sit in a session just to give you positive quotes to go home with, print out, and hang on your wall. We figure out your triggers, vulnerable spots that cause all aspects of your life to crumble, eventually leaving you not feeling quite, well, YOU. Sometimes it isn’t all about diet. At times our horrible eating habits are formed by obstacles in our relationships, career, environment, lifestyle, education, and so many other daily impactful hurdles. One can only go so far with diet and exercise…We have to treat the BIG PICTURE.

Every client that enters a coaches office is unique, inside and out. We need to respect that. Knowing what may work for one client, may not work for another client. And sometimes we coaches are not what a client needs in certain phases of life, and we respect that as well. We create a comfortable and safe space for our clients to release everything and anything that they wish to change or set goals for. This is where the magic happens. Every client is given a sense of freedom in this space. To create a sense of peace within themselves. Giving our clients this type of space allows them to tap into multiple other outlets and perspectives that can be drowned out by all of the background noise of our daily lives. In essence, our clients are gifting themselves TIME. Time to let it all out and be heard. They allow us, as guides, to intervene with dialogue in order to “catch” the underlying triggers. But, most importantly, a coach assists clients in re establishing control over their own life! In the end, it is truly about clients knowing who they are, and how they want their journey to grow.

Weeding Out

Pulling the weeds from the flowering bed is a tough task in todays world of SOOOOOO much access! It seems as though everywhere you turn there is one advice post after another. And while I do find it refreshing to know that other individuals battle the same crushing defeats that each of us faces from time to time…many don’t realize, that what worked for one, may not work for all. Remember when I said each client is unique? That statement is as much true scrolling through social media posts, as it is walking into a coaching session. Some like a beat down challenge, some a more subtle and peaceful retreat, some perhaps a more communicable coaching process. It really needs to be a more thought out process than looking at someones feed and thinking, “This person has it all together! I’m going to do what they did!” Typically the outcome is less gratifying because it turns out, another’s journey was not as spectacular as you had hoped. Why? Well, plain and simple…it wasn’t YOUR journey, it was their journey you were “playing dress up” in. Until you can face your triggers and distractions in your own way, they will never be conquered.

Look and observe different influencers feeds on social media. Just observe, don’t comment, like, or even silently judge…just observe. What do you see? Do you see similarities? Are there any differences? Are they positive or negative? Are they self involved or helping others? Do they use the word “I” a lot? Do they discuss relationships? Do they discuss the importance of community? Do they discuss self worth or just talk about how “awesome they are”? Are they posting to keep up with the algorithm (multiple posts a day), or do they share intriguing and helping information. Don’t just take what these influencers are placing in front of you as just an empty daily log. If you cannot answer any question that you pose to any of the posts with a positive reaction…weed them out. If they cannot back any information they post with actual fact and data, weed them out. If they have no education background or certification that proves they are trained in health and wellness, weed them out. Sharing personal stories and experiences, while these can be fantastic learning tools, are not solid foundations for becoming a health and wellness coach. Never put into action any advise without doing your own research. Make sure the person giving the advise has authority to do so. There are so many amazing coaches out there that are busting there butts to truly help others achieve their full potential, it is a shame that there are so many that believe it is a field one can just “jump into”. It can be dangerous to work with a coach that is inexperienced and not committed to fully understanding the ENTIRE wheel of health.

A Transformation VS Health Coaching

One of the best experiences I have ever had in my health journey was attending a transformation weekend in California. I was stressed out, tired, trying to figure out my place in life, and battling severe self esteem issues. I got my tail handed to me from a couple of highly trained and amazing coaches. Three days of physical beat down, and intense mental break throughs! I met some of my greatest friends that weekend, but most importantly I met the tough, beast of a woman that was asleep deep down inside of me. It was quick and a huge jolt to the system, which is what I needed at the time. It opened my eyes to what I was holding in, and what I was holding back. It truly made me realize that by not being who I was intended to be, I not only was cheating myself, but I was cheating everyone else that I could be helping! THAT is what a transformation is! Reawakening the sense of self empowerment, self validation, and self identity that so many of us suppress to follow the “norm”.

Now, I realize that getting physically hammered may not be for everyone, it sure is fun to rise to the challenge once in a while though! And, while we are not getting put through surf torture, we SHOULD be incorporating more quality time back into our lives. Whether it be going on more vacations, spending more time with your family, or if you are struggling, to seek out a Coach. Health coaching is a great way to discover more opportunities to create more time. Time to feel good, love deeper, and live a longer and more fulfilled life. Health coaches help you make the same break throughs as a transformation, but on a more in depth look at your ENTIRE well-being. Think of us as someone in between a therapist and a nutritionist. We aren’t going to ask you about your feelings, or give you a diet outline of exactly what you have to eat… we LISTEN to what you have to say. We give you the floor, so to speak, about what we discuss; whatever is working for you or perhaps not working for you, we WANT to hear about it. We assist you in learning different methods of preventative care to aid you with your lifestyle habits, because after all we are in the business of building wellness as a lifestyle, not a short term solution. We build you up to understand that YOU are in control of what you feel, and say, and do…NO ONE ELSE! (Not even us, as your coach.) Most importantly, coaches guide you throughout your journey in maximizing your goals. Opening your perspectives and thought processes to so much more than you’ve ever thought possible. We tend to put a capped ceiling on most of our ideas, never seeing the potential for even greater achievements. THAT is what coaches are there for…to hand you the hammer to break through that ceiling! Better yet, when you drop the hammer, or smack your thumb (aka hit an obstacle), we are there to slap that hammer right back into your hand and tell you to grip it tight and smash away!

Coach or no Coach, do what makes you feel your best every single day! Don’t constantly scroll social media feed to see what the latest influencer is doing to break the mold…do what YOU want to do to break the mold. Live your life with the purpose that is intended for you, not for someone else. Give yourself the best gift in the world…LISTEN to yourself…it may be some of the best advice you will ever get in your life!