From years in the trenches fighting for health, I've digested down all my experience into a formula that can be used to explain our successes and failures in our individual and group efforts toward better health.
I believe they are complete profound in their simplicity. I've been developing and using variants of this formula, with real clients, for many years.
I'm happy to take comments and if the formula is meaningful to you in your efforts, feel free to share this post.
But, before you move on to my discussion of the formula, please take the time to sense the formula, feel the formula, and try to relate how and where your and our societal efforts fit within the formula.
Individual Formula:
Probability of Healthy Change = Desire + Support
Obstacles
Group Formula:
Probability of Healthy Change = Desire + Support
Obstacles
Discussion
Desire - To me, this is the absolute most neglected component of the formula for both individuals and group healthy change. We don't measure it. We rarely ask about it. And, when we do discuss desires surrounding health, it generally surrounds biometric readings and "risk factors", getting them "under control" and doing things like losing weight, lowering cholesterol, helping us look better and our clothes fit better. Rarely do we explore the deeper regions of desire for health, on the right side of the brain, where aspirations, motivation, & meaning exist. Clearly, the deeper our desire for health, the more our aspirations (whatever they are) can be achieved with good health, the more the heart and soul is involved in the desire for health...the bigger the "Desire" in the formula and the greater the chance of success. We can surround ourselves with salad bars and vegetables (environmental support), just like we can surround the horse with water. But, you can't make the horse drink unless the horse is thirsty. And, you can surround people with the "healthy stuff" (some will eat it), but if they have no desire to eat it, they won't. Sadly, desire was COMPLETELY IGNORED in the Healthy People 2010 Measures and is COMPLETELY IGNORED in the Healthy People 2020 measures. All the Healthy People measures are LAGGING indicators of whether we're successful or not, but none of them are LEADING indicators...looking at our desire for heath. Increase DESIRE and we'll increase health!
WE MUST IGNITE OR REIGNITE AN INDIVIDUAL & SOCIETAL DESIRE FOR HEALTH!!
Support - Education, environment, policies, are all wonderful, but they only make up part of the formula. This is where all our focus tends to be. It's the easiest. Throw some info at people, tell them that donuts are bad and spinach is good, show them the 1000 ways we hurt our health and we expect that we'll do the rest. Not true.
OBSTACLES - I used to call this "REBOUND TEMPTATION" and then realized that temptation was just another obstacle and encompasses the entire category of social undermining of effort that everyone runs into every day. We can't remove all obstacles, but we can become more aware, more conscious, of what they are, where they exist, and their impact. From candy at the checkout to the fresh sweets in the break room at work to the vending machines to our friends & family, we need to understand that either obstacles either need to be removed, converted to support, or their needs to be a strategy to overcome it. I, personally, am NOT a fan of the popular "making the healthy choice the easy choice." To me, that's a cop out. We don't send recovering alcoholics into a bar and suggest they just order a Sprite, But to someone struggling with food choice, we'll put the apple next to the donuts, and the burgers and brats next to the salad, and believe we've done a good thing. Without great DESIRE and SUPPORT, the obstacles are difficult to overcome. Must we provide unhealthy choices? Is there a requirement that we provide unhealthy choices in schools? Let's start with what we SHOULD provide and go from there...not what we're taking away.
------------------------
This post was really intended to look at what WE do in the name of trying to improve the health of ourselves and our society. To bring DESIRE (the individually controlled component of health) to the forefront, I believe is critical. We can't just keep spending on water, without addressing thirst.
Someday, I hope we've inspired a nation, a culture, and individuals to thirst for health. It is the missing piece.
Please feel free to share, comment, and add to the discussion. I'd appreciate your thoughts.
GH
I believe they are complete profound in their simplicity. I've been developing and using variants of this formula, with real clients, for many years.
I'm happy to take comments and if the formula is meaningful to you in your efforts, feel free to share this post.
But, before you move on to my discussion of the formula, please take the time to sense the formula, feel the formula, and try to relate how and where your and our societal efforts fit within the formula.
Individual Formula:
Probability of Healthy Change = Desire + Support
Obstacles
Group Formula:
Probability of Healthy Change = Desire + Support
Obstacles
Discussion
Desire - To me, this is the absolute most neglected component of the formula for both individuals and group healthy change. We don't measure it. We rarely ask about it. And, when we do discuss desires surrounding health, it generally surrounds biometric readings and "risk factors", getting them "under control" and doing things like losing weight, lowering cholesterol, helping us look better and our clothes fit better. Rarely do we explore the deeper regions of desire for health, on the right side of the brain, where aspirations, motivation, & meaning exist. Clearly, the deeper our desire for health, the more our aspirations (whatever they are) can be achieved with good health, the more the heart and soul is involved in the desire for health...the bigger the "Desire" in the formula and the greater the chance of success. We can surround ourselves with salad bars and vegetables (environmental support), just like we can surround the horse with water. But, you can't make the horse drink unless the horse is thirsty. And, you can surround people with the "healthy stuff" (some will eat it), but if they have no desire to eat it, they won't. Sadly, desire was COMPLETELY IGNORED in the Healthy People 2010 Measures and is COMPLETELY IGNORED in the Healthy People 2020 measures. All the Healthy People measures are LAGGING indicators of whether we're successful or not, but none of them are LEADING indicators...looking at our desire for heath. Increase DESIRE and we'll increase health!
WE MUST IGNITE OR REIGNITE AN INDIVIDUAL & SOCIETAL DESIRE FOR HEALTH!!
Support - Education, environment, policies, are all wonderful, but they only make up part of the formula. This is where all our focus tends to be. It's the easiest. Throw some info at people, tell them that donuts are bad and spinach is good, show them the 1000 ways we hurt our health and we expect that we'll do the rest. Not true.
OBSTACLES - I used to call this "REBOUND TEMPTATION" and then realized that temptation was just another obstacle and encompasses the entire category of social undermining of effort that everyone runs into every day. We can't remove all obstacles, but we can become more aware, more conscious, of what they are, where they exist, and their impact. From candy at the checkout to the fresh sweets in the break room at work to the vending machines to our friends & family, we need to understand that either obstacles either need to be removed, converted to support, or their needs to be a strategy to overcome it. I, personally, am NOT a fan of the popular "making the healthy choice the easy choice." To me, that's a cop out. We don't send recovering alcoholics into a bar and suggest they just order a Sprite, But to someone struggling with food choice, we'll put the apple next to the donuts, and the burgers and brats next to the salad, and believe we've done a good thing. Without great DESIRE and SUPPORT, the obstacles are difficult to overcome. Must we provide unhealthy choices? Is there a requirement that we provide unhealthy choices in schools? Let's start with what we SHOULD provide and go from there...not what we're taking away.
------------------------
This post was really intended to look at what WE do in the name of trying to improve the health of ourselves and our society. To bring DESIRE (the individually controlled component of health) to the forefront, I believe is critical. We can't just keep spending on water, without addressing thirst.
Someday, I hope we've inspired a nation, a culture, and individuals to thirst for health. It is the missing piece.
Please feel free to share, comment, and add to the discussion. I'd appreciate your thoughts.
GH
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