As I sit here typing this morning I am in pain. Not pain in a bad way, but good pain, if there is such a thing and I think there is. I finished my second of three personal training sessions this morning at the Franklin, TN YMCA with Beth, my trainer. The sessions were a gift from my wife for Christmas 2023 and I am a little late in getting to them. In addition to the training sessions, I have also started a series of swim lessons. The intent of the lessons is to help me improve my stroke in the pool so that I can add swimming to my workout regimen on a regular basis.

After reading the paragraph above you might think I am a little crazy. I don’t think that is the case but I do believe that I need to practice what I preach. I have the opportunity to help make a difference in the lives of many business owners and leaders through my work with Vistage. We often talk about organizational health, but we don’t spend as much time talking about personal health. I have tried to make a difference there by incorporating speakers like Dan Miller and also including work from Michael Easter and David Goggins in the sessions we have.

Healthy organizations must have healthy leaders and I also think that Health leaders can make more healthy organizations. I am sure you can find exceptions, but let me drill down more to explain why I think these are correlated. Here are some examples:

• Personal health is not a destination; it is a process
• Healthy organizations are supported by processes and not just the strength or wisdom of those who lead
• Personal health is an iterative process. You don’t develop cardiovascular efficiency, muscle strength, or flexibility overnight. Each of these takes time and repetition.
• Healthy organizations also take iterations to improve. You cannot immediately jump from $10-100 million in revenue. This is done in steps. Likewise, it takes experience and additional human capital to grow an organization.

My wife works with me in my Vistage practice and asked me if I was going through my own personal Comfort Crisis right now. If this makes no sense to you, read this book. If it does make sense, you too should consider how to add a little discomfort and pain into your life in order to grow and change.

What are you doing to become more healthy?