Be Healthy. It’s Your Year to Win!

Are you one of those people who make a New Year’s commitment to better health? To saying goodbye to some of those habits you know aren’t good for you? Well, you’re not alone. We all do it.

What most of us don’t do is stick to these goals and win. But you can join an elite crowd that makes it happen. That’s what we want to talk about here, finding the ways to uncover the right health goals, create a plan and succeed. It’s your year to win!

The Power of Coaching

You know what you want to do. You want to be healthier. You know you have the willpower. You can do it on your own.

But why should you? Setting a goal is an awesome start, but, well, scoring the goal is a lot of work. The sports analogy is no accident. High-performance athletes, whether in individual or team sports, don’t win on their own. They use coaches to help them find their strengths and weaknesses and focus on doing what’s needed to achieve more.

Coaching. That’s one of the most important benefits of your Crossover membership. As you know, we have many different types of people providing care, from doctors and nurses to physiotherapists and nutritionists, all under our one roof, but when it comes to your New Year’s resolution, probably the most important people are our Health Coaches.

Like an athlete’s coach, your Health Coach gets to know you, your goals and interests (and, yes, your limits) and can work with you to create a plan that makes sense for you. And that’s not all. Your Coach is with you all the way, providing the tips and encouragement you need to stick with the plan.

Let’s look in more detail into what a Crossover Health Coach can do for you. There are four main steps: Assess; Get Real; Start and Stick.

Assess

You and your Health Coach work together, not only to discuss what you’d like to achieve but also to see where you should focus. Your coach knows that making meaningful change takes hard work, dedication, and a strong desire to improve.  To help increase motivation, your coach can help you keep your eye on the prize, and remind yourself about “why” you want to put in the hard effort to achieve your goal.  How important is it to you to make change in your life?  

Working with the information from your annual physical and doctor’s recommendation is a great foundation. Now it’s time to start more closely examining what you actually want to accomplish and how you want to go about making these changes.  

Get Real

Start by being reasonable.  By making your goals achievable and realistic, you are giving yourself a real opportunity to succeed.  Overly ambitious goals can lead feeling overwhelmed, not having time and resources to complete your desired outcome.  You don’t need to finish an Ironman to win!

Vague goals (i.e. “I want to be healthier” or “I want to be happier”) may sound great but tend to get us stuck because they are too broad. Be more focused by asking yourself “What can I be doing that would help me (feel healthier, be happier, etc)?”

Start

Once you have a clear focus of what action you want to take, start by establishing a time, day, and location for when and where you will be following through with your objective.  Getting very specific gives yourself a clear, concrete, and actionable behavior that you can do. Here is an example: “For the next 4 weeks, I will go for walks at the park close to my house on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 5:30 to 6:30pm.”

Seems pretty clear. You have the motivation and the plan. Now just get going. Well…

Stick

Even when people find the right goal and get going, sticking with it is hard, especially in the time between the initial enthusiasm and when your new changes become habit. Be realistic, be mindful and don’t be so hard on yourself. Your Health Coach won’t be. Here are some things to think about as you head on the road to success.

Anticipate Hurdles

Tend to give up on household projects because it looks “good enough?” Or maybe stop going to the gym because of childcare coverage complications or a change in work schedule?   Spend some time considering what derailed your previous resolutions, to help you prepare for what may trip you up along this journey. Build in a plan for overcoming the difficulties and  give yourself the opportunity to overcome future hurdles by inserting in rewards or opportunities for motivation to make this year different.

Connect with Your Support Network

Getting a little help from a friend never hurt anyone. Finding a workout buddy or asking your partner for their support in your venture can go a long way to helping you win.  Involving friends, family, and coworkers can make it more fun, while also holding you accountable.  And no, you aren’t burdening anyone…in fact it’s likely those around you would feel honored to be a part of your achievements. And make your commitments public. The process of vocalizing one’s plan can help solidify its place in your life.

Maintain Momentum

As you continue achieving your goals as you move forward throughout the year, be sure to take credit for your successes. And scan for areas where you see small improvements and results because they all add up. Giving yourself high fives along the way and appreciating your accomplishments can be excellent reinforcers and can help make the new healthy habit last forever.  For some, the renewed self can feel uncomfortable.  Don’t let that stop you.  Take pride in your success because you’ve earned it.

And don’t forget that your Health Coach will be with you all the way, able to provide information when you need it, and guide you to some of our other specialists like nutritionists, physiotherapists and our doctors when it makes sense for you.

Just Do It

Nike is right. You just have to do it. The rewards for new healthy habits are awesome.

And remember that you have an amazing resource behind you with your Health Coach and with everything that Crossover Health can provide. Sure, we have a team of people here who can help when you’re sick, but what really stokes us is when we see our members succeed. And you will, because it’s #youryear to win!