Something I’ve realized over the years is that nutritional consulting is sometimes an easy (or perhaps, easier) way in for many people to address some more fundamental “stuff” in their lives that is not working. They may think they’re coming to you to learn how to eat better but the work you do together has the potential to be more far-reaching than a simple meal plan that addresses their nutritional needs.

My work with clients often starts with food but any real discussion about the way we choose to nourish ourselves (mind-body-spirit) eventually leads us to explore why we make certain decisions about food (and other stuff more generally) and how we are, more or less, taking care of ourselves (usually, less).

Very often your client’s motivation will start high and slowly (or quickly) wane, perhaps to non-existence. It’s commonplace to chalk this up to “self-sabotage” but for a number of reasons, I don’t believe in this concept. I prefer to help my clients discover the underlying belief system in place which is keeping them stuck to the status quo. In my opinion, it usually has more to do with safety and fear of the unknown than self-sabotage.

So, here’s my 5-step plan to help you, the practitioner, be more effective in your client coaching in order to help your clients overcome their “objections” to change.

The 5 Steps to more effective client coaching

Step 1: Assess their motivation

One of the first questions we ask our clients is their reason for coming to see us.

An important next question is: What is your motivation for change and how open are you to changing your 1) eating habits, 2) lifestyle and 3) belief system?

Some questions to ask your client might include:

• Why have you chosen to take this step…now?
• What do you want to let go of? Gain?
• What impact is this issue having in your life currently?
• What potential impact will not having this “problem” anymore have in your life?
• What obstacles do you foresee on the path to reaching your goal(s)?
• Can you see any hidden benefits to keeping this problem “alive”? (In other words, can you see any reason why you may not want to get rid of this issue? What does it allow you to do (or avoid)?)
• What have you tried before to solve this issue? Why do you think it didn’t work?

When it comes to changing old habits, any number of (often unconscious) beliefs and behaviour patterns can emerge. After all, 95% of our behaviour is unconscious.

So, the key to future change is to start becoming conscious of what has been operating at largely an unconscious level for a very long time.

Step 2:  Help them prioritize what’s important (it’s not always what you think)

The other thing to recognize is that what we think needs to happen next (or ever) doesn’t always need to happen if we take a step back and re-assess what is. This might be true for you as well as your clients!

Meditation has been huge for me in realizing this in my own life by bringing me back to the current moment. When I do that I can more easily see the way in which my mind will often lead me to believe certain things while dismissing the reality of the current situation.

I’ve also learned to prioritize and live my life according to what’s most important to me.

And it can be a very important thing for your clients to learn for themselves too.

Why are they doing everything they do in life?

They want better health. Why?

I discovered a few years ago that the “thing” I want most in life is actually not a thing at all, it’s an experience. Everything I “do” is so that I can experience peace. The trouble is – before I realized this – I was going about my daily life trying to achieve a very long list of things that I thought I needed to get done before I could experience that seemingly elusive state of peace. The reality of the situation was that I’d simply gotten lost in my mind and when I allowed myself to let go of all that thinking, I was able to experience that peace right there and then!

It didn’t take away from the fact that yes, there were perhaps still things I needed to change in my life but I let go of having to get all that stuff done before I could experience my inner peace.

It’s the same with your clients – many of them are postponing their peace, happiness, joy, self-love until they achieve a smaller body size, better skin, less dis-ease, etc. etc.

So, what does your client really want? Help them to focus on that first because when they prioritize that, it will help everything else fall into place too.

Step 3: Discover the beliefs that are holding them back and help them create new beliefs that will help them move forward

You might be amazed to learn that much of our belief system is in place by the age of 12; beliefs about ourselves, our abilities, how the world works and our place in it. With that in mind, it might be safe to assume that at least some of your client’s beliefs are out-of-date and may need a little fine-tuning.

Some examples?

• Change is hard.
• I can’t do this.
• My body is against me.
• I don’t have time.
• This might work for everyone else but it won’t work for me.

Or when we go a bit deeper…

• I’m not loveable
• I’m not good enough
• I’m not worthy

As you can see some beliefs are more benign than others. In my experience the more benign ones are usually masking (or adding another layer to) the underlying beliefs about whether we’re worthy of better, whether we deserve it, whether we have the right to be happy and healthy.

Help your client change their belief system (or refer them to a qualified professional who can) and both of you will be on the road to success.

Step 4: Co-create their plan to move forward differently and identify concrete next steps

Instead of creating a plan for your clients and telling them what’s in it, prepare a rough outline of your recommendations and then come up with some next steps together.

• What do you think needs to happen next?
• What are you comfortable with “tackling” this week/month?
• What are some potential obstacles that may crop up and how do you think you can handle them?
• What’s in here that feels completely undoable to you right now and why?

A client who participates in their plan will have more buy-in to the entire process because they’ll feel empowered, responsible and accountable.

Step 5: Set up a framework for support & accountability

And this brings up to step 5 – support & accountability. Be there for your client by checking in regularly and helping them stay accountable to the goals and steps you’ve set out together. Encourage them to find other ways to be accountable to themselves – through friends, support groups, journaling/tracking and anything else that works for them.

So, there you have it, a 5-step plan to overcoming client objections. Have any success stories or other tips to share? Please leave a comment below!