Do health coaches really help your employees?

It’s a question we hear all the time – most likely because the traditional approach to health coaching has never really worked, and people are understandably skeptical.  If you’re not familiar with the traditional approach, think telemarketer-style calls to your house during dinnertime, typically implying that you’re broken while offering a scripted solution to “fix” you.  Sounds super fun, right?  Hard to imagine why it didn’t (and still doesn’t) work…

We prefer to answer a slightly different question – “Do your health coaches really help?”  To which we can proudly reply, “Heck yeah they do!”  We recently conducted a survey of members enrolled in Sonic Boom’s lifestyle coaching program (“Coach’s Corner”), and the results speak for themselves:

• 95% satisfaction rate with the coaching experience
• 59% reported improved nutrition habits
• 61% reported improved exercise habits
• 25% reported improved stress management
• 42% reported improved weight management (loss, gain, or maintained, based on goals)
• 92% believe that their coach is genuinely and enthusiastically committed to their personal wellbeing success

So, when is health coaching most helpful?

Launching a journey toward improved health habits can be somewhat scary. Depending on your starting point and the relative difficulty of your goals, a complete overhaul of your lifestyle is often intimidating (to say the least). When it comes to our health and fitness, many of us have the same concerns, hesitations, and struggles with starting out.  

That’s where a wellness coach comes in. They’re trained and certified in strategies that can help us get started, stay on track, and reach our personal (and therefore vastly different) wellness goals. Whether we’re hoping to lose weight, reduce stress levels, manage a chronic illness, improve our relationships, or simply boost our energy and feel better, health coaches are there to listen, strategize, and come up with a personalized plan for success that’ll work with your lifestyle, schedule, , motivations, barriers, and support system (or lack thereof).

Why does “our” coaching work so well?

We do things differently compared to most health-coaching programs. For starters, our initial coaching conversations are up to 40 minutes long (compared to the 20-25 industry standard). We strongly believe that taking the time to get to know each member (and identifying their health goals) makes the coaching process more beneficial for everyone involved.  Instead of focusing on strict ROI parameters and health-status checklists, we join the member on their unique journey and help hold them accountable to where they want to go  – whether it’s related to weight loss, disease control, exercise, or stress reduction (among other things!).  Ultimately, our coaching provides the time and space for members to sit down and truly think about their health goals, with the ongoing support of a trusted accountability partner (giving them an opportunity to talk through the many ups and downs and twists and turns along the way).  How many people can say they take the time to do that on a regular basis?

Still, we know jumping head-first into making lifestyle changes can be difficult.

What are the most common obstacles to improving health habits?

• Taking the first step. Talking about your goals is much easier than actually making changes. Plus, many of us just don’t know where to start, so we keep thinking (and over-thinking) about it instead of actually doing something!
• Being honest with yourself. Setting appropriate goals needs to start with identifying your bad habits, shortcomings, and failures.
• Sticking with it. To reach any wellness goal, we most likely need to change our health habits. To change our health habits, we need strategies to help us fight through those inevitable lulls in motivation.

Reaching your wellness goals is not only possible – it’s probable – when you enlist help from a certified Sonic Boom health coach. When it comes to health-habit improvement, you don’t have to go it alone. Work with a coach to hold yourself accountable, set attainable goals, and reach your potential faster than you ever thought possible.

To learn more about our coaching program, contact [email protected]. (Or, if you’re already a Sonic Boom member, visit Coach’s Corner within your personal portal.)