Aug 5

Aug 5 Achieve Your Health Goals with these 8 Tips

Hi, I'm Liz Moser, a Mayo Clinic and National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach.

When I’m collaborating with my clients in creating an action plan and setting goals, there are several key points I keep in mind. And hopefully, these are some pointers you can use as you’re working toward your long-term health and wellness goals.

1 – Be Specific: Specific goals such as eating more fruits and veggies are more successful than a general goal such as lose weight.

2 – Proximal goals vs. Distal goals: Yes, being specific is essential; however, my clients and I set both proximal (short term action plans) and distal (more general or long term goals). For instance, a particular action plan such as lifting weights three times per week is the ‘mile marker’ on the road toward the long-term goal of lowering body fat percentage.

3 – Collaboration: Collaboration is crucial, yet ultimately the client needs to ‘own’ their goals. I may be able to say, ‘Research shows this, or this works for many of my clients, or even, this is helpful for me.' Yet, ultimately, I empower my clients to figure out their answers. It’s that fine line between brainstorming and collaborating while allowing my clients the final say. They must 100% own their action plan and goals.

4 – Self-efficacy: The purpose of goal setting is to build my client's confidence, and as self-efficacy grows, so does my client’s ability to achieve more challenging goals. There is a cyclical relationship between goal setting and self-efficacy in performing a particular task. As my clients achieve their goals, their self-confidence grows. If they stumble on the road to their goal, a downward cycle can develop, causing a hit to their self-esteem. As a coach, I don't want to discourage a client's enthusiasm nor let them attempt a goal I feel might be too much of a stretch and possibly lead to setbacks and lowered self-efficacy. I navigate that balance carefully.

5 - Importance and confidence: Goal setting works best if I assess a client's level of confidence and importance first. I like to use a one-ten scale where I ask them on a scale of 1 (a little) to 10 (very much) how important a goal is and then on a scale of 1-10 how confident they can achieve their goals. If their numbers are below a 7, it’s time to reassess their goals and action steps.

6 - Goal setting influences performance. Goal setting focuses attention, energizes clients to perform better and with more tenacity, and leads to skill-building, bringing them closer to their future goals.

7 - Feedback: Clients who receive follow-up phone calls, emails, and visits perform better with their goals than those who do not receive them. That’s why individuals who hire coaches do better at changing their lifestyles than patients who leave a doctor's office armed solely with pamphlets explaining why they need to exercise, limit salt or lose weight.

8 - Rewards: internal motivation is more telling of success than external motivation. There is a difference between a client saying my Dr. told me I must change my diet to a client saying I want to eat healthier. It's about ownership! If a new client is stuck saying I have to make this change, our first step is gently moving them towards choosing the lifestyle change for themselves. A position of choice is powerful!

As I goal-set with my clients, I need to remember these 8 points: clients need specific goals, they need both short term and long term goals, effective coaching is about collaboration, impactful goal setting builds self-efficacy, use the 1-10 importance and confidence scales, goal setting boosts overall performance, ongoing feedback is essential (woot! that’s what coaching’s all about!) and internal motivation and rewards work as opposed to external rewards—right, telling someone what they should do usually backfires!

I’m Liz Moser, a Mayo Clinic and National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach, and thank you for reading this blog about the 8 tips to keep in mind as you set your goals. If you have any questions about this vlog, health, wellness, or wellness coaching with me, please reach out via my website at lizmosercoaching.com.