5 Reasons why wellness challenges don't work, and what to do instead
Healthy living RestoreHealth success

5 Reasons why wellness challenges don't work, and what to do instead

Michelle Schwartz


By Michelle Schwartz, Sr Creative Marketing Manager

Throughout its history, HealthFleet has hosted numerous large-scale health programs on our platform, observing both successes and failures. This experience has provided valuable insights into effective strategies and common pitfalls. A key finding we identified is that health and wellness challenges often benefit only a small portion of the population. Typically, they attract the attention of individuals who are already in good health, while failing to engage those who need it the most. Below you'll see our conclusions about wellness challenges along with alternatives that produce invaluable results.

Wellness challenges often fail to achieve long-term health improvement for several reasons:

  1. Short-Term Focus: Many wellness challenges are designed for short-term goals, like a 30-day fitness challenge. While they can jumpstart healthy habits, they often don't provide a sustainable plan for maintaining these habits long-term.
  2. One-Size-Fits-All Approach: Wellness challenges usually have a generic structure that may not suit individual needs, preferences, or limitations. Personalized approaches are often more effective in promoting long-term health.
  3. Lack of Support and Accountability: Without ongoing support and accountability, it's easy for individuals to fall back into old habits once the challenge ends.
  4. Overemphasis on Physical Health: Many challenges focus primarily on physical health, like weight loss or fitness, neglecting other aspects of wellness such as mental health, sleep, and stress management.
  5. Motivation Based on External Rewards: If the motivation to participate in a wellness challenge is driven by external rewards (like prizes or competition), it may not lead to internalized, lasting behavior change.

Our RestoreHealth members see big results in their health because the RestoreHealth program isn't a challenge. It's much more. It's a lifestyle shift that occurs internally with the help of a personal coach, leading to external actions with big outcomes. With years of researching, testing, and perfecting our techniques and curriculum, we found a combination that produces deep benefits. We use all 7 alternatives below for one powerful solution.

To achieve long-term health improvement, consider the following alternatives:

  1. Personalized Health Programs: Tailor your approach to your individual needs, preferences, and limitations. This might include personalized nutrition plans, exercise routines, and stress management techniques, or best yet, a combination of all of these.
  2. Build Sustainable Habits: Focus on small, incremental changes that you can maintain over the long term. Gradual changes are more likely to become permanent habits.
  3. Holistic Wellness Approach: Incorporate various aspects of wellness into your routine, including physical health, mental health, social connections, and spiritual or emotional well-being.
  4. Professional Guidance: Seeking advice from a dedicated health coach can provide personalized guidance and accountability from experts in behavior change.
  5. Community and Social Support: Engaging with a community or support group can provide motivation and accountability. Sharing experiences and challenges with others can also be encouraging.
  6. Focus on Intrinsic Motivation: Find personal reasons and internal motivations for improving your health, such as feeling better, having more energy, or improving your mood. This is one of the key factors in RestoreHealth members finding success.
  7. Regular Assessment and Adjustment: Regularly assess your progress and be open to adjusting your plan as needed. This helps in addressing any challenges and keeps the plan aligned with your evolving goals and needs.

By adopting a more personalized, holistic, and sustainable approach, you're more likely to see long-term health improvements compared to short-term wellness challenges.

Interested in launching RestoreHealth to your employees? Contact us at sales@healthfleet.com for more information.

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