Boost Your Health for the Holidays

I am pretty sure that we did not get a memo that postponed the due date of submitting my MedMan Access article, due by 10am, today, Thanksgiving Day. So I will get it submitted because Molly relies on me to do that. I am grateful for Molly’s untiring efforts with this organizational goal each month. At its core, it is an opportunity for us to share some thoughts on healthcare at a time when healthcare clearly needs some rethinking.

We have discipline at MedMan called Advancing Our Values (AOV). Yes, like many companies we give a recognition award each year, we call it the AOV award , to someone who has demonstrated Integrity, Respect, Loyalty, or Sharing – our four core values. I have come to understand that it is much more than an award, indeed a discipline. Every month each administrator is asked who in the company is worthy of nomination; every week our people participate on a conference call which, among other things, provides them a forum to share information, ideas, documents; and every day there are dozens of emails that demonstrate our core value of sharing – the emails are like the ticker tape on wall street – a pulsating stream of sharing. In MBA jargon it’s a differentiator for us. I am grateful for the sharing.

It is a short week with the holiday and all and my desk is a mess. On top of the pile are two articles – one from Web MD – Boost Your Health With a Dose of Gratitude. Another is from FoodRevolution.org entitled Gratitude. My wife has shared them with me because she knows that Dr. Ted Epperly and I are on a bit of a personal crusade to bring the Joy of Medicine back to physicians. I am grateful for her support. One of the techniques that we share with our seminar participants is the 5-3-1 Technique from the University of Wisconsin – a daily routine to boost your happiness that includes:

• 5 minutes of meditation

• Writing 3 things you are grateful for

• Performing 1 act of random kindness

Thank you for allowing me to share because, according to studies I have reduced my cortisol, blood sugar and blood pressure, increased my oxytocin, serotonin and dopamine, and wired neurons that will make me more confident and successful. Now all I need is a long nap this afternoon.