“What should I be doing?” There’s Only One True Expert on your Health will bring some empowering clarity to this question.
Except for very broad advice, which given its broadness usually isn’t very helpful, the unfortunate truth is that this question cannot be answered for all, or even two of us, at once. Humans are too unique and complex.
In the health coaching world, coaches start out with a simple perspective. You are an expert on your own health. Coaching is a collaboration between experts to move toward your desired outcome.
It would be awesome if someone could tell us exactly what to do to reach our ideal health. Sadly, this is a (tantalizing) fantasy. The simple fact remains that no other human being knows you as well as you know yourself. Not even experts or health professionals. No one else could know what exercises you enjoy and can see yourself doing for the long-term; whether going to bed earlier could be realistic; what’s helpful and effective for you versus what’s annoying and unhelpful when it comes to stress management.
As individuals, we must each develop our own style of health. For example, an approach like keto only addresses one of the Core 5 areas. We have to find an approach that works for us in all the areas. One-size-fits-all approaches will never be sufficient. We deserve better. If we subscribe completely to a one-size-fits-all approach, we forget our uniqueness as humans and our need for a unique approach that will complement our unique life. We must address our whole person. No one is better than yourself for the job. There’s only one true expert on your health, and it’s you. Study after study shows that owning our own path leads to greater success, stronger persistence, more flexibility and creativity, more interest and enjoyment, better mental health and wellbeing, and better physical health. No one can create this for us as well as we can create it for ourselves.
Core 5 is a stupid-simple tool to help us consider areas in our lives with room for healthy change. They must be tailored to each of us as we are all different and unique. Only you know yourself well enough to know what could be realistic to implement into your life. If you’re feeling a little unsure on where to start with a change, check out my article Comfortable Lifestyle Change.
So give yourself some well-deserved credit. There’s only one true expert on your health. No one on earth has more expertise than you.
