Mindset Matters

In 2016, according to the Center for Disease Control, healthcare professionals in the US wrote over 214 million prescriptions for opioid pain medication. That’s roughly two scripts for every three people in the country. In the same research, 11 million people were found to be abusing opioids. And it’s not just the hard-core pain meds that are abused. People seem to eat NSAIDS (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) such as Advil and Aleve like they’re candy despite the havoc these drugs wreak on gut health, the GI tract, and other organs including kidneys and liver. Treating pain has become a multibillion-dollar industry in the US alone. I understand that some individuals have severe chronic illness, cancer or debilitating injuries and pain management may be a necessity in those cases. But that being said, we have gone over the top in avoiding pain and it’s not just in medicine. The American way of life seems to be predicated on escaping discomfort of any kind. We treat...

Today is one of those days I feel myself struggling against the voices. It’s not like I’m Ray Kinsella listening to voices from his cornfield though. In fact, these aren’t external voices telling me to do something irrational like build a baseball field. No, these voices are the ones inside my own head, and they are quite rational, making them even more reasonable and convincing. And thus, dangerous. It’s the voices telling me I should relax and rest. They’re asking me to stand down; to pace myself and not push as hard. They’re saying I’ve fulfilled my quota. That I’ve done enough. They’re compelling me to stay inside the wire where it’s calm. They’re reminding me I don’t need to grind anymore; my family is taken care of and I’m comfortable. They won’t say it so bluntly, but what the voices are asking for is complacency. Although it feels more of a battle today than usual, I am reminding myself I am here to fulfill a calling, not a quota. I may be comfortable, but there a...

While many companies brag about all the new ideas they come up with and the myriad of novel products in development, Apple prides itself in the number of good ideas they pass on. In fact, former Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, once noted Apple ignores or rejects literally thousands of good ideas every year. It’s a daily process for them. But he also added that by limiting the projects Apple works on, they can pour so much energy into their most important products that it’s “not really even fair to our competitors.” Jobs also mentioned in an interview, “I'm actually as proud of the things we haven't done as the things I have done.” By neglecting to chase after so many “good” things, Apple was able to focus all their energy on the most important things. There’s a lot we can learn from Apple, especially in this current age where we are constantly flooded with information and ideas. It’s tempting to go after so many different goals that we end up fragmenting our time and attention, ...

Do you remember the “drop date” from college? This was the date by which you could drop a class without it negatively affecting your transcripts or GPA. If you were struggling in a class or getting a grade you weren’t happy with, you could quit that course, and have it wiped from your record. If I recall, this date was generally about two-thirds of the way through the semester, allowing a student to get through a couple of mid-terms before ultimately committing to the class. This “drop date” became a very important event as students would scrutinize their class schedule and try to determine which classes to keep and which ones were dead weight they could cut to save their GPA. Dropping a class late in the semester became a very popular way to salvage grades despite carrying a D or F up to that point. This was seen as a very low-risk way to attempt a challenging class: if it gets to be too difficult, just cut the class before the Drop Date. The student forfeited their tuition ...

A few days ago, my sister-in-law bombarded me with “riveting” conversation about a TV show I have never seen: The Walking Dead. With all the enthusiasm of a young child describing her favorite power ranger, she described the characters (some live people, some dead people and a few in between), the premise of the show (not-quite-dead people walking around trying to “turn” the humans, which is apparently a really bad thing) and the basic plot (essentially don’t let anyone bite you, which is pretty much a rule I live by anyway). My sister-in-law went on to passionately describe the lengths the characters go to in hopes of avoiding contamination by the zombies as they battle both the undead and other living humans for survival. Then she mentioned something that really stood out and made me think (I must be honest, up to that point I was having a hard time being engaged with most of the discussion despite her overwhelming excitement): each human carries the zombie strain and must...

Remember as a kid when you were told you had to finish your vegetables before you got any ice cream? Do you recall wanting to have the ice cream first, figuring you would just deal with the veggies later? Unfortunately, many are still of that mindset as adults. According to Experian, consumer debt in the United States surpassed $13 trillion in 2018. Unpaid revolving debt alone was over $4 trillion of that total. We grumble and complain about our national debt – which is horrendous, I agree – but it seems we as individual citizens aren’t doing much better. So why is debt such a popular “tool” in our culture? The reasons rest in the fact our society is enraptured with the concept of buy now pay later. And this goes far beyond money. It’s the same reason we wanted to eat our cookies before our broccoli as kids. As a rule, we – and this is not just Americans, it’s human nature – desire to be rewarded now and put in the work later. We want to enjoy the benefits today but push th...

Whether deliberately or unwittingly, we often drag the past with us into the future, thus soiling the present. We hang on to past mistakes and perpetuate them forward. Or drag along a bad habit simply because we tell ourselves, “This is what I do. It’s who I am.” We dredge up buried bitterness caused by a friend or loved one, creating fresh wounds from an old injury. We get weighed down by old mistakes, allowing past failures to dictate future actions. We remain in toxic environments because we are familiar with the surroundings. We all do this. It’s human nature to get hung up on the past and contaminate our circumstances and perspectives moving forward. If we let it, the past can become a prison. Instead we must remember every day is a fresh start. A new beginning. A clean slate. With each new sunrise comes fresh opportunities and a chance to begin creating something extraordinary. Regardless of the stains in your past, your future is a spotless canvas.

I remember hearing one time, “Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want.” The statement is along the same lines as the idea that we “learn more from losses than from wins.” While I certainly agree with the sentiment, I believe there needs to be a disclaimer. While it’s true there are often more lessons and opportunities to grow in the midst of adversity, we only benefit if we are willing to be a student. It’s easy to miss the lesson and lose out on the experience when we are overly focused on a result and overlook the process. Our ability to learn and grow – our opportunity to gain experience – has more to do with attitude and outlook than circumstance and environment. There are lessons all around us if we are willing to quietly listen. We must “lean in” like an eager pupil and embrace the posture of a student.

While we seem to be seeing fewer hitchhikers in general (maybe because of Uber, but maybe because of too many serial killer movies playing to our fears of picking up an ax murderer), it appears to me there are two kinds of hitchhikers out there. The first and most common variety simply stand alongside of a road with their thumb out. They are completely stationary and are wholly dependent on the benevolence of passersby to get anywhere. Their only hope is for someone else to come by and deliver a little luck in the form of a ride. Without the favor of a third party, nothing happens. The other type are the walkers. Although they may have their thumb out and would willingly accept a little assistance, they are constantly moving towards their destination regardless of who does or doesn’t stop to help. They may get a ride, they may not, but either way, each moment brings them a little closer to their goal. Even without the windfall of a ride from a stranger, they will make it eve...

As a kid, I used to think I needed to grow up to be fearless. I thought soldiers were fearless. I was told to be successful in business, I must be fearless. I thought being fearless and courageous were the same. They are not. In fact, they are drastically different. Congenital insensitivity to pain and anhidrosis (CIPA) is a rare neurological disorder causing an inability to feel pain. Those affected have been known to break a bone and continue to use the compromised limb because they didn’t immediately feel the break, or they end up with frostbite because the pain of an exposed appendage didn’t register in the brain. Does this make the individual tough? No, it just puts them at risk. It’s not toughness because it wasn’t a deliberate decision to work through the pain. They unconsciously acted, not weighing the consequences of their choices. In fact, victims of this condition incur more damage because they miss the pain and don’t get the chance to make appropriate decisions in...