Food for Thought Friday 8/31/18
Some of you guys may have had this sent from me over the past few weeks. It was passed onto me from Ed Kassis and I found it absolutely mind blowing. I listened to it twice in a row, then once again before posting this. I picked up different things each time, but I think my favorite points are:
- Functional Longevity -- This term is perfect. This is what we're doing, trying to expand and prolong functional longevity.
- Healthspan -- Goes hand in hand with Functional Longevity, but an interesting point about how lifespan has gone up, while simultaneously healthspan has gone down. What we've achieved then is a gigantic no mans land of poor health. I agree 100% that we'll look back on the 20th century as a big "nope, we got that all wrong" from a health perspective. Sometimes failing is the best way to learn and improve, but many will die horrible, painful, prolonged deaths for us to learn these lessons.
- The concept of prolonged healthspan as it pertains to training (recovering from exercise more quickly) is a great marker for health, and one I'm glad these forward thinking doctors are exploring!
2. Video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UScKU4Mmvfc&t=13sSomething I am continually engaged in is the topic of education, entrepreneurs, trade skills, happiness and job satisfaction, and how these things impact the health world. My mother and I often connect on what life would be like had I been pushed towards an entrepreneurial life from a young age, rather than backed into it after wasted "traditional path" opportunities. I enjoy talking with teachers, students, and working professionals about their path to success, or their failures that led them to where they are. I believe that all things are linked in our world, and I feel that education forces people into thinking that a specific work:life balance, as well as a trade/sacrifice of happiness, is required in a job. Out of balance work:life ratio, out of balance obsessions with money and voluntarily sacrificing happiness all have major implications on our health and well-being. How would we set our kids up for more success? Can you do that in the current system? How can we help?3. Article: Double Loop LearningSent to me by THE Golden Bear himself -- What are things that we don't have to question? Are there things that can be "single-loop" habits and not questioned, or should we always be looking for a new edge, a new improvement? I've become obsessed with looking at every, single, tiny detail of Friendship and asking our coaches, our clients "how can I improve this?" "What more can we offer?" then engaging in lengthy thought processes of if that is doable, and if-so, at what cost? The goal is not growth, it's not financial or more clients or more help or otherwise...I think many micro-gyms are stuck in that thinking. The goal is to improve. That is the only goal in my opinion, and the only way to get there is to accept criticism, ask questions, and subsequently question everything you do on a day to day basis. A few of my favorite clips:
- "The first step Argyris identified is to stop getting defensive. Justification gets us nowhere."
- "It’s easy to focus on other people; it’s much harder to look inward and face complex challenges. Doing so brings up guilt, embarrassment, and defensiveness. As John Grey put it, “If there is anything unique about the human animal, it is that it has the ability to grow knowledge at an accelerating rate while being chronically incapable of learning from experience.”
- One example is the typical five-day, 9-to-5 work week. Most organizations stick to it year after year. They don’t reconsider the efficacy of a schedule designed for Industrial Revolution factory workers. This is single loop learning. It’s just the way things are done, but not necessarily the smartest way to do things...Sure, a 9-to-5 schedule might not be causing any obvious problems. The organization might be perfectly successful. But that doesn’t mean things cannot improve. It’s the equivalent of a child continuing to crawl because it gets them around. Why try walking if crawling does the job? Why look for another option if the current one is working?
I will say that I have changed and adjusted course of HUNDREDS of failures at Friendship, and will continue to do so every day and every week for the future until I do not have that passion for improvement anymore. Some amazing things have come out of it...also some more failures, but I'm excited to say that I am not afraid of change or failure anymore!