You? Me? Us?

Read time: 7 minutes

Read online

Good evening, 66.1ers.

Had a bunch of interesting conversations again this week. This “conversation recap” is a fun way to write a newsletter. Is it fun to read?

On Monday, had a conversation with a guy who, 2 minutes into the call, said, “my personal mission is to make the world a better place by helping get people outside”. CEO, President, successful person. Kinda cool how leading with a focus on serving others can get a person to where they want to be, isn’t it? 

Mayo Clinic keeps moving me to new jobs. Not against my will. Call me what you want, move me where you need to. Just let me help people get healthy. As it turns out, though, the world cares about titles. So we’ll play by those rules, to make sure anything good that gets done isn’t in “repeatable” (a clinical research buzzword). My titles at Mayo have evolved from very traditional to increasingly less traditional. Latest shift is officially calling people on our team Health and Wellness Coach, something a research study like the one we’re working on has never had. But now the next one can. Building the thing that should exist. 

Went fly fishing with a friend last week. He started volunteering with Big Brothers, Big Sisters recently. I asked why? He’s bootstrapping a company, isn’t life hard enough? Because he wanted to do something besides thinking about himself and his problems, he said. Less “me, me, me”. More time outdoors with a kid who could benefit from having a role model. Kinda cool. What if we all did a little more of that type of thing?

Prospective client: has a goal to lose 100 pounds, they’ve lost 20-40 pounds 10 times before. Did you add that up? Somewhere between 200-400 pounds they’ve lost. They’re in the 20-40 range again, and they think this time it’ll be different. I hope they’re right. Seriously. But what if they’re not? When will it change? Will they have to lose 1000 pounds? 10,000 pounds? 

By the way, watched this show about The Biggest Loser a couple weeks back. Made it about halfway through episode 1 before realizing time was better spent going to bed. Might be worth watching if you’re thinking of doing drastic stuff to lose a bunch of weight. Spoiler alert: there are a lot of people who lost a bunch of weight on the show and then gained it back. On a related note, I suggested to a Mayo Clinic patient the other day that maybe she wants to focus on building the frequency with which she goes to the gym first, then focusing on intensity later. Don’t think that’s a good idea? Watch the show. 

Man’s Search For Meaning. This book has come up a few different times in this newsletter. Lately, it keeps coming up during Mayo Clinic meetings. Specifically, in the context of helping cancer patients create a compelling vision for getting healthier. Probably not capital H Healthy the way most of us think of it, but a little less pain and a higher quality of life. Stuff we’re noticing (way too early for there to be a paper and say that this type of thing works for everyone everywhere, but worth sharing):

1. People who have supportive friends and family are more likely to follow our recommendations and get better.

2. People who are “other focused” tend to do better and live longer (think community organizations like Rotary, Lions Club, that sort of thing). Remember Big Brothers, Big Sisters from earlier?

3. (not a takeaway from the study, just a reminder) Cancer tends to come back. It also has a knack of stealing years you thought were guaranteed. It kills 27 year olds and 97 year olds and lots of people in between. If you’ve got something to do, say, be, or build, maybe it’s time you get to it? 

Have fun out there. 

Marcus