Making Your Family’s Wellness Vision Happen. Together. (Even Now). How to Get Started.

Every executive couple I’ve ever worked with comes to me with some idea of an ideal wellness vision for their family. Usually, the husband and wife first describe it to me on a Zoom call.

And most of the time, their vision revolves around feeling their best, living without limits, and sharing many years with a growing family and legacy.

These conversations are the beginning of what I love most about coaching executive couples. Dreams and desires lay the foundation for co-creating or co-constructing a wellness plan that is actionable and supported by my coaching. Most of the time, I coach husband and wife separately to provide personalized support in meeting the shared vision.

But how do you even begin developing your family’s vision?

The truth is it can sometimes be overwhelming or intimidating to begin formulating your family’s ideal wellness vision. So I’m making it easier. Below, I give you some tips to help you get started together (even now) on making your ideal wellness vision happen.

What is a Wellness Vision?

A wellness vision is your ability to articulate and express a compelling vision “picture” of your desired future self and family. Keep in mind that it’s always a picture of what you want rather than what you don’t want. Because by focusing on what you want, your wellness vision becomes exciting, magnetic, and motivating. You become inspired to take the first steps in making it a reality.

So when you’re ready, take some time to answer these questions when you’re shaping your wellness vision:

• What would you like your health, wellbeing, or performance to look like in three months, one year, two years, five years?

• What do you believe is possible?

• What are the top three values in your life? How is your wellbeing linked to these values? You can download an exercise from the Positive Psychology Toolkit here to help you identify your top values.

• What part of your life is most important to you? How does wellbeing fit into that?

• What would you like more of in your life? How is that linked to your wellbeing?

• What would you like less of in your life? How is that linked to your wellbeing?

• What excites you? How can we link that to your wellbeing?

• What motivators might enable you to overcome your inaction and start moving forward?

• What would your life be like if you achieved your vision? How would you feel?

• What would your life be like if you do not achieve your vision? How would that feel?

Visions are best when written in the present tense:

When articulating your vision in paragraph form, it’s best to write it in the present tense and in your voice, as if the vision is already happening.

Here are a few examples:

“My wellness vision is that I have healthy eating habits and model these habits for my adult children and future grandchildren. I exercise regularly so that I can stay active, age strong, and enjoy healthy longevity. I look better and feel energetic and young.”

“I have plenty of strength and stamina to do whatever I want. Travel, play golf, run around with my family and friends. I am in charge of my health and feel good and content. I am no longer concerned about pre-diabetes and heart disease. Medications are history. I am enjoying life to the fullest.”

Other options for ways to express your wellness vision are:

• Acronyms

• Bullet points

• Music

• Poetry

• Art

But keep in mind that the best wellness visions are:

1. Grounded (building on current success)

2. Bold (stretching the status quo)

3. Desired (what you truly really want)

4. Palpable (as if they were already true)

5. Participatory (involving many stakeholders)
   (Cooperrider & Whitney, 2005)

You might be surprised to learn that true wellness is more than simply eating healthy and exercising. There are several areas that influence our wellbeing including our relationships, community, and physical environment.

One of the foundational tools that I use with my coaching clients is The Institute For Functional Medicine Self-Care Questionnaire. You can download it here.

I suggest taking ten minutes to complete it. Most of my executive couples draw useful and surprising insights from this questionnaire that prove invaluable in developing their ideal wellness visions.

So what’s next after the vision?
In order to make your ideal wellness vision for your family happen, it’s best to start with a three-month action plan. Use your vision to motivate you to experiment with realistic action steps and to meet goals over three months. Meeting these goals will build your confidence as you see success. Remember, “Goals are dreams with deadlines.” - Diana Scharf Hunt.

If you are looking for support in shaping your family’s ideal wellness vision and three-month action plan, my coaching may be right for you. Let’s meet and see if we are a fit.