As is my lunchtime tradition, I pulled out all the salad options from the refrigerator today, set them on the counter, grabbed a bowl and started filling it with various options. After starting with a handful of spinach and arugula lettuce, next up was the red pepper. The cutting went slowly, as the knife struggled to work it’s way through the pepper.
My first thought was maybe I needed to use a plate rather than holding it in my hand. Maybe it was simply a leverage issue? But that couldn’t be it since I often cut peppers in that manner. Maybe the knife needs to be sharpened? Nah – this is just a pepper, and it’s a relatively sharp knife. That can’t be the issue. Maybe the pepper is overly ripe, creating more of a rubbery response to the cutting? Well – it’s a few days old but it’s still in pretty good shape so that’s not it.
Then I looked more closely and discovered the real issue. I was using the wrong edge of the knife. The sharpened side was facing the opposite direction and I was attempting to cut the pepper with the non-cutting side of the knife!
How often do we do this as Wellness Coaches? We’re working with a client and the results fail to come. So we target a different area… or increase the frequency of communication… or send more research articles to the client… or kick our “motivating” voice in during discussions more often… or…
Then, in a private moment of reflection, we realize what’s missing – our core skills as wellness coaches! Like anyone in any profession, we get away from the basics, forget the most important components, start thinking it’s “us” that is producing the results. In the end, all we’re doing is trying to make things happen using the wrong edge of the knife.
Maybe it’s time to look back over your notes from your original wellness coach certification training… take a peek back at some of the key aspects we learned about Motivational Interviewing or Temperament or Intrinsic Motivation. Maybe it’s time to call up a peer and talk it through. Maybe it’s time for a refresher course (reminder for our graduates – you’re welcome to join us for a refresher at no additional charge if you just give us a heads up in advance). Maybe it’s time we are reminded of what we used to do – the edge that works so well in helping our clients move their lives in a positive direction.
When we take these steps, sometimes it’s a simple as turning an old familiar tool in our hands and the results will return.
And yes – the salad was delicious once I figured out which side to use. Thank you 🙂
