Marc Anthony once said, “If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.” And isn’t it true? When you are engaged in a career that literally makes you bound out of bed in the morning and actually look forward to going to work each and every day, there is no better feeling. Well, one career that can create a feeling of “I am really excited and can’t wait to go to work!” is that of a health coach. What’s a health coach?
The Institute for Integrative Nutrition defines a health coach as “a wellness authority and supportive mentor who motivates individuals to cultivate positive health choices.” In short, it is someone who helps others live healthier lives through education as well as support. Plus, this particular career is extremely rewarding for a number of different reasons. Here are the top three:
Reason #1 – You Help People Live Longer Lives
There aren’t many professions that can say that what they do helps other people live longer lives. Sure, doctors most certainly can because they save lives daily, but beyond that, the number of mortality reducing occupations is pretty limited. Yet, being a health coach and teaching others how to make better choices does help extend life expectancy.
It accomplishes this by teaching the importance of eating healthy foods and taking healthy actions. Even The National Bureau of Economic Research indicates that “education seems to have a positive effect on health.” This just reaffirms how powerful teaching others about health can be.
Reason #2 – You Help Give People Confidence
For some people, their health condition erodes their confidence levels, making it harder to look themselves in the mirror in the morning and be satisfied with the image looking back at them. In this regard, teaching not only healthy behaviors but healthy attitudes enables health coaches to change this way of thinking and give their clients the confidence they not only need but deserve.
For instance, Intent Blog shared the story of a woman diagnosed with a skin disorder who began juicing and eating healthy foods in an effort to deal with the brown spots appearing on her skin. Within just a few months’ time, her condition reversed. It was then that she also decided to become a health coach so she could help others in similar situations to regain their health and make them feel better about themselves in the process.
Reason #3 – It Motivates You to Continue to Live a Healthier Life Too
The thing about motivation is that it requires constant attention if it’s going to stick around. That’s why it’s easier to handle day number one of making positive changes than it is day number two, three, or ten. Basically, motivation has a tendency to dwindle over time, potentially causing you to give up completely and let go of the positive changes you’ve worked so hard to make.
However, when you make a living through educating, motivating, and supporting others to live healthier lives, it continues to motivate you to do the same. By continuously sharing your passion for health and wellness and having others look to you for advice and information, you’re essentially stoking your own fire and making it easier to continue to live a healthier life too.
Being a health coach comes with many rewards, and these are just three. So, if you’re entertaining entering this field, think of all of the good you could do—for others and yourself!
Shelly Stinson is a Denver-based freelancer writer. She loves writing about fitness, healthy living, and anything associated with those topics. In her downtime, Shelly enjoys doing community work and riding her bike. Connect with her on Twitter.
