How to become a wellness coach is still in its infancy, and the vast majority of us don’t even know what a W.T.C.? is or how to spell it. It stands for “work-related stress.” I work in the consulting business and one of the top clients is a huge company that has over a hundred thousand employees. The client is in the executive suite next to me. When I asked him how he was feeling, he said “I’m stressed because this job is hard. Even if I tried, I couldn’t do everything myself.”
When he first asked me how I became a coach, I thought I might use some of my patented term “coachability.” Coaches do not come naturally. They must learn how to become a good coach through continuous practice. One of the most common challenges facing wellness coaches is the lack of understanding about the needs of their clients and the obstacles they face on a daily basis. Holistic approaches to coaching require a willingness to change, adapt, and develop so that clients can achieve maximum health and wellness.
I’ve discovered that many of our clients’ biggest obstacles are misconceptions and a lack of understanding about what they can achieve from a holistic health approach. For example, one of our clients was hesitant to consider yoga as an adjunct to her physical and mental wellness program. She felt that yoga would be too “interactive” and she didn’t want to get hurt while doing the poses. I asked her if she could find a yoga class at the health center where she was seeing me and suggested that we have a session together.
This individual had spent years working in a corporate environment that did not support her health and she was tired of feeling like she was spinning her wheels. Through my coach training, I learned that her greatest obstacles were fears of making mistakes and barriers to success she had created for herself. Through several conversations with her, I discovered that her biggest hurdle in pursuing a new career was her fear of asking questions and having mentors in her life that would “pass on” useful information to her. As a result, she procrastinated her education and pursued a job as a cashier in a grocery store as a means of paying her way through college.
How many of us have felt that way? We may have felt uncomfortable asking for a raise or promotion in the place of our current position. We may have hesitated to speak up at work because we were unsure whether we could be successful at our new job. As health coaches, our biggest obstacle may not be the obstacles we encounter in the world, but the obstacles we create in our minds. If you’re like most people, you probably don’t feel like your employer is looking out for your best interests or that your manager is constantly assessing whether you’re on the same page as him about the future of the company.
Wellness coach training can help you overcome these challenges. Once you’ve completed an entire course in coaching skills, certification will become more important than ever. If you’re aiming for a management position in a company, your coach certification will make you much more valuable than you currently are. On the other hand, if you’re just planning to start your own health coaching practice, then your certification is more likely to be a minor irritant to potential employers and clients. There’s no need to get frustrated over something that should be easily resolved.
Another thing that the IIAW courses can teach you is how to set up your business. The skills you learn about marketing, sales, accounting, and business management can be applied to just about any new career, whether it be in human resources marketing, sales, or accounting. A person who has taken one of these courses can work anywhere there is a need for personal or group coaching. If you have an idea for a new business, or you want to expand your current practice, you can learn all the skills you need to open a wellness coaching practice from the beginning.
If you’re looking for a challenging and rewarding career that you can be proud of, the IIAW program is a great choice for you. The online learning format allows you to keep your studies at your own pace, so you can get your classes at your convenience. Once you complete your studies, you’ll be ready to earn your wellness coach certification. There are many benefits to this career path, including the ability to work with others from around the world, meet lots of wonderful new people and gain new skills that you can use to advance your career.