CONNECT: September 19, 2014

When the Mindset Changes, Big Things Happen

Spoiler Summary: Remember the old saying "you can do anything you set your mind to"?  Although "anything" is a pretty tall order....setting the mind certainly starts the ball rolling.

One of the harder aspects that my team faces on a regular basis is convincing someone that the situation is not hopeless and that they have the power/strength/fortitude to make the changes necessary to live a healthier, safer and better-quality life.  Sure there are the folks who simply don't want to (and seemingly don't care), but that's really a very small group.  The far larger group are the folks that may have let life get ahead of them some......they had a few years where they were running in the red-zone maybe and now they are showing the signs of wear.  It could be their health - maybe their blood pressure has been (for no obvious reason) creeping upward; maybe their joints are starting to ache or they're finding themselves weaker for some reason; or maybe they're just feeling run down.  These folks, because they are such a big part of any population, may start to question and then ultimately be convinced that this is the "normal aging process" or that they've got bad-genes and there's nothing that can be done.

Yesterday was a busy day.....the fall usually is for the Pro-Activity team.....and although with "busy" sometimes comes stress....we love this time of year because the fall is often when we get to cross paths with folks we haven't seen in a year and talk about prevention - when we talk about personal risk-exposure and management of the risk.  Yesterday was a good one.  The day started early in a busy location - but a place where there are many familiar faces, three of which I have great gratitude for because they were part of the team that gave "prevention" (and my team) a shot more than a decade ago and another who is a living/breathing success story on health change, the kind of before/after you don't believe at first glance. It's always nice to see the faces of people who believe in solving big (and sometimes towering) problems.....but there were two others that morning who really stood out to me:  

• One was a person who has, in the last 2 or 3 years made his personal health & safety a real priority.  He's gotten leaner, he's changed his diet, he's taken exercise seriously....and although he still hasn't achieved every goal he's set (mostly because he's always pushing on to new goals) he has made substantial progress and seen his risk go from pressing to minimal.  It can be done.

• The other was a person who, in only the last 6 months, had a bit of a wake-up call.  He saw some very real and somewhat alarming change in his risk profile and (most importantly) decided he was going to do something about it. Much like the first guy - he decided to change some things with nutrition, exercise, stress and sleep....and the results were awesome.  He went from "high risk" to "low risk" in six dedicated months.  Impressive.

But perhaps the best part of the day was also when it was at its longest. We had traveled to a second location by then and were nearing the 12 hour mark.....the time when fatigue sets in.....just in time to meet with a person who I recognized, but candidly, wasn't feeling super enthused about talking with.

 

• One year ago (almost to the day) I met this gentleman for the first time....and unfortunately I had to share some very alarming news with him about his personal-risk picture.  It's not a conversation we like to have....and we know it's not a conversation others like to hear.....but it's a critical one...so we have it.  I wasn't confident at the time that he would take the action necessary and make the changes he needed to impact his risk level....but he did.  I looked at his risk picture and was stunned - I said to him "this is a whole different story than last year isn't it? Congrats".  He looked at me and smiled broadly.  He was shocked that I even remembered him - but how could I forget?  He had drastically changed his risk....he was a healthier person....and we both knew it.  After the shock wore off his face he said "I feel like a new man"....to which I replied "you are a new man, congrats".

The day was long...and not every scenario and conversation were ideal....but the theme couldn't ring out any stronger - changing our health, changing our ability to work safe, changing our personal risk picture starts with "setting our mind".  When we believe we can do it, we almost always figure out a way.

Thank you to the folks from yesterday, and thank you to the many many more who are taking steps to live a healthier (and probably longer) life.....it may have felt like just a pebble in the ocean when you started, but the ripples of your effort go further than you know.

Have a great week,

Mike E.