Take a look around at the wellness (especially employee wellness) landscape and you’re likely to notice an interesting pattern. Namely – an area of life that is literally defined by individualization has (unfortunately) been turned into a “one size fits all” approach. This makes very good sense from an investor’s point of view, since creating “the” technology” can then be mass produced and sold on a global level with immense margins along the way. And that’s ok.
But while the bells and whistles approach is great at garnering initial attention, in the long run it just won’t work.
Health and wellness – at it’s very core – is personal. Even if we have two people seemingly pursuing the same goal (ie, weight management, 5K event, lower blood glucose, etc), the specific way in which they each go about it WILL be different – in dozens, if not hundreds – of ways. The ONLY way in which sustainable and meaningful behavior change takes place is in a context of “One Size Fits ONE.”
As a wellness coach, this presents an immense opportunity. It’s wise for you to utilize technology with your clients as a way to compliment your personal, individual approach. However, please don’t be tempted to step away from what is really making an impact – your personal connection with an individual who is on a unique journey.
PS – Seth Godin wrote a nice post about “All the Same” that ties in nicely with this topic. Here’s the link if you missed it: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2014/04/all-the-same.html
