On Fridays I like to share experiences I’ve had during the week with patients and in my personal life that I’ve found significant. I like to share them in hopes that you might find value in them and have something resonate with you in your life.
An analogy I like. In boxing, there is something called a “standing 8 count.” This is when a fighter has not been knocked down, but is out on their feet, and the referee gives them an eight count to gather themselves to see if they can continue. Life often gives us these standing eight counts.
A couple Saturdays ago, I woke up with concerns about my son and his leg injury, and what I needed to do for him. Half the stuff in my house didn’t seem to be working, I had a ton of things to get done, and then I was having a day where I really was missing my late sister. I took a standing eight count for sure. However, I then went on a run to clear my thoughts and got back into my regular routine. This helped take away stress and help me pave the way forward. Before long, I felt much better, clear headed, and the issues didn’t seem as big. We all take a beating from time to time, but if we gather ourselves in the proper way, we can continue on.
Something I’ve learned in my career. As a chiropractor, I see people in pain every single day. Some of these people come to me with tolerable symptoms, but others come to me in what might be the worst pain of their life. People dealing with discomfort at that level often come into my office crying or super irritable. When I was early in my career, I would focus a lot of my energy on those emotions. I felt bad for them so I would become distracted by their emotion, and I’m sure my treatments were not as effective as a result.
Though I have empathy and compassion for everyone I treat, I no longer get distracted by a person crying or upset with how much pain they are in. That may sound cold, but it’s not. What I came to realize, is my patients need me to do the best job possible to help them, not just be a cheerleader. If my house were on fire, I would much rather have the firefighter working to put it out and save my family, rather than tell me how bad he feels for me. Sometimes the best thing you can do is set emotions aside and stay focused on a solution.
A recent interaction. I was at a football game recently and one of the other dads that I’m friends with came up and asked me how the training for my 100-mile race (running) was going. We talked about it for a bit and then (in a nice way) he said “wow, that must suck.” Honestly, it doesn’t.
I have trained for races like this in the past where I treated it like a job and sucked all the joy out of it. This time, I have chosen to enjoy the process and that simple decision has made all the difference thus far. It’s been fun trying new methods of training, learning from previous mistakes, eating a ton (I burn a lot of calories!), and thinking about my sister and brother-in-law who recently passed away (I’m running to honor them). The goal is to run one hundred miles straight at the race, and I believe I will achieve it, but I want to look back and know that I appreciated every part of the journey to get there.
Something I believe is important. I spoke to someone recently that referred to themselves as a “health coach.” This is certainly something I thought would be up my alley, so I asked them to tell me more. They proceeded to tell me what they could do to help their clients and it all sounded fine. However, they went on to tell me their own “health” habits, none of which matched what they were preaching to their clients. Even worse, they had numerous excuses for why they weren’t personally following what they were telling others to do.
It is easy to talk a good game, but actions will always tell the story. When someone says one thing and does another, credibility is lost. People immediately sense something doesn’t add up. What people say is almost irrelevant, how they behave will tell you everything you need to know. Furthermore, when you find people acting in a way that supports good principles, morals, habits, choices, etc.; those are the people you genuinely want to associate with.
Some quotes I love.
“The quickest way to succeed is to start now and figure it out as you go. You can’t learn to drive in a parked car.”
“We seem to be getting closer and closer to a situation where nobody is responsible for what they did but we are all responsible for what somebody else did.” – Thomas Sowell
“A sign of character is focusing more on how you treat others than how they treat you. Narcissists feel entitled to get respect. They aim to be the most important person in every room. Humble people strive to show respect. They aim to make everyone in the room feel important.” – Adam Grant
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” – Aristotle
Want more?
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- To see previous Friday 5 Spots, visit www.newbodychiro.com