Good health is a crown on the head of a well person that only a sick person can see.
When we are sick, we rush to be well.
Reactive medicine has always been the priority. When we are stressed, we run for quick fix — and that urgency has been monetized, keeping us in a vicious, vicious loop. It is easier to fix what seems broken than to maintain what is working well.
Just like machines, our parts need maintenance. They need to be monitored. A car that is not well-maintained eventually breaks down. A truck that is not well-maintained remains a risk. A human body that is not well cared for eventually outpaces its biological clock.
Healthcare was meant to be complementary. You were meant to be the fixer. Popular opinion has it backwards — but the truth is, when you do not care for yourself, this equation reverses. You become complement and healthcare becomes the fixer — an ongoing battle that has been fought for centuries.
This does not erase the reality of those born genetically ill. But for those of us born with great genes, it is the lifestyle we lead that eventually forces our biological clock to run older than we actually are. By forty, we complain about our lower back, our knees, our waist — some of us are in and out of hospitals because of health metrics we never monitored, never controlled.
So, the real question is: what does it take to reverse the equation — to become the fixer again, and let healthcare return to its complementary role?
From a physician’s point of view, this is complicated — and in under-resourced places, even harder to sustain. But going back to the basics of understanding our own bodies is a great place to start.
You may be thinking I have tried this. I have tried everything, yet nothing has worked. That is exactly why healthcare should remain complementary — there to guide you through the questions you cannot answer alone, using science that has already been studied. That is all healthcare could ever really be: the science, already studied, standing by to support the work only you can truly do.
This is where autonomy comes in. Taking real and full responsibility for your health, even while you are struggling to maintain good metrics that align with a lifestyle you could be happy about that leads to a dignified death.
Your Inspiration
Your Motivation
Your Story
Weekly Brain Snack
Pick one metric this week:
Blood Sugar
Blood Pressure
Limb swelling
Weight
Hydration
Sleep
Reading
Exercise
and log it every day.
Look at your trend.
Does it align with your vision?
How can you change it?
Do you feel happy about it?
Weekly Poetry
you are the fixer, born into the frame to care for you. yet somewhere along the way, you were pushed to digest that this autonomy mattered less and someone else became your fixer.
the crown which remains on your head, when you are the fixer of your own health, is clearly shaped and the ill person remains blinded by its shine.
but you can teach one another, to wear that crown, radiantly, with bravery and true responsibility.
and this is how your health compounds.
Original Poem by: J. V. Chicot, MD
Building Your Story
What is your story this week? Have you seen the flowers? Is life blooming?
Health & Habit Insight
Maintenance is not glamorous. It takes effort. It takes consistency. It takes drive. It takes vision. Your body needs that maintenance you give to your bank account, because it is surely compounding the interest overtime. Your body needs that care. Your body needs you to show up to your doctor to evaluate your current baseline.
There are days your body will nudge you. It will tell you when it dehydrated, when it lacks foods, when it struggling because it is too exhausted. Your body is feeling exactly what your mind is feeding.
This week let us build awareness around the things we often take for granted. Know where you stand. Know your values.
Clinical Adherence Corner
The Adherence Gap
This is where the healing begins. In Awareness. You cannot reverse an equation if you have not measured it.
And this is why I created The Clinical Adherence System using the Odyssey Adherence Framework. For people who have been struggling to manage the unspoken factors that contribute to turmoil within managing a newly diagnosed, undiagnosed and complicated chronic illness.
For 6 Months, you will observe your behaviors, your metrics, your diagnostics with key wins in mind:
Better Blood Sugar Control
Better Blood Pressure Control
Early management of complications
Early change in medication (as needed)
Better organization of management (all in one place)
Say no to “I’ll monitor myself eventually” into a daily trackable habit — based on the Brain Snacks™ Adherence Index. It is not merely a symptom tracker. It is proof on paper, that you are restructuring the crown.
Contrary to other planners, this is a system, built with the patient and the provider in mind.
Track it. Manage it. Sustain it.
Weekly Challenge
What would be one thing that you would do, if you were given a clean slate today and nothing stood in your way?
If you felt inspired by this Issue today, share it with a friend, a colleague, a healthcare worker, a caregiver, a boss, or a leader.
Thank you for spending a minute today to reshape how you think about your health.
Other Works That You May Be Interested In
If you are looking for a holistic experience, choose a collection that builds you, that nurtures the positive things and heals the negative. 👇🏽👇🏽 Click the image below and begin or continue your journey.
Oh, and by the way, do not forget