Dr. Rippe's Blog

Not long ago, I read with interest that Gallup (the polling company) and Healthways have partnered to create a WellBeing Index for the country. For about a year and a half they've been polling 1000 Americans daily. The survey asks questions about Life Evaluation, Emotional Health, Physical Health, Health Behavior, Work Environment and Basis Access (to life's needs like food, health care etc). From these results they provide a "daily pulse" which over time graphs the percentage of the population which is "thriving," "struggling" or "suffering."

I was happy to see that the percentage of those identified as "suffering" stayed low, under 3% or so it appeared. Over the last year and a half, however, the lines for thriving and struggling have woven back and forth. The chart reminds of a line from an old spiritual--"sometimes I'm up, sometimes I'm down,...sometimes I'm almost to the ground."  My hunch is that looking at the graph most of us might say, yes, I can identify personally with those twisting lines of "thriving" and "struggling." And the pollsters have done a pretty good job, I think, of identifying the broad factors in our lives that contribute to our overall sense of well-being. I would also suggest that looking at areas where you can make choices that make a difference in your sense of well-being, such as health practices, could also be a useful exercise in our quest for balance.

People joke about New Year's resolutions because so many of us set big goals (even grandiose, pie-in-the-sky goals) that we know we'll have a hard time keeping. But what I like best about the New Year and those resolutions is that it's a time of looking forward. Adopting a forward-looking mindset no matter what your goals is a powerful positive for your sense of well-being.

Over the years, I've worked with many people who were so caught up in regretting the past (feeling guilty for past behavior or outcomes) or fearing what the future might bring that they were stuck in the present. At best they muddled along.

Looking forward, however, is an energizer. It helps you make the best of daily challenges. Let me give you an example. One of my colleague's 90-year-old mother has been in hospital for about a week with problems related to heart disease. No one would blame her for being down or giving up. But looking forward is part of who she is. She has been exploring what options might give her the best quality of life. She's also interested in continuing to "make a contribution." As a result, she has volunteered for a study of a new procedure. She anticipates a good outcome, she says, but is at peace no matter what because she's given herself the best chance to go forward.

Most of our daily challenges aren't so dramatic, but each day life presents opportunities for decision. A forward looking approach can help you stay moving forward.

The ability to relax, believe it or not, enables optimum performance, no matter what you are trying to do. The challenge you face could be completing a work project on deadline or getting the whole family ready and off to school. If you master the art of staying relaxed in the midst of the "fray," you'll typically feel better about what you're doing (less frustrated) and will actually do it better.

The Olympic Games this week have reminded me that I first learned the importance of relaxation for achieving optimum performance years ago from Jackie Joyner-Kersee, the great Olympic heptathlete whom Sports Illustrated named the all-time best female athlete. We met when we were both on a speaking tour in the late eighties. This was shortly after she had won her first gold medal in the Seoul games. The heptathlon features seven athletic events blending strength, speed and endurance. Jackie's great strength was her jumping, but she had to work hard at the speed events such as the 200-meter and 800-meter runs. She said the final breakthrough for her in these speed events came when her coach convinced her of the importance of relaxing in order to run faster.

Jackie Joyner-Kersee convinced me of the importance of relaxation, too. Since that time I've practiced trying to stay relaxed as I carry out all the challenges of each day at work and at home--and even in airports (my biggest challenge). It works. Staying relaxed isn't always easy, but when you can achieve it, everything goes more smoothly. Jackie Joyner-Kersee, by the way, still holds the world record in the heptathlon. You can use her "secret" to go for the gold everyday.