Listen to Diane and Coach Meg here:
http://www.wellcoach.com/flash/cm071609_1.html
Recently I asked coaches in the Wellcoaches community to submit a list of ten ways in which they want to thrive. Diane is dealing with some challenging health issues and asked me for a series of coaching sessions to work on her health and life satisfaction.
Where We’ve Been
In our first coaching session, Diane created a forward-looking statement to describe her motivation for moving toward wellness: “To be in a state of health with sufficient energy and vitality that enables me to support myself in all realms – physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and financial – and that enables me to explore and pursue my life’s mission.”
Diane is Shifting
As we continue into our fourth session, Diane recognizes the important, measurable changes in her life. She has more energy and is more consistently stretching and strengthening, both in spite of, and because of, her physical limitations. She describes her diet as the most exciting progress, even using the world “phenomenal” in reflecting on her success in food choices.
Moving Into Maintenance
For some of these changes, Diane is in what is moving into what is called the “Maintenance” stage of change. Change typically occurs along a continuum, ranging from the person who says or thinks “I won’t” or “I can’t” change to the person who says “I am still changing.” This stage begins when a new behavior change has become a habit and is done automatically – usually six months after the initial behavior has changed. In this stage, a person is more confident that they can maintain the new behavior. However, just because a person progresses to this stage, does not mean they don’t need to continue working diligently to maintain the behavior. There are a different set of risks in maintenance, including boredom and the danger of gradually slipping back into old, less healthful habits.
The Role of Positivity
When in the Maintenance stage, it is even equally important for us to be clear about our capacity to put OUR strengths to work, and to experience the power of positive emotions. As this series progresses, I’ll introduce the concept of building positive emotions.
Next week, you’ll read Diane’s reflections on our session and see what goals she has set to keep her in motion…
Margaret Moore, also known as “Coach Meg,” is CEO and founder of Wellcoaches Corp. in Wellesley, MA and can be reached by email at:
coachmeg[at]wellcoaches.com
http://www.coachmeg.com
http://www.wellcoaches.com
http://www.harvardcoaching.org