Healthy Living Success = Change

You’re excited about the healthy lifestyle changes you’ve started to implement.

• Your fitness tracker constantly shows that you’re walking 8,000+ steps a day!
• You’re really pushing it with your personal trainer twice a week!
• You’re eating more meals at home and cooking with a lot more vegetables.
• You’re finally feeling and looking better!

So why have your friends stopped inviting you out on the weekends?

Why have your kids started asking your spouse to make dinner?

Think About the Change Management Principles You Know

Many Change Management principles you’ve used with your business teams in the corporate world, may also apply in this scenario.

Change can be scary.
Change can make someone feel a loss of security or control.
It can lead to feelings of anxiety, fear, or loss.

Follow these 4 steps to help your loved ones manage the changes you’re going through:

1. Involve them.

Many people fear that when you start your healthy living journey, you’ll leave them behind. Erase this fear by involving them; make them a part of your healthy living team. Ask loved ones to exercise with you or to help make you accountable for hitting the gym. If you usually hit the pubs and restaurants with your friends for social time, ask them to take a few cooking classes with you instead.

2. Don’t judge them.

Don’t constantly preach your new healthy habits or achievements in front of your loved ones. You are the one who is ready for the changes you’ve decided to make, your loved ones may not be ready for, or want to change. As they begin to feel more understood, and less judged, they may open up and increase interest towards your new habits and beliefs. Many family members of my clients have indirectly started losing weight and becoming healthier because of the positive example my clients start slowly setting at home.

3. Surround yourself with a strong team.

Successful leaders have strong and supportive teams to lead them through change management. The strength of a team is only as strong as its weakest link. This is true in the boardroom and at home. Living a healthy lifestyle takes resources. Chopping veggies, preparing meals from scratch and working out can be time consuming and it can be hard. Whether it’s helping you with the grocery shopping, or massaging your tight muscles after a tough workout, you need support from your loved ones, in order to be successful with this style of life over the long-term. You need someone, either a loved one or a fitness professional, to keep you motivated and to hold you accountable to reaching your goals over the long term. Make sure you have this strong team surrounding you, to increase your success rate.

4. Communicate clearly and constantly.

Similar to the business world, we often make the mistake of believing that if we communicate a message of change initially, people will understand and remember what to do. This is rarely the case. Change management requires constant communication. Don’t assume your family will remember you’ve started eating veggies with every meal, cheese has been minimized from your diet and that you’re avoiding snack foods like the plague. Make it easy for them to remember how to help you by clearly communicating what you need. For example, display an ongoing grocery list on the fridge so that if one of them happens to do the shopping that week, they remember to hit the veggie section of the store.

To sum it up…

Life change can be scary and cause feelings of anxiety, fear, or loss. Become a ‘Healthy Lifestyle leader’ by helping your loved ones manage through the positive changes you are making. Involving them, avoiding judgement, building yourself a strong support network and using clear communication, will help you work through this exciting time with greater success!