#845 “Do What You Can…

In our last +1, we talked about my first burpee post surgery. (I’m laughing at myself as I type that… Who loves something like burpees that much?! Yep. I’m weird. And proud of it. “That’s like me!!” 🤓 )

I promised I’d share some of the (+1 incremental Optimizing things) I did that I think most contributed to the speedy recovery.

First and foremost, I had a great surgeon. I’ve received a lot of praise for his handiwork from my doctor friends who have looked at this x-ray and who know a good job when they see one. (Thank you, Dr. D!!) (Thank you, ER team as well for setting my arm to the right angle. lol)

Then there’s my Wifey who FOUND Dr. D by reaching out to some friends to see who they might recommend. (Barry Michels’ wonderful wife for the recommendation win! Thanks, guys!)

Alexandra basically hammered the whole process. THANK YOU, Babes. Muah! 😘

The first person we called was Ben Greenfield. As he always does, he WENT OFF on what we should do—which included a recommendation to go to Next Health for stem cell treatments with his friend Dr. Darshan Shah. (THANK YOU, Ben!!)

So…

On the day of surgery, we visited Next Health and I got some stem cells. No idea what role they played but there was no way I was going to leave anything on the table as I wanted to not only hit my burpees again but make sure I didn’t miss a beat with our Core Wisdom and Coaching program. (Thank you, Dr. Shah!)

(btw1: Kinda fun: I broke my arm on Friday (three days after launching our Coach program! 😲), then showed up pre-surgery the following Tuesday, had surgery on Thursday then showed up again the following Tuesday. Misty typing that as there was no way I was letting down our Coaches!! And, of course, I used the experience as a core part of our program by creating “Module X: Antifragile Response-Ability (aka: THIS Is What We Train For!)” (Fun pic of that session here.)

(btw2: I got that stem cell injection right before the surgery and then cadaver bone inserted into my arm during (did I mention that before? ) (laughing) so not only did I get bionic but I also got to experience the birth and death cycle (of other humans!) all in the same day. That’s all part of a longer philosophical chat but makes me want to stroke my beard as I contemplate the interbeingness of it all…)

Then… I had the great fortune of running into our Heroic Coach, Dr. Julie Beck who has been, sing it with me, “A W E S O M E!!!” (I get tears in my eyes typing that as well.)

So…

That just turned into a long thank you, didn’t it?! Perfect. Well-digging group hugs of gratitude!! 🤗 As with ALL things we can be proud of, this little story started with great people.

Moving on to other practical things we did…

I’d say the most important variable in going from the first-burpee-in-9-to-12-month diagnosis to the 3 month (and 5 days!) was the willingness to step back from the prognosis and say, “Really?”

Although Dr. D. hammered his part of the process, he didn’t know who he was dealing with. 😉

Normal distributions are interesting when thinking about statistical variance among large groups of people. And… They’re pretty much irrelevant when it comes to predicting where any given individual may land in that normal distribution. (Especially, ahem, if that individual is me. lol)

Obviously, you don’t want to foolishly ignore the numbers for the sake of it, but I’m less interested in the “normal” distribution and MUCH more interested in what’s POSSIBLE!

Which is where Dr. J comes back in. I thought we could do it much faster. She KNEW we could do it faster. Enter: Our target: 4.5 months.

Note: Having someone you trust believe you can do something is a HUGE part of Self-Efficacy 101 (aka: The Science of Confidence).

Then we got to work.

Obviously my commitment to fundamentals had to play a role. I did my normal pretty-dialed in Eating, Moving, Sleeping. (Dr. J jokingly said that Dr. D’s normal distribution curve was made up of people who eat McDonald’s multiple times a week and, well…. I kicked that habit over a decade ago so… 🤓 )

Then I simply showed up.

As Teddy Roosevelt put it: “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”

Basically the day after the surgery (maybe it was two days…), I got back to my normal 1 + 10 + 100 + 1,000 +10,000 routine—modifying it with what I could do.

I couldn’t do a burpee with my arm immobilized in a cast in a sling. But… I could do a step back, squat to my knees and then get back up.

So that’s what I did.

10 sets of 11.

Every day.

For weeks.

Then I could do a step back to one-handed plank with the fingers on my bionic hand barely touching the ground.

So that’s what I did.

10 sets of 11.

Every day.

For weeks.

Then I could put a little pressure on the fingers of my bionic hand.

So that’s what I did.

10 sets of 11.

Every day.

For weeks.

Only by this time, now that the bone was healed and I knew I wouldn’t do any damage, I started playing with the edges of my pain—putting just a little more pressure on my hand until I could get my palm down and then putting just a little more pressure on my hand until I could actually hold some weight on that hand.

Fast-forward another x weeks and… We’re on track to hit our first burpee in 4.5 months—which is about 6 weeks away at that stage.

I’m doing my thing. I didn’t even mean to do a burpee. I just felt pretty good and thought, “Why not just go down to plank and see if you can jump back?”

That worked, so I thought, “Why not just see if you can do a little pushup.”

That felt a little weird but worked. (Left elbow hadn’t seen much action but the daily band work I’d been doing helped the cause.)

Then I jumped back up and… WTFantastic!!

I just did a burpee!!!

Then I looked at the calendar. 3 months. 5 days.

+1 incremental Optimizing for the win.

But that’s WAY too much about me.

Today’s +1.

How about YOU?

Any times you’ve surprised yourself in the past?

Any assumptions/diagnoses/whatevers that could use some work?

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”

+1. +1. +1.

(P.S. LET’S DO THIS!!!)