"The past is gone: the present is full of confusion; and the future scares the hell out of me!" - David L. Stein
Emotional resistance is anything that causes someone to stay
in their comfort zone – rather than taking action towards making a change. It is unquestionably the elephant in the
room for personal trainers and anyone who coaches people to make healthy
lifestyle changes.
A person can want to change but at the same time be emotionally
resistant to change. In fact, this common. The person knows they want to change, but
their level of motivation is not as strong as their level of emotional resistance,
so they stay stuck.
There are many reasons a person can be resistant to change
including:
Fear of
change – staying in their comfort zone is a lot less scary than trying
something new!
They
fall into the bad habit rut – change is hard, and habits must be replaced with
other habits!
They
lack confidence so are afraid they will fail
They
chose short-term comfort vs long-term benefit
So what is a good coach to do?
It is all about asking the right questions and allowing a
client to think without interruption.
Questions like:
Why is
your goal important to you now?
What
makes you think you need to make this change?
What
will it take for you to change?
How can
I help you get past some of the challenges you are facing?
Imagine
you have reached your goal – how would your life be different?
If you
do not change and stay where you are or get worse how will that be?
On a 1 –
10 scale how important is it for you to make this change now?
If
it is less than a 10 ask “what would it take for you to go up at least 1 level?”
The key is to be empathetic and focus on the client coming
up with solutions for changing their lives instead of telling them what to do
all the time!
No comments:
Post a Comment