Related Episode: E21: Faulty Core Beliefs

[00:00:00] Today's episode of the I Hear You podcast is going to be a bit shorter, and it's not because the subject matter isn't any less important than simply because the subject matter doesn't require thirty to forty five minutes to discuss. And I'm all about keeping things short, sweet and to the point. It's one of the main things people appreciate about my books, and it's what I hear many of you appreciate about this podcast series. So today we're talking about developing emotional health and strength, which is something we've technically been talking about on every episode of the show. But today I want to talk at a bit of a higher level. Speaking specifically to how true lasting power and connection is really a two step method. In other words, it's not quite as simple as just learning new truth and applying it. It requires a little extra work in two key areas to have lasting, meaningful change. So without further ado, let's dove in.

[00:01:17] All right. This show is focused on building strong, healthy relationships. Right. And by now, you know that the majority of work gives me the rigidity of relationship. Work is actually self work. It's working on ourselves. And in many ways, I should say, that goes a long way toward improving all of our interpersonal relationships. And I have really one objective with this podcast, with my coaching, my books, all of the work that I do, and that's ultimately to help people live powerful, connected lives. So what I want to do today is take a little bit of time to set the stage for this and perhaps provide perspective on why everything we're talking about here and why the invitations I extend at the end of each episode are so important.

So a couple of years ago, I was at the gym and I was doing a pretty simple lift. It was a dumbbell overhead press, you know, sitting on the bench, 90 degree angle. I got two dumbbells. Put them at the side of my head, either side of my head next to my ears and just pressed up. And I wasn't even moving a ton of weight, but I was straining a bit. And I pushed up on one of my reps and I felt a little pop in my neck and all my muscles tensed up and I pulled the weights back down pretty quickly and I set them on the ground.

[00:02:38] I thought, oh, shoot. I tweaked something pinched nerve.

[00:02:42] I don't didn't know what it was or it wasn't dramatic, but I definitely did something that my body did not like. And I stopped lifting immediately. You know, I sat around for a minute or two to see if my muscles would loosen up and they didn't. And so I called it a day and I went home. And sure enough, that night my neck got super tight and I just thought, oh, shoot. OK. And I had to go to the gym for a few days. I'm going to let this thing heal. Well, I didn't go for a few days, and then when I did go back after about a week, I just did lower body because my neck wasn't loosening. And it was rough because I you know, I've had minor injuries similar to this before and they usually heal themselves. You know, I have lower back pain and sometimes I tweak my lower back and all the muscles tighten up. And eventually when the muscles release and I'm careful and how I'm moving, everything's back to normal again. Well, that wasn't the case for my neck, and unfortunately I went weeks and then months, ultimately over a year before I went to get any kind of professional help. Now, I did go to a chiropractor about a month or so after because I thought, K, something must be misaligned. I don't know what's going on.