Physically Focused New Year's Resolutions

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January is a time of New Year’s Resolutions and other expressions of good intentions about our hopes, wishes and well-being.  Many of those promises are related to physical health.  I’m amongst the crowd that has pledged to shed a few pounds, improve my diet and lower cholesterol during 2015 upon reviewing my annual physical results from December. 

Collaborating with my doctor and his chief nurse to ensure that the recommended changes are implemented, a follow-up appointment has been scheduled for February to hit the scale and check the cholesterol patterns.  Can I be amongst the 8% of the population that actually achieves their New Year’s Resolutions?  Working with an expert certainly improves those odds.

 Who has not listened to stories from friends who often experienced feeling lost in the shuffle of managed care, paperwork, and lengthy stays in a waiting room?   Obtaining a referral to a medical professional that truly places an emphasis on patient CARE as well as achieving healthy outcomes is critical.   I can heartily recommend the following medical professionals as resources for friends and clients because each of the persons listed below truly emphasizes delivering quality care.

Primary Care Physician:   Karl Brot

Internal Medicine:  Patrick Kenny

Dentist:  Al Bove

Dermatologist:  Matthew Zarraga

Chiropractor:   Grant Lassiter

Optometrist:  Charles Rosenthal

Weight Loss:  Sarah Strock

So as the Calendar has started changed to a new year, please take some time to ensure your physical well-being is properly addressed.   Contact me at dnelson@ftlcfit.com or 954 789 9061 should you need additional information about these outstanding professionals.  

 

Choose a Cause

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Tom Rath and Jim Harter, authors of the book Well Being, note that giving back to the community is often beyond pure altruism because the “giver” has an emotional tie to that entity’s mission or cause.  Volunteers with a vested interest usually have more to offer because of all of their knowledge and personal mission.

During the past month, several friends shared about these events:

  • Friend who completed the South Florida AIDS walk to raise money for HIV Prevention
  • Friend who cooked gallons of black bean soup for Ruth’s Ministry, a dedicated weekly ministry to feed financially disadvantaged persons in Fort Lauderdale
  • Friend who is organizing a fundraiser for Meth and Men, a group of local community leaders trying to reduce crystal meth use within the South Florida Gay community
  • Friend running in the BKB Foundation 5K in Washington DC which provides prospective first-generation college students with scholarships and visits to college campuses
  • Friend who is collecting a group of volunteers to help with home renovation for a DC based group similar in philosophy to Habitat for Humanity
  • Friend who volunteers to coordinate the room at a community center to ensure daily Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings are available
  • Friend who volunteers time on the neo-natal unit of a hospital assisting the nursing staff with care of the premature babies in their healing processes 

Each of these friends has identified a personal cause and is donating their time and talent to assist the mission of the identified organization.  Sometimes clients are surprised when I inquire about their current volunteer commitments.   Frequently, they report a decrease in these types of volunteer activities that coincides with an increase of the challenges (depression, substance abuse, family conflict, etc.) that brought them into the counseling process.  Resuming volunteer activities is often one of the treatment goals identified to reduce the presenting negative symptoms. 

I encourage my Blog followers to take a moment and reflect upon your current volunteer activities with the following questions:

  • Am I passionate about the mission of this organization?
  • Do I experience joy and happiness during my volunteer participation?
  • Whom amongst my friends might I want to encourage joining me in this type of volunteer service?

Take some time this week to support your heartfelt volunteer missions; you’ll be glad you did.