The number one reason most women give for their interest in a fitness or nutrition coaching program is overall health. A random collection of 200 surveys given to women near or on the other side of 50 showed 58% say that’s the most important.
In further description of what exactly would improve their overall health, women responded it would be weight loss. The most common range of weight loss was 10-25 pounds.
What was most inspiring in the survey results is the vision of what a woman believes weight loss will do for her.
I’ll be able to move freely and choose any activity I want to.
I’ll feel more confident.
I’ll feel better about myself.
I’ll get back to do activities I loved: kayaking, hiking, touring on my bike.
Notice that 50% of the comments above are about confidence, feeling good, perhaps self-worth, though I am absolutely putting words in respondent’s mouths by saying that. That is an interpretation; no woman responded with specifically those words. I do believe that is the name of the game however.
I recently stood on stage in front of a group of peers in the Functional Medicine space. Most of the audience members are rocking NY Times best-sellers, or at the least Amazon best sellers, and providing programs and services to elevate the health and wellness of this nation in a truly health care vs. sick care kind of way.
I shared my own vulnerability. When you begin a business, all your “stuff” comes up. I’ve promoted programs, other businesses, and my staff for 30 years. As soon as the curtain came down and I essentially was promoting myself, I was the program/service/business: I was startled by how loudly the little voice in my head began chattering. She wasn’t even talking behind my back. She was talking right to me. The nerve!
What I’m suggesting it that you are in the business of building and taking care of your body and your mind. The way you see yourself is the way you allow yourself (or limit yourself) to be fully you in the world.
We’ve come to the conclusion in the last decade that there is no longer separation of the mind, body, and soul. You can’t be fully “well” in one without the others. No one can build a strong body with a hollow shell inside. We can impact some positive feelings internally through physical fitness. But just as you couldn’t expect to study for years in University and behind a keyboard would create a body that is well, you have to work on each uniquely so that the whole comes together.
Begin listening to the little voices. Do it to become aware of what they’re saying and how they might be holding you back. Don’t stop them until you’re fully aware of what the message is. Only then can you figure out where those messages come from and how you need to address them.
My little voices would say, who are you to be…? What do you think you’re doing?
I imagine yours might be similar. They may not.
Consider the role you play in supporting others to examine how you might be needing something yourself. We often “project.” That is we give to others, or tell others the same thing we say to ourselves, or need to say to ourselves. You might play one of four roles:
- Creative – you’ve got all kinds of ideas…for how someone else might run their lives (and might be ignoring your own set of actions)
- Connector – you love to connect (and feel connected)
- Cheerleader – you love to cheerlead and positively uplift (and need that in your own life)
- Cautious – you play devil’s advocate both with reason and irrational reason about why something might not work
Which of those feels most like your role? You play parts of them all at different times, of course. You’re a unique blend of each, yet one is likely stronger than the others.
Consider whether you need or want to strengthen another part of your voice. Possibly you need to recruit someone to play another role for you. An idea person – either in their own lives or others – might need a Cautious, in order to think things through and solve problems in theory before they become a reality.
In business, those people who collaborate more than compete, will begin to rise. They elevate themselves and others along the way. In wellness and fitness, it’s not much different. Find those who elevate and are a rising tide for you. Be that for others. Balance your traits by strengthening them yourself and by surrounding yourself with others who have a different point of view.
You are a powerful woman. You can add strength to your goals with the right messages, the right environment, and the right support. Listen to the message you send yourself first.
Now, I’d love to hear from you. Do you know the message you send to yourself? Have you consciously made changes to improve it?
