Coaching is all the buzz right now and is a big industry. You can hire a coach for every aspect of your life, there are coaches for finding a life partner, handling your finances, getting fit, knowing how to eat right, managing aspects of chronic illness and countless more.
But are there benefits to having a coach and is there a benefit to having a coach that helps you navigate chronic illness? Well according to a Stanford University study having a coach has a lot of benefit. Their study found that having a chronic illness coach can significantly increase the health of people with a long-term illness.
In the study the subjects were coached on how to handle the stress of having an illness, self-care, communication with others and the emotional aspects of dealing with an illness.
According to the results of the study those that took the program vs those who didn’t demonstrated significant improvements in self-care, symptom management, general health, energy levels and their social life. They also had less hospital visits, experienced a health care cost savings and many noted that of the results lasted for years beyond the coaching.
I have experienced this myself, I had a coach (who also did energy healing) and she helped me move past blocks in my life so I could experience healing. She helped me get to a place in my life where I was living for more than just an absence of symptoms. Instead I was living for trips I was taking, for adventures I was going on, for living my purpose and for enjoying my life.
As a result of her coaching I had so much more purpose, contentment, peace and joy in my life. That’s because coaching for chronic illness is so much more than helping you manage your illness, it’s about helping you living your best life possible, pursuing your desires and living your dream life.
So, what are some specific benefits of having a coach? Well here are 5 benefits to having a coach.
1 – Gain clarity in your life
Have you ever felt like your life is going in all directions and you just need to get clarity on what you really want to what to focus your energy on? You know you want something different but are stuck in how to get there. Coaching will help guide you to have better clarity in your life, so you can design your life how you want it. It will help you assess your life, your vision, values and purpose so you can focus on what is important to you. They can help you tap into your own inner wisdom and guidance to make the best decisions for you.
2 – Accountability
There have been many times when I had the best of intentions to go for a walk or a bike ride but end up getting distracted and not going. But get a friend involved and I don’t miss out on my walk or bike ride, that because I’m accountable to someone. Coaching is like that, you get accountability and someone helps hold you to what you are wanting to achieve. Because you made the commitment to someone (your coach) you are more likely to follow through.
3 – Someone to Give You Gentle Nudges
Sometimes we need a little nudge or push to achieve what we desire. There can be a lot of fears and internal resistance when moving towards a desired goal. This can be especially so when you have an autoimmune illness. I have been fortunate enough to have many coaches that have helped gently push me towards my goal, they helped me raise your standards and set boundaries where I needed to. A coach can help you do the same.
4 – Someone to be your Cheerleader
Part my job as a coach is to champion you and celebrate your success. Your coaching time is a time just for you to focus on your needs and wants. Your coach is there to help hold your vision for you, to know that you can have a healthy happy life even if you doubt it sometimes. When you are having doubts that you can achieve your goal, a coach will be your cheerleader to help you continue the path to achieving your goal.
5 – Faster results
Like the saying goes two are better than one. All of the combined benefits above mean that you have less resistance to your goal and that means you will achieve the results you want so much faster. Who doesn’t want that, why struggle on your own when you can get there so much faster with the help of a coach.
A coach can help you discover more about what direction you should be taking, they will help you recognize the blocks that could be roadblocks to your goals and will cheerlead you to success.
Your coach is a bouncing board for you, they can help you find perspective and empower you to be the expert in your life.
A coach will help lift you up to be the best version of you and to live your best life possible.
What could be possible in your life with a coach in your corner?
