Your Commitment to Wellness
Central to my approach in coaching for wellness is a person’s ability to fully commit to lifestyle change. Based on my research and publications I have on this subject, we will use the Commitment Questionnaire I developed. This will help in identifying commitment strengths and areas where we can enhance your commitment to wellness. This assessment is based on the Four Factors of Commitment that I have identified:
Vision – The ability to visualize success and anticipate positive results. It is said that what we get out of life is what we expect. A clear vision includes a vivid picture of where you are heading, confidence in your abilities and a belief that your life will be richer as a result of the commitment.
Insight – The ability to know yourself and the past successes and failures on commitments. This also includes childhood experiences, cultural considerations and patterns of behavior that could sabotage your commitment.
Acceptance – A basic reality of life is that for us to gain something significant, we need to give something up. A difficult part of commitment is dealing with the emotions attached to our “old” way of doing things (behaviors) and our ability, or lack of, in dealing with issues of immediate gratification and pleasure. This is especially important in making lifestyle changes that require hard work and dedication.
Integration – A true sign of commitment is when we are aligned with our values, thoughts, words and behaviors surrounding our commitment. It takes time and some research shows that it takes at least 3 months of lifestyle change to get to this point, where our behavior seems natural and part of our daily routine.
Together we incorporate specific strategies applied to the four factors. With all strategies several tactics are employed; cognitive restructuring (identifying the beliefs, attitudes and thought surrounding the commitment, behavior modification (specific behaviors that must be incorporated) and inclusion (no one experiences commitment in a vacuum, others must be considered for commitment to be solidified – how are they affected?)