This is a guest post by Jerry Graham, aka DocJerry,  of The Coaching Pair.

A number of wellness coaches are finding that coaching someone to wellness does not require one to be a medical professional. Wellness coaching is not about diagnosing and curing illness, rather it is about empowering clients with wellness information and allowing the incredible healing systems that God designed into the human body to do the work. Simply focusing on a small handful of basics such as drinking enough water, engaging in consistent exercise, making wise food choices, etc., can dramatically improve a client’s wellness.

Beyond the handful of basics, there is one more piece which must be present. I call this piece the “magic key” because with it, the probability of success sky rockets. Without it, the probability for failure sky rockets.

But before the magic key, I would like to ask you to take a look at the two pictures below. Amazingly, those two women are approximately the same age. I’m sure I need not ask which you (or your client) would prefer to emulate. The point is that in order to end up healthy and vibrant, one must be pro-active about their health. Fortunately, it’s not hard — it’s actually very simple. Hopefully the two pictures will give you and your client a strong “why.”

Which one will you be?

Now, back to the “how” and the magic key. Have you guessed it yet? The magic key is structure.  Structure is needed to make all of this work effectively. By structure, I simply mean touching base with your client each week to see how they’re doing with their goals for the week. A coach will check in to offer support, encouragement, and to hold them accountable to take the previously agreed upon steps.

Let’s face it…we all (and this includes your clients) know that we should pick the apple instead of the donut. We all know that exercise is good for us. We all know that drinking water is good for our bodies.  But for most of us, it can be hard to stay on track. If I may quote from a document that came to my attention a couple of months ago, “A recent study from the Public Library of Science Medicine Journal (January 2008) found that basic healthy habits can add 14 years to your life…. They found that what stopped people from changing their behavior was not a lack of knowledge, it was a lack of practical support. They needed someone to help them make a plan. Someone to help them stick to the plan.” That’s exactly what a coach is trained to do.

That’s it! Pretty simple isn’t it? As coaches we’re all trained in how to provide healthy (pun intended) accountability for our clients. Assist them in choosing some simple steps forward toward their goal and then hold them accountable.

It’s a whole lot more fun when they’ve got a buddy.

Jerry Graham, aka “DocJerry,” is a professional destiny lifestyle coach and coach trainer who coaches network marketers, small business owners, and ministry leaders on how to properly capitalize on the current Internet trends of attraction marketing and social networking.  He’s half of The Coaching Pair, found at http://thecoachingpair.com.