Do it like it’s your job!

I understand that changing our health habits can be challenging at times.

One of the pet peeves of my job is when clients cancel their appointments – and it’s probably not for the reason that you’re thinking. Its not because I’m not getting paid for that time that I’ve scheduled; it’s because when clients cancel their appointments, it means that they’re not following through with the plan. When clients don’t follow the plan, they don’t see results. When they don’t see results, they wonder why they’re spending so much money on my services and not seeing results. When they don’t see results, they figure that I’m just another ‘diet’ or workout that didn’t work for them. And then they quit.

I’ve recently had a string of cancellations from several clients, and so I started thinking about my own health habits. I started thinking about ‘when was the last time I skipped a planned workout?’ or went completely off plan for my diet? or decided to stay up half the night reading or watching TV because that seemed more important than sleep? Honestly, I can’t remember.

So why is that?

Well, my biggest pet peeve is health practitioners (doctors, nurses, personal trainers, nutritionists, physical therapists, etc.) who don’t practice what they preach: who smoke, or are obese. Therefore, it is my job to live a healthy lifestyle. It is my job to be a good example for my clients.

I exercise and eat, like it’s my job. I do that because it IS my job.

So, why do clients cancel?

There are a few reasons.

  1. Sometimes people get sick. Oddly enough, I don’t. In the 7 years that I’ve been working as a health coach, I’ve had to cancel only once because of illness. People who are healthy don’t get sick.  Unhealthy people get sick more often than healthy folks because their bodies can’t ward off illness as well as it should be able to.
  2. Life gets in the way: travel, schedules & meetings, the HOLIDAYS. Some folks use travel as an excuse to blow off their workouts. The ones who are committed will remain active even if they’re out of town & can’t meet with me. The ones who really drive me crazy are the ones who look at their schedule & cancel just because ‘it’s going to be a busy week.’  These are the folks who haven’t prioritized their health as being important.

There’s always going to be some reason why you can’t do [X] (workout, eat right, get enough sleep, whatever…). People who are successful will see that obstacle & work around it. Folks who stop because there’s an obstacle, will never find success until they change their way of thinking.

So, if I left heathcare & changed careers, would I stop the health habits that I’ve created? No way.

Why not?

Well, even though it wouldn’t be my formal job to take care of myself, it’s still my responsibility to my community, my family, and my body to take care of my health. If I don’t take care of myself, how can I take care of others? I’ve only been given 1 body for this lifetime and I need to make sure that I treat it well now, so that when I age, it will return the favor.

So really, shouldn’t taking care of your health be something that everyone does like it’s your job?