5 Easy Ways to Become a Better Health Coach

Something that really upsets me is when I see people fail to take personal responsibility.

As a health coach, it's so much easier to blame your “uncoachable” client than it is to look inward and see where you, as the coach, can improve.

One thing I've learned through my years as a health coach and as a coach for other health coaches is that by cultivating a growth mindset as a coach, you'll feel more confident in your abilities to help your clients with the psychological aspects of health and fitness, including their mindset, habits, and goal setting.

Frequent Wellness Coaching Mistakes to Avoid

There are many mistakes I see health coaches unintentionally make. Some are because the coach doesn't have enough mindset training (the fitness or nutrition coaching program you took likely didn't cover this at all), and others are because of a lack of responsibility as the health coach.

Because of this, the coaches with the best intentions, those driven by the heart with all the passion, are often the coaches with the least successful clients.⁣

⁣And in the worst-case scenario, they accidentally encourage clients NOT to change.

⁣All while meaning well and truly trying to help.⁣

Accountability in Your Coaching Practice

As a coach, it's easy to say things like:

“You just need to try harder!”

“I can't make you motivated.”

“You're paying me! It's not my fault if you don't use the service you paid for.”

All of these are examples of failure to take personal responsibility. These are cop-outs.

AND these are all direct quotes that I've heard from clients that past coaches have told them, and it's a problem. ⁣

If, as a coach, aka someone people look up to and are PAYING FOR GUIDANCE FROM, you're telling your clients that they need to try harder or they don't want it bad enough, you aren't doing your job as a health coach. You aren't giving the most effective support they need to make lasting changes.

That's the kind of coach who only knows how to write a training program and hit “send.”

These cop-outs can leave clients feeling incompetent and incapable, thinking, “I must just not be the type of person for this.”⁣ And that's not what any coach's intention is. Because if it were as simple as “try harder,” your client should be able to do it.⁣

If you tell your client, “You don't want it bad enough,” you might leave them wondering if you're right. Rather than improving their health, your client might think, “Maybe I don't. Maybe this health and fitness stuff just isn't for me after all.”⁣

The problem is not with the client!

Making Too Many Suggestions for Clients

Sometimes, coaches have the opposite problem.

As a coach, you may want to come to your client's aid as soon as they struggle. But you may be taking on too much responsibility through your coaching.

⁣The issue is that you are immediately providing suggestions and solutions to your clients. After all, they came to you because you’re an expert with all the answers, right? You feel like you're just giving them helpful advice, right?

This could be problematic because, in an effort to help your clients, you miss out on the opportunity to help them CHANGE.

Instead of telling them what to do, ask your clients what worked for them in the past and what ideas they might have before you start listing off your suggestions.

Being Too Positive

Another common mishap I see health coaches making is being too positive when their client struggles with mindset, adherence, etc.

You're a health and wellness coach, so you may think the best way to improve your client's overall health is by ignoring the bad and only focusing on the good. Maybe your health coaching certification taught you to always focus on your client’s strengths and dismiss their slip-ups, right?

This approach is doing a disservice to your client.

Without properly addressing the slip-ups, your client won’t be prepared to handle similar situations in the future. 

Say your client had a party to attend one evening, which they intended to be a free meal, but instead of sticking to their usual healthy habits and focusing on nutrient-dense foods throughout the day, they took an all-or-nothing approach and over-ate the whole day.

If your response is, "Oh well, you'll do better next time!" without providing them with any guidance on how to do better next time, there won't be any behavior change. Your client won't make any mindset changes around their nutrition and will find themselves in an endless loop. They need your support beyond words of encouragement.

So, instead of solely relying on positive talk, normalize the “mistakes” and validate them. Ask your client what they might do differently next time they’re in a similar situation and help them formulate a game plan.

Attempting Massive Changes

You're a health coach and are there to support your clients through their health and wellness programs with you, and this means ensuring they aren't going overboard with their goals.

You shouldn't allow your clients to attempt to make massive changes. They’re excited to get started and want to do all the things, but this could become problematic if your client is riding on a sense of hope. They want to do it all, so they might be overzealous, and their self-efficacy will tank when they can’t meet their expectations.

As a health coach, you are their guide. You can't necessarily stop them from setting over-the-top goals, but you can ask your clients about their current lifestyle and have them determine what they’re most confident they can achieve (this might act as a bit of a reality check for them). 

This approach will help them practice and improve their goal-setting skills, which will result in better adherence and success.

Ignoring Reality

Your private clients hired a health coach to help them create change, improve their habits, master nutrition, etc. Naturally, many of your conversations will revolve around the benefits of making change.

But they shouldn't all be focused this way.

If you aren't talking to your coaching clients about the consequences of not changing, you’ll miss out on crucial information about them, such as why their current, less healthy lifestyle works for them. 

Ask your client about the good that comes from their unhealthy behaviors. This strategy often results in them saying “...BUT” and providing reasons for change, which allows them to take control of their own health and come up with solutions rather than relying on you to provide solutions (the thing we want to avoid).

Become a Better Health, Nutrition, and Fitness Coach

You aren’t the only one who faces these issues. It’s common among health coaches, and that’s because there’s an underlying issue. 

There is a lack of education and understanding regarding human behavior, mindset, and psychology in health coaching training programs.⁣ You may be a certified nutrition or fitness coach, but that doesn't mean you were taught evidence-based approaches for mindset and behavior change.

Unfortunately, it’s placed pretty far down on the “importance totem pole” in coaching education, period.⁣

You can be a GOOD COACH but have poor client retention, adherence, and overall success due to a lack of training in these areas.⁣

These are the areas that I refer to as the “art” of coaching.⁣ This is often the missing piece when you decide to become a health coach.⁣

You might not need a fancy sales funnel, a prettier website, or more client resources to level up your coaching game.⁣ You might just need to be a better coach.⁣

I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but it might be what you need to hear.

Better Coaching, More Career Success

If you feel like your clients are resisting change, there’s a good chance they’re actually resisting you. While that sucks to hear, it’s not a career-ender. Being aware that you need to make certain improvements as a coach will help your clients and help you have a more successful career!

If you're the type of coach I mentioned above, I'm not here to trash you.

It's not your fault your health coach certification didn't teach you any better. But it IS your responsibility to do better now. 

You can improve your coaching skills to improve your clients' mindset and increase adherence, retention, and success using evidence-based practices in behavior change.

You can start right now by tossing your name and email on the waitlist for the next round of the Health Mindset Coaching Certification. I'll send you 5 free lessons in behavior change, mindset, and psychology to get you going.

Rather than being a health coach who (often, accidentally) cultivates a fixed mindset by telling their clients to “try harder” or “you don't want it bad enough,” you can help your clients achieve a growth mindset that helps them achieve their goals.

⁣Your people should feel empowered and capable of achieving their goals, not belittled and like they're doomed to failure. 

Yes, coaches, your clients are YOUR PEOPLE, not just a spreadsheet.

This is why most of our clients with previous coaching experiences were scared and skeptical of signing on with another coach.⁣ And I don't blame them.⁣

But damn, does it make me angry and make my job more difficult when we, being lumped in with this group of crappy coaches, aren't trusted right out of the gate. This kind of “coaching” can seriously shift a person's mindset for the worst.⁣

And ultimately, it needs to stop. I'm hopeful that my Health Mindset Coaching Certification helps do just that.

Health Mindset Coaching Certification

The Health Mindset Coaching Certification is a 13-week live course to teach coaches like you how to leverage the science of mindset and health behavior change to encourage a growth mindset in your clients. 

You'll promote increased retention, connection, adherence, and success by learning these skills. 

So, if you're struggling with non-adherent clients and feel like you can't help those with self-sabotaging behaviors, all-or-nothing thinking, and/or mindset barriers, this certification was designed for you. 

Grab some FREE primer education materials and learn more about the certification!

Connect with us!

Email: [email protected]

IG: @coachkaseyjo @healthmindsetcert