I told my sister that the bike ride in Colorado was the hardest physical thing I’ve ever done. She said “try labor and delivery sometime”. It’s a good thing guys can’t have babies, we couldn’t handle it. April in HR asked if I had a good time. I said my “good time” is now -- last week was pure torture.
I wrote a while back about how it’s easy to commit to things in the future … the farther out the “thing” is the easier it is to say yes to whatever*. Marathons, bike rides, winning the lottery - everything is possible in the future. Dr. Mike Whitters has been one of my biggest cheerleaders in life “sell the sizzle before the bacon!” “Keep Moving Forward” “I dream bigger”. Mike has confidence in other’s abilities. This has helped me be a better leader. Last week, one of my main motivations was all the Facebook comments on my daily posts - “you can do it!” “I believe in you” from all sorts of friends across the nation. I felt that, even though it was hard and I wanted to quit 95% of the time I would disappoint those who had confidence in me.
If you believe, you can achieve. Looking at what we have all achieved at Iowa Specialty Hospitals & Clinics over the years; it would seem impossible or at least really hard, but we have the confidence of each other and our patients and providers. We are our own best cheerleaders. Our collective desire to do our best so as not to let each other down allows us to become champions.
Validation and cheerleading are so important in any journey -- whether it’s chugging up the side of a mountain on a bike or becoming the best possible place to work, provide care and be a patient. None of it is easy because if it was easy everyone would be doing it.
*because you might die before that. Or become a superhero, it’s impossible to predict the future.
