THRIVE – Keeping the Clients Goal at the Forefront

A Coaching Model By Heather Fife, Health Coach, UNITED STATES

To Thrive Health and Wellness

When I think about being healthy I imagine a large, beautiful, green tree that thrives in the wilderness under all conditions. My coaching strategy is derived from the amazing tree and beautiful colors. To thrive health and wellness should be focused on preventative care rather than reactive care. Preventative care gives the client a better quality of life and helps them feel like they are thriving instead of just living. There is a difference between the quality of life and quantity of life. If your quality of life is greatly diminished at the end of your life then what kind of life were you living? Having an active lifestyle with hiking and spending quality time with those you love creates a higher quality of life than laying in a hospital bed unable to move.

THRIVE To Listen and Understand Clients Journey

I derived the THRIVE model through listening to clients and understanding every client has different obstacles and desires. They also are the experts of their bodies. I realized there are many steps before the execution phase that can support the client in being successful in their journey to create health and wellness in their lives and thrive.

T​alk

It is important to talk and connect with the client. Understand where they are coming from and how they like to handle things. Start looking into their values and who they are. Find out what brought them to coaching and how they would like to proceed. Creating a connection here is important because it will allow the client to open up in the next phase of the coaching process.

H​eal

Healing the client’s past experiences or past beliefs about health and wellness are important steps in building a solid foundation to support the client to obtain their goal and have the type of life they envision. This step is a great place to understand the client and where they have been, what they have tried, and why this is important to them. The healing process is a judgment-free zone where the coach can understand past obstacles and identify underlying beliefs that may have created an obstacle for the client to be successful. Feelings about working out and eating healthy. This process is important to focus on so that there is progress and we don’t create plans that have not worked in the past.

R​eality

What is the current reality of the client? What is their family life like? What is their financial status? Can they afford a trainer/nutritionist? What kind of food can they buy? What is their availability to cook/work out? Do they have time? What is their body like? Is it fit? Are there any injuries? Past injuries to be aware of? What do they like doing? Do they like being outdoors or working out in a gym or taking classes? Understanding where the client is and what they can do is important when developing the plan.

I​nterference

What are possible things that can keep them from working out or eating healthy? What is their emotional state? Are there times of the month that are more difficult to work out? Are there people in their life that interfere with them being healthy? Who lives in their home and are they supportive or are they a deterrence? Are there certain times when eating unhealthy is a habit?

V​ision

A vision helps define what you want out of life and allows you to focus on your vision.f It’s important to think about the legacy you want to leave behind and what experiences you want to have in your life. All of these are important starting points so that you know what direction you should go in. Some questions could be: What does your life look like in a week? 2 weeks? A month? A Year? 10 years? What activities do you want to do? Where do you want to travel? What do your close relationships look like? Who do you want to be spending time with? What do you do in your spare time? How are you making money? What have you accomplished? The vision step creates aspiration and can help solidify those steps needed to make the vision a reality.

E​execute

Building a plan that will work, not only to accomplish the goal but allow the client to maintain it and fit their lifestyle. This step should be done in collaboration with your client. In this step, it is important to listen and understand what is going on be something that can build on itself to get to the ultimate goal. It’s also important to identify people that can support the client and hold them accountable.

Managing & Supporting the Model THRIVE

Understanding the Why

The client needs to understand why the goal/vision is important to help them keep focused and motivated. When the why is strong the dedication to the vision is strong as well. Support the client in figuring out why the goal is important to them to create a strong dedication to the health/wellness goal. This will also support the client in the upcoming months as there will be some setbacks and difficult days. Remind the client why they started the health/wellness journey and see if the why is still strong enough or if there is something that has changed and things need to be adjusted.

Vulnerability

Creating a safe space for the client to be vulnerable creates a place where they can be open and honest about where they are at and how they are feeling with their progress. Vulnerability creates change and allows an honest look at what the client is doing and allows them to notice the behaviors that are keeping them from reaching their goals. Health and wellness discussions are private and personal and can be hard for people to talk about. Having a place for the client to be completely honest with what is happening helps them achieve a realistic look at what is happening and allows the necessary change to be possible.

Creativity

Being creative and allowing the client to create their ideas on what will support them with their health and wellness goals lead to success. The client understands themself better and knows what will support and help them change. The client also knows what they have in their home, what they like to eat, and what they can do to support their goals. Being creative with ideas to obtain their goals will give them strength in accomplishing the goals.

Flexibility

Flexibility is allowing the client to make mistakes, change, and adjust as needed. The client can try out new things and if they don’t work together you can adjust and collaborate with them and create an adjustment to the plan. It’s important to leave room for change and adjustment so that there will be progress made. Small progress is better than no progress or even worse having the client quit. The goal is to keep the client focused on their vision and what they want to accomplish. The goal of a coach is to notice progress, remind them of their vision, and collaborate to bring the vision to their reality.

Thriving and Not Just Living

Keeping the client’s goal at the forefront, reminding them of progress made, challenging them, and allowing for setbacks/mistakes/frustrations will ultimately get the client where they want to be. This in turn provides them a life that allows the client to truly feel like they are thriving and not just living.