Jim Collins wrote a book entitled “Good to Great” about the good companies in recent history that made the shift to being great. It’s as close to a scientific analysis of key points that these companies underwent to achieve greatness, or as I put it, that function healthier than their business counterparts. I couldn’t help but see the stark comparison to the attributes that make a business great are very similar indeed to the mindset of what it takes for you to live a rich and healthy life.
As an example, I will borrow a point that he makes near the end regarding the concept of building momentum. In chapter eight, he references a flywheel. Listen as he states…
“Picture a huge, heavy flywheel - a massive metal disk mounted horizontally on an axle, about 30 feet in diameter, 2 feet think, and weighing about 5,000 pounds. Now imagine that your task is to get the flywheel rotating on the axle as fast and long as possible.
Pushing with great effort, you get the flywheel to inch forward, moving almost imperceptibly at first. You keep pushing and, after two or three hours of persistent effort, you get the flywheel to complete one entire turn.
You keep pushing, and the flywheel begins to move a bit faster, and with continued effort, you move it around a second rotation. you keep pushing in a consistent direction. Three turns…four…five…six…the flywheel builds up speed…seven…eight…you keep pushing…nine…ten…it builds momentum…eleven…twelve…moving faster with each turn…twenty…thirty…fifty…a hundred.
Then at some point - breakthrough! The momentum of the thing kicks in in your favor, turning the flywheel forward, turn after turn…whoosh!…it’s own heavy weight working for you. You’re pushing no harder than during the first rotation, but the flywheel goes faster and faster. Each turn of the flywheel builds upon the work done earlier, compounding your investment of effort. A thousand times faster, then ten thousand, than a hundred thousand. The huge heavy disk flies forward, with almost unstoppable momentum.”
Can you picture it? What are the constant steps that you could be taking to push your health in the direction that you desire? The steps are there and most of you know them. You have to pay attention to the foods that you feed your self every day. You have to live an active lifestyle, filled with motion, activity, and exercise. And you have to stay regular with your chiropractic care. Chiropractic is what helps your joints and your alignment and posture to have their best chance at keeping you in a healthy way.
You do these little things and Jim Collin’s further words will make even greater sense to you.
“Now suppose someone came along and asked, “What was the one big push that caused this thing to go so fast?”
You wouldn’t be able to answer; it’s just a nonsensical question. Was it the first push? The second? The fifth? The hundredth? No! It was all of them added together in an overall accumulation of effort applied in a consistent direction. Some pushes may have been bigger than others, but any single heave - matter how large - reflects a small fraction of the entire cumulative effort upon the flywheel”
Recognize the small steps and do them. Every day. Do them. Build a momentum of health. Dare yourself to make the transition in your health from good to great!
Share This Post...
