Growth Mindset Tip #38: Take Care of Your Health or Be Force To Take Time for Illness

<p> Hey there, it's Michael. Welcome to Whole Again, the show that's here in support of the person you're becoming and a meaningful life. And can I get a "awesome sauce," because we made it to Friday. We got through another week, and it's time for one of the tips I've been sharing all year as I celebrate the 25th anniversary of my last bad day, the day that sparked all of this.</p>
<p></p>
<p>And we're up to tip number 38, and this one is timely, because a few days ago, I had surgery on my right index finger, so it's in a splint. It's all bandaged up. I get some of the bandages removed tomorrow. Stitches come out in a few weeks. The splint stays on for another 10 days. This is all due to a ganglion cyst that was growing right around my first knuckle of my index finger.</p>
<p></p>
<p>This all began about 15 years ago or maybe closer to 20. I first noticed it because my fingernail was growing with a really small groove in it, not much wider than a millimeter or two, and I thought it was odd. It didn't hurt, but I did go to a hand specialist just to get her opinion, and she said, "Don't worry about it.</p>
<p></p>
<p>You have to go under general anesthesia to fix it. I actually don't know what it is. It didn't show up in any X-rays." In essence, she said, "Don't worry about it," which is what I did, although the nail wasn't all that attractive, but, you know, I'm not painting my nails, so it's no biggie. But this little groove started to become wider and wider as time went on.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Again, no pain, but the cuticle started to get very angry. At the start of this year, it was royally pissed off, and that little one millimeter groove that had developed 15 or 20 years ago, now it was funkifying the whole nail. I could scare little kids by just showing them my nail And I got a little worried that if this continues, what happens to the cuticle, and does it open me up for some type of infection?</p>
<p></p>
<p>So at the start of this year, I made a commitment to solve this issue, and I really didn't know who to go to. It's not really a classic orthopedic case. So I found a guy who was an orthopedic surgeon. They did an MRI. I talked to his PA. They were all mystified. And then he sent me on to a new guy, Dr.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Sidney Rabinowitz, here in Bergen County, and we had surgery last week. And the surgery went well, and now I'm in a period of recovery, allowing everything to heal. And it doesn't come at a really good time. I can't type with this. I can't really write. The reality is, that we all live with, is that there's never a good time to have a surgery, to have an injury, or to get sick.</p>
<p></p>
<p>This is tip number thirty-eight. If you don't spend time on your wellness or health, then you'll be forced to make time on your illness. We humans have a way of kicking the can down the road. We don't really spend enough time on our health, taking care of our bodies, taking care of our minds. It takes some upfront time, upstream, if you will.</p>
<p></p>
<p>And that upstream time, that dedication, can prevent a whole big mess of downstream issues that actually take more time. And I'm calling out my fellow guys here because we're not great at taking care of our health. We may feel something, a little ache, a pain, a stiffness. We'll rub some dirt on it. We'll deal with it later, we think.</p>
<p></p>
<p>But these things have a way of growing, like this little cyst. Now, this wasn't a big deal, but if I didn't address it, it might have grown into something much more complicated with a much more complicated solution. So my advice to you, and this is what I've learned throughout my whole recovery, is take the time, spend the time upstream.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Do the basics well. It's not sexy. Go to the dentist twice a year. Get those teeth looked at Have a physical. Get your blood work done a couple times a year just to see how things are tracking. If you have the means to do so, you may wish to do some other diagnostic work just to get a deeper dive on your overall health.</p>
<p></p>
<p>I actually did something a few weeks ago, which I'll tell you more about during another episode. Take the time upstream. Take time and spend it on your health, so you're not forced into taking time to fix your illness. This happens in life too when it comes to work, when it comes to our personal lives. We rush through things, and then we make an error, and we rush through things because we say or feel like we don't have the time, so we multitask.</p>
<p></p>
<p>We rush it. But then when the milk is spilled, somehow it's a damn miracle, man. We find the time to fix the problem, to clean up all the milk, time we thought we never had. So if we just spent just a bit of time upstream, focusing on our health. I just mentioned going to your doctor's, but it could be working on your agility or flexibility, or developing your physical strength, or working on your cardiovascular system.</p>
<p></p>
<p>It doesn't take a lot of time. We think it does, but just a few minutes each day you can have a well-rounded program that can keep you strong and agile, and it's good for your heart health and your mental health and just really your overall physical health. Just doing that multiple times in a week, it could serve you well.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Same could be said for getting sleep, good sleep each night. That has one of the greatest impacts on our overall health span and lifespan. So if you're into longevity and you're all about taking supplements, I got some news for you. Focus more on getting good quality sleep. That will probably help you more than all the supplements you're taking.</p>
<p></p>
<p>So here's tip number 38: If you don't spend time on your health, you will be forced to make time for your illness.</p>
<p></p>
<p>As always, thanks for listening and thanks for being here. I hope you're checking out my new series that I'm running all this summer up to Election Day called A Perfectly Imperfect Union, where I share perspectives from everyday Americans about how they feel about the country as it turns 250. And we'll have another episode for you tomorrow.</p>
<p></p>
<p>But until then, remember to celebrate your scars as golden symbols of your strength and resilience, and don't forget to have fun storming the castle.</p>
<p></p>
<p>And if you wish to learn more about creating beautiful ripples and how to prevent a bad moment from turning into a bad day, please visit my website, michaelobrienshift.com, and sign up for my newsletter called The Ripple Effect. And join us each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday here at Whole Again, and discover how you can heal, grow, and become more resilient, and celebrate our scars as golden symbols of strength and resilience.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Until then, remember, you can always come back to your breath. You've got this, and we've got you.</p>