CONNECT: July 19, 2013

It's funny the way it is......

Over the years I've become a fan of the Dave Matthews Band; I've never seen him perform live, but I like the sound and that the band's songs seem to have some depth.....they just seem to stick with me and I find myself humming along.  If you've ever heard the song titled "Funny the Way It Is" you know it's a song about the irony of life....how relative life can be and how if you stop and think now and again, you can appreciate (maybe with a smile) the relativity of situations. The chorus goes "Funny the way it is if you think about it, one kid walks 10 miles to school while another is dropping out"  (click HERE to listen). Today I found myself smiling as I lived a similar irony.....smiling to myself......

After wrapping up a presentation to a small (but lively) group who always has great questions, one of the guys in the group walked down the hall with me chatting.  He was describing how he and his wife had teamed up to clean up their family's diet.  They had start eating far more fresh fruits and veggies, had eliminated processed foods wherever possible and were getting creative with their cooking.  The result?  He had lost 40 lbs, felt great, with far more energy and was doing great.....and even though he still had a few health-habits he was targeting, changing his nutrition had been a big personal win (not to mention setting his young family up with some great habits for the future).  Of course, there's nothing really "funny" about this - it's a great story and one that many people can benefit from.  The funny (ironic) part was that he only offered me the story in passing because he knew that I would appreciate it......and although many of his colleagues could likely benefit from the lessons he's learned along the way (and who wouldn't get some benefit from the health changes?).....he was reluctant to share the story with the other folks in his group because he didn't think they'd "get it".  Funny the way it is........if you think about it.

We see this play out so often.......a scenario where doing something healthy or good is kept quiet and doing something harmful or self-destructive is front page news.  Although not the only example that comes to mind, perhaps it's telling that instead of hearing that more than 8 out of every 10 American adults are non-smokers (the current stat), we hear that 20% smoke (putting the less than ideal behavior up front)...... Or how about the fact that although eating a healthier diet, staying active (150 min/wk), maintaining a normal weight and not-smoking were associated with an approximate 80% lower risk of all-cause death over a seven year study-period compared to those who employed none of those behaviors (American Journal of Epidemiology), it's far more likely to hear people talk about how much they hate exercise or eating healthy (seemingly forgetting that a chronic disease is no walk in the park) while the people who are doing it and feeling better than ever keep it to themselves.....funny the way it is.......if you think about it.

Maybe it's because people are humble or maybe because they're afraid they might not stick with it........I don't really know......but I do know that many people just need a little nudge to get going.....and there is no better nudge than the support of friends and colleagues.  And so, if you've read this far, I have a request for you:  If you are one of the many who have been quietly working toward better health or prevention....I urge you to share your success, preferably with others. If you're not quite ready to, please know that my team is ALWAYS ready to hear a great story about these types of achievements.....we want to celebrate it with you.......and happily be your amplifier if you'll allow it. You never do know, yours might be the story that puts the wheels in motion for someone else to make a life-changer......and there's nothing funny about that.

Have a great weekend,

Mike E.

ENDURE: July 12, 2013

Begin with the end in mind - legacy thinking.....  

  

   

What might you do differently if you knew that you only had a short time left?  What would you think about if you only had a few months or a year to live?  What would you be remembered for?  What will be the mark you leave? These are really tough questions, ones that most people don't want to think about (me included most of the time).....they are questions of "legacy".  Steven Covey, who authored the very famous "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" and who coined the phrase "begin with the end in mind" (Habit #2) was fond of saying that some of the most basic human needs were to Live, Love, Laugh and Leave a Legacy......and that by beginning any action with the "end" in mind (answering what are we trying to accomplish and why) people are far more likely to get to their desired "end".

This week I had three very different conversations, all of which made me think about this.  The first was with my six year old, who by himself, on the way back from one of the activities he's involved with asked me "why are there people in the world who don't have any food?".  "Oh this should be easy" I thought...... And although my mind couldn't have been further from tackling world-hunger in six year old terms, I gave it a shot.  After covering a lot of ground (from agriculture and resources to poverty).....he simply replied "well if they don't have any food and can't afford it.....we should probably just give them some".  And although about all I could do was tell him that he was right before we pulled into the driveway, I've been thinking about that conversation for two days wondering how I can make it as simple and clear for myself as it was for Andrew: "when it's needed, we should just give more"

Yesterday, as I stood on the side of the road discussing some prevention tactics with a group I had visited, one face that I didn't recognize began to tell me a story of a nearly 1 year journey he'd been on because of a medical situation he had encountered.  It was a serious situation that had major impacts on his family and livelihood. He had been hospitalized for weeks and still wasn't 100%.......And although no one wants to go through such an ordeal, it was his positive outlook that struck me.  He wasn't locked into thinking about all of the negative that comes from a situation like this.....rather, he was explaining how different his perspective was now......how he was forced to realize what's really important in his life......and he was appreciative that the hard work of his care providers had given him the chance to see life differently.  I've heard so many stories like this one, when a circumstance in life causes a person to refocus and put the "end in mind".....and they bounce back with a new perspective and energy to live a full life.....and I always walk away thinking it would be great if that kind of perspective (without the trials perhaps) were more common.

Last, I was standing in BaseCamp31 (our facility) last night attending "Open Mic Night", which we host for the local community listening to a really fun high school rock band.  Sure it was a bit louder and more intense than the folksy acoustic groups we normally get, but they were putting their heart into it and the energy was contagious. I was standing in the back, straining to hear to one of the members of the Prevention Team who was also there (rock bands are loud).  She was telling me a story about a local family she knows and how the father was struggling with a terminal illness but that she was so impressed by them because they were fighting however they could.  Some members of the family were running marathons to raise funds for research, others were getting involved in advocacy efforts......they weren't taking it "all in stride", but rather, they were fighting back......they sounded like great people and I hope to meet them.......but the quote that stuck with her, and definitely with me was "our efforts might not be able to save this life (the father), but maybe we can help stop the disease and save others' lives".  Talk about a legacy.

We're almost 1/2 way through July......past the midway point of another challenging year; and there are most certainly more challenges still ahead (there always are right?)......but maybe Dr. Covey had it right.  Maybe if we start each day with a few seconds of thinking about what we're REALLY doing......what we're REALLY after, we realize that some of the challenges we face today are really just well-disguised opportunities.....chapters in our own story that are just waiting to be written......may we all have the clarity and will to write a great story.

Have a great weekend,

Mike E.

 

CONNECT: July 4, 2013

It's About the Freedom

     

The Declaration of Independence is about 1200 words and 56 signatures......and then a whole bunch of work, many sacrifices and a continual pursuit to get it just right for nearly 240 years.  Talk about a bold statement followed up by the courage to back it up.  And although I'm no historian or political scholar, I consider this a shining example of what people can do when they are fully committed, when they are all in.

  

There's no need to belabor the point, it's simple enough - we hope that each and every day you are making a personal declaration to be independent of the oppressive burden of disease, and the unalienable rights.......not to BE anything per se, but to have life, liberty and fully PURSUE happiness with friends and family for a very long time.

  

Happy Birthday to US.

  

Have a great weekend,

  

Mike E.    

MOVE: June 28, 2013

You know you're staring into the eyes of a zombie when.......

Sometimes we call it the "ah-ha moment," that instant when a look of joy, mixed with a little relief comes over the face of a person who just figured "it" out (whatever "it" is).....that brief second when it all makes sense and the person has clarity.  When you spend your life nudging and prodding people to learn as much as possible about their health and filter through all of the garbage information out there in hopes of finding the little details that matter, you live for that moment.....resolution.  It's like watching someone's spirit exhale......but actually, it's really all in the eyes.....the pupils to be exact.  Did you know that there is a measurable and predictable pattern of the pupils opening (dilating) when a person is working hard on a problem and then an almost immediate shrinking (constriction) when a person gets to resolution?  "Pupillometry" as the technique for measuring this change is called, has been studied for more than 50 years and unlike other wacky measurements people have taken (phrenology for example measures the bumps on your head), there is fairly remarkable evidence that pupil size is an indicator of how emotionally engaged or intensely focused a person is, in real-time, automatically and uncontrollably. Fascinating stuff for sure......but that's not all.  Pupil diameter also relates to how much of a person's mental reserves are being used to solve a particular problem......like a gauge or dial.....and maybe the most interesting thing of all is that this gauge changes BEFORE the person even becomes aware (conscious) that their attention has shifted......said a different way - the pupil knows to react to something different before the person realizes it. 

What does this have to do with prevention and wellness? Actually a bunch.  It is a (pretty darn cool) example of how we constantly scan and react to the world and cues around us in an automatic way.  It may seem like we first notice something, then make sense of it and then start to act, but more often we actually notice something, start to react and THEN (sometimes) make sense of it.  I'll never forget the first time I saw this on a job site.  I was observing a small crew doing some fairly routine work.  One person started to move a piece of aerial equipment downward toward the ground but didn't at first realize there was someone standing almost directly below.  It only took a split second to see the person and pull back up on the lever, but with the weight and force of this piece of equipment even the slightest contact would have severely injured the person below.  Before I could even get a word out of my mouth it was over.....only just a moment.  But it seemed miraculous to me, no one got hurt that day.  At almost the exact same moment that the aerial equipment started to lurch downward, the guy below lowered his head an inch or two narrowly avoiding a catastrophe.  When I asked him how he knew to do that (he wasn't looking up at the time), he responded "do what?"......he hadn't even realized what just occurred.   

In this case, reacting automatically to some set of cues probably saved an injury (and maybe more)......but there are just as many occasions that we react automatically that don't lead to fortunate circumstances.  The World Health Organization recently urged for tighter guidelines on food marketing (especially to children) for just this reason.  They feel that they have strong enough evidence that marketing cues designed to automatically drive zombie-like kids toward high sugar, high fat and high salt foods have been so "disastrously effective" that something must be done.  Need an example?  Well did you know that Mike & Ike broke up? That's right, google it, there is an entire ad-campaign trying to pull people into the relationship-drama of two make-believe candy "people" hurling emotionally-charged cues that get us to relate to the characters (even if we don't ever "think" about them)......talk about pupil-popping cues.......and there are tons more where that came from. 

Did you ever stop to think about what your habit cues are? Oh yes, you have them.  Think about almost any habit you have (good or bad) and dissect it. You'll pretty quickly realize there's something that kicks your routine into gear.  Maybe a specific place or a person or a sound or smell (or maybe a combination).....but there's something.  And although it's probably not practical to have someone follow you around measuring the diameter of your pupil to know when you're about to start your routine, if you can figure out what makes you go all wide-eyed it'd be far easier to consciously point yourself in the direction you want to go.  Most of us have at least one health-habit we want to change.  Perhaps you want to MOVE more or FUEL better?  Maybe you desperately need to RECOVER from a prolonged stress-burst?  Maybe you want to learn about resiliency to improve your ability to ENDURE on the long-term?  Or maybe you just need to CONNECT with those around you again. 

Whatever it is, if you know your cues, you can change your habits.....and if you can change your habits, you can achieve.......automatically. 

"And I would've gotten away with it too if it weren't for you meddling kids and your dumb dog!" 

Now go do something extraordinary, 

Mike E.