How to Build Your Best Health Team Without Feeling Overwhelmed

We all have one right? I know I do.

Our masters in google.

Proudly framed and displayed on a virtual wall.

Yet, it only gets us so far. Especially when it comes to our health. The frustration quickly becomes palpable once you've grown tired of treating one symptom after another only to have yet another popup. “I must be getting old” you say. Meanwhile an 84-year old has just finished running a marathon in record time.

What do they know that we don’t? (It’s not luck or genes)

Your health team. How to build one so you get your health back without feeling overwhelmed

You’ve hit a point where you’re over it all - the googling, suggestions from friends ("my uncle/sister/cousin/neighbour saw this guy and….."), article forwards, and podcast suggestions. Though well-intended, they often leave you feeling more confused and pulled in many directions. So before you reach for your credit card and buy that weird contraption that said uncle/sister/cousin/neighbour used, or book that retreat because maybe you really just need to find yourself, try this….

Let’s build your dream team together so you go from wishing someone would just take all the pain and ache away to feeling confident in your plan.

Questions to Consider When Building Your Best Health Team

First and foremost:

• What are my priorities?

• What do I not yet know?

• What professions/avenues am I open to exploring? (meditation, acupuncture, kinesiology, coaching, therapy, nutrition therapy, etc)

• What am I willing to spend monthly? Yes, health will cost you. Disease costs as well so don’t fool yourself. The difference between the two is the fine line of choosing where you’ll spend your time, focus and money. Each of these moves you either towards or further away from health.
  

These initial questions are intended to help you get clear on your wants and expectations first, before you ever go searching for support. Skipping this step is what will create overwhelm and feelings of “I can’t make any decision.”

Before your first meeting with any health or well-being professional:

• What are my expectations of them?

• What do I want to walk away knowing?

• Am I expecting this person to have all the answers?

• Am I expecting them to have some secret magic solution or protocol for me? (We all want the fast and easy route back to health. I hear you. It took years to build the habits that created your health decline. The likelihood of reversing those decades of work in 21 days is unrealistic.)

While in research mode for said health professionals/modalities:

• Have I gone too far down the rabbit hole? When you have pause and grab some water. Come back to it another day with a fresh mind.

• Am I looking to confirm existing fears (or biases) or really valid guiding information?

• Am I willing to be wrong in my biases or assumptions?

At your first meeting/consultation:

• Am I being seen as a whole person or just a disease?

• Do they listen when I express concerns?

• Am I being heard or dismissed?

• Are they asking root cause based questions? As a holistic professional I ask questions that don't appear to have anything to do with your health, yet all of my “no one’s ever asked me this before” questions, when charted, lead us to a conversation on the root the decline.

• Do I feel like I’m trying to be placed in a box (though nothing about my condition fits the norm or average)?

• Would I be embarrassed or confident to recommend them to a dear friend?

Post meeting reflection:

• How do I feel?

• Was I pleasantly surprised or disappointed?

• What surprised or disappointed me?

• Did I feel calm in their presence?

• Am I trying to talk myself into liking them because I secretly want them to be the answer?

These are just a sample list of questions to ask as you begin to build your best health team without feeling overwhelmed. When working towards health and deciding to move beyond Dr. Google, building a quality team takes time. It’ll help you move out of frustration and into a place of feeling confident and (to use an overused word) empowered. You’ll be clear on who is and isn’t for you and feel free to move on to finding your ideal fit.

Now I’d love to hear from you. What question or group of questions resonated with you the most? Share with me in the comments below.

How to Take Care of Your Health Without Losing Your Day Job

The question lingers in your mind like chimney smoke on a cold winter’s day - do I risk calling in sick one more time and fear losing my job? Or get gifted the worst of projects as a subtle nod? Or suddenly be moved offices as a less subtle nod?

This happened to me. From corner office with an incredible 23rd story view, to a middle office, to an interior office with no windows. #firstworldproblems All while trying to get to the root of why my health had gone seriously awry.

Still, this passive approach to deliver a message was clear. And my self-doubt kept me from making wise and healthful decisions that would have created a deeper shift in my health I so desperately craved.

When your health is screaming for attention by way of symptoms (whether physical, mental or emotional) and you contemplate, even for a millisecond, a change in your work schedule. Yet, what gets stirred up within you is fear, take this as super valuable information. You’ve hit a pivotable moment. The fear is your indicator that you’ve fallen away from balance - in your thinking, in the stories you’re making up about your work and your value. Stories so ingrained they’re now subconscious patterns. Your body had no other choice but to exude symptoms of dis-ease.

Our bodies take on what the mind doesn’t deal with. And when it’s something repetitive like a belief or ingrained story, illness most often results.

So at this pivotal moment, you can choose to do nothing. Continue as per usual. Behind this door you'll be greeted with more health symptoms, falling further away from balance. Symptoms that you’ll try to mitigate with a cleanse here and there. This will only quiet the symptoms temporarily, but you still won’t feel like you’re back to baseline.

Taking Care of Your Health Without Losing Your Day Job - 6 Ways

These six ideas can lay the groundwork for a profound impact on your health, especially when it's in a compromised state. As you read these notice what initial reactions and thoughts come to mind:

1. Consider a leave of absence. If I was coaching you one on one I’d be super curious at the stories that flood your mind as you even consider this sentence. When you have your health you have a thousand dreams. When you don't you have only one. If this true for you, a leave of absence can be a valid consideration.

2. Negotiate a revised work schedule. From home, reduced hours, days off during the week. Propose a solution that creates an opportunity for you to heal.

3. Outsource as much as you can so time at home allows rest to be made a priority. Whether it’s cleaning, grocery shopping, dog walking, etc. This level of support can make an impactful difference.

4. Make room in your schedule for health. Have plans for Saturday? Trying to keep up your regular social life while trying to get back to health is tough. Shortlist your social circle to those that leave you filled up instead of drained. And people who respect your boundaries. Speaking of boundaries…

5. Boundaries. This is an ideal time to work on your boundaries. Boundaries are about your relationship with yourself. They’re not about other people. A lot of the overwhelm we experience is caused by not respecting our boundaries or being unclear about what they are.

6. Learn the art of saying no. “That doesn't work for me.” “No, not this time.” “No, I'm not able to help you.” (Side note: No is also a boundary). You’ll most likely get tested on this especially if others aren't used to you honouring your boundaries.

Now some of these may feel outlandish and downright absurd to you. Your fear or discomfort around any of these is always a great indicator. Bring curiosity to that discomfort instead of judgment.

I’ll leave you with this promise - the mindset that contributed to your ill-health is not the same mindset that will bring you back to a state of thriving. You’ll have to shift your mindset (and the beliefs held so tightly about yourself and yourself in relation to others). This feels incredibly uncomfortable at first consideration. But for you, my fellow empath, this is foundational to your health.

Now it’s your turn - what’s one way you take care of your health without losing your day job? Share with me in the comments below.