Well this has gone to shit
As you may already know as a subscriber to this newsletter, I turned 50 in March.
What you may not know is I'm not one of these people to lament about "getting old" or talk about things breaking in my body, woe is me, blah blah.
I've always felt that my health is somewhat in my control.
After all, I'm active. I eat reasonably well (damn you wine and ice cream).
I've always gotten the "you don't look 'insert age' here."
But this past year has been a doozy on my body.
First it was golfer's elbow. I don't even play golf!!
Basically this is tendonitis on the inside of the elbow.
More painful and more lingering than tennis elbow, which I have played.
I was modifying in the gym for months.
Wearing all the sleeves and weird forearm bands.
Nothing helped.
Basically this is just something that goes away, eventually. Fabulous.
Then, because I was doing so much more legs since my arms were useless, my right knee started to bother me.
I've never had knee problems. Ever.
But it hurt to kneel on it and then I noticed some mild swelling.
So I went to the Orthopedist. He prescribed rest and a cream.
I took a month off from the gym. A month! That's eons for me.
Nothing changed. I went back and got an x-ray. Then an MRI.
Turns out I have arthritis, a small tear and a cyst. Good times.
I went on anti-inflammatories.
Started doing the bike and only focused on my upper body.
Things got marginally better.
Then I started going to acupuncture.
And wouldn't you know it, viola!
After one treatment my inflammation went down significantly.
Quick fix is BS
We live in a society that just wants to take something and fix it.
The slightest ailment and we're on a pill.
Pill doesn't work? Try another pill.
No one wants to change their diet, behavior or habits.
The same goes with our marketing.
Oh, I tried networking, it didn't work for me.
Oh, I tried paid ads. They didn't convert.
Oh, I tried a newsletter. No one read it.
Everything is I tried, gave it minimal effort, expected miracles and magic and then am surprised at the results, or lack thereof.
But there's no magic pill. No quick fix.
There isn't an extended warranty you can purchase for your life or your business (if only!).
It's about ongoing maintenance
We need to constantly check in, assess and make repairs as needed.
Hopefully some are preventative vs. reparative.
Often, with our bodies or our business, it's about trying different things and being consistent about them.
For months I did a lot of things for my knee that probably resulted in the change.
No one of those things alone instantly fixed it.
I'm on my fourth acupuncture treatment and it's much better but not healed.
I might still need a cortisone shot.
But I'm staying consistent.
I'm taking it easy on my knee.
Doing what my Eastern and Western Medicine practitioners tell me.
But mostly, I'm listening to my body.
I'm paying attention to how it responds.
Just like we need to pay attention to our audience and what they respond to.
A few networking events, a few paid ads and a few email newsletters isn't enough time to gain any sense of whether something worked.
It's a longer listening game.
It's a constant listening and assessment game.
It's always looking around for what's starting to feel better, more aligned.
What's making a difference.
It won't happen overnight.
Overnight anything is a myth.
Success. Radiant skin. White teeth. Abs. Whatever.
Nothing happens overnight other than the sunrise.
But, you'll know it's working when you start to see results.
Or in the case of my elbow, when you wake up one day and it doesn't hurt.
And there's no way to know when that will happen.
You just have to stay the course.
And, if you need help finding your path...