Life is like Kudzu

Life is like Kudzu

Lately, I have been on my never-ending-task to lose a few pounds. Each time I try, I make some progress but more importantly, I seem to learn some cool lessons or information. A few years ago, I learned about a hormone in our body called leptin. Remarkably, it can work against someone trying to lose weight!

This time around I finally had a light bulb go off for me. I learned the concept of creep. No, not like the guy that hangs out in the bathroom in your local park. I am talking about the impact that something that slowly, methodically sneaks up on us.

We all know about calories, but I have learned recently that there are many more calories than I thought in certain foods I love. Restaurants have now placed calories on their menus to the delight of many and to the frustration of just as many. Before, I would savor my bang bang shrimp at the Bonefish Grill. (I thought seafood was good for you). Now, I realize that one order of the appetizer version of bang bang shrimp is almost equivalent to my average daily allotment of calories for the day! Or I can eat three Kit Kats on my drive from Omaha from Little Rock (9 hours) but that just about covers my daily allowance. Creep, creep, creep.

Broken down to math, 3500 calories are equal to about 1 pound. So, in general, if I can cut 500 or 1000 calories a day from my typical diet, I can lose 1-2 pounds per week. The big stuff is easy to see. Cake, ice cream, donuts, pizza are obvious. But on this app, I punch in the item or scan it and I can see the ‘caloric/nutritional’ value. And some of the stuff blows my mind. I had no idea. Little by little, the calories have been sneaking in there until they have outpaced the exercise, I accomplish every day. Creep, creep, creep.

We have lived in the South now for over 30 years and there is so much we love about it. We love the warmer winter climate, the cost of living, the slower pace and everything about the weather (except the need to take shelter during tornados and floods that cause you to put up sandbags around your yard). One item that we have noticed that has grown along with our family over these years is Kudzu. Maybe you have heard of it? Drive south down I-95 in North Carolina or South Carolina or into Georgia and Florida and you will see this invasive vine growing and outpacing the ability to spray or mow it. It just creeps along day after day, taking over more walls, trees and fences. Creep, creep, creep.

On a personal note, I have tried to help some folks over the years that have come to me with marital problems. The struggle seemed to be a series of negative ‘drips’ over a long period of time. Creep, creep, creep.

Extramarital affairs seemed to be the result of this creep as well. First flirting, then texting, then sharing personal matters, then meeting, etc. Creep, creep, creep and then the tipping point.

Now don’t get discouraged, as all of this goes in the reverse as well or for the positive as well. I have seen couples rebound by making daily deposits in their spouse’s emotional bank account via acts of kindness, words of affirmation, physical touch, gifts, etc.

I have met people who are millionaires who systematically saved their money from an early age. I strongly encourage young people to save systematically long term and they will live quite well in retirement. Example: If you start at age 22 with $1000, saving $250 per month for 45 years and only get 5% interest, that this will creep to a tune of $500,000 at retirement age? It will seem like a ton at age 22, but as they age, they won’t even miss it as their salary grows etc. Positive creep, creep, creep.

Recently, I wrote about the importance of trust. I wrote that it is critical in any relationship and that you earn it little by little. But once you do, relationships soar as a result. Reminds me of taking off in a jet. The plane starts slowly, builds speed until that moment when it can leave the ground. Thousands of pounds of weight and this machine lifts off the ground! Amazing.

In business, so much relates to this creeping concept. I used to regularly call my leaders for an update. I would ask them to catch me up on their progress towards our strategic goals and initiatives. I learned that when I failed to do so, they would seem to take their eye off the goal and get lost in the mundane, but usually necessary chores of running their business. But it was my job to keep them focused on meeting our goals. I am sure they disliked some of our weekly calls, but I was trying to avoid the creeping of losing focus or the failure to conquer the big rocks. It is human nature for us to do what we like to do rather than what we need to do. If I missed a week, it could lead to two weeks, etc. Little by little, we could take our eye off the ball to the point where it would be impossible to catch up. And thus, we would then fail doing what we previously promised we were going to do. Creep, creep, creep.

But regular calls, constantly reminding teams of our values (always do the right thing and treat every patient like a loved family member), constant communication, inspirational messages, relentless execution towards our goals and total transparency seemed to be the ingredients to success. It didn’t happen overnight. It just was sort of a positive creeping effect, little by little over an extended period-of-time. Creep, creep, creep to a tipping point of success.

Now if they could only pull a few calories out of a large vanilla milkshake from McDonald’s (820 calories).

Thanks for reading this and have a great day.

With a goal to “help the next one in line”, Glen Cavallo, a 30+ year healthcare executive has chosen to share the many lessons he has learned with others. Glen does this by serving as a coach/advisor to leaders at all levels of organizations, as a board member and as he presents inspirational speeches at regional, national, annual and awards meetings.