Reaction Vs. Pre Planning

Reaction Vs. Planning

Firefighters are reactionary by nature.  We respond to a problem that we didn’t create.  We have to come up with a solution to mitigate what’s in front of us.  No big deal.  Happens every day. 

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that that’s the way Management and Cities handle health, wellness and brain health (mental health).  Most come from the rank and file and have spent their careers reacting to problems they faced on the job.  There is a huge benefit to be someone who is adaptable, able to overcome and come up with solutions on the spot.  A quick thinker who is able to solve problems is indispensable.  Often times people are praised and even promoted for this very quality.  BUT…. When it comes to our physical and brain health there’s a better way because we often do have the choice.  Pre planning our health rather than reacting to our illness is a much better option.  

 When we deal with acute, sudden medical health issues we have no option but to react.  But when it come to our overall health and wellness, when it comes to our brain health, when it comes to looking after ourselves in a more general way it’s a better option to choose to pre plan our health.  

Firefighters are great at pre planning new buildings in their district, abandoned buildings or just knowing current road closures.  When a situation arises in their district they already have a plan to deal with it in the best possible most efficient way.  It’s been researched, thought through and a plan has be developed.  

Our health should be no different. Planning our physical health and planning your work out routine to be consistent and get results.  It could be your diet and choosing to bring in healthy foods to work to eat, or making a grocery list to stick to so you don’t end up buying all the processed foods you don’t actually want.  It could also mean having a locked in morning routine so you make sure you get your mediation in, doing your breath work while you’re on shift so you don’t miss it, bringing a book to work with you so you spend more time learning and less time on screens.

I think while we all can agree, a quality that makes firefighters valuable is the ability to make great reactionary decisions under stressful situations to get a desired result.  I also think we fall back on that trait to be able to mitigate the poor decisions we make as related to our health.  The medical system is great a treating symptoms and usually their reaction to illness is prescribing a drug that treats a symptom and not necessarily the underlying issue.  I think we can all do better by choosing to preplan our health so we don’t have to rely on an outside solution to an internal problem.  There’s a million different ways for us to pre plan vs. react to our health and wellness.  Pick 2-3 that you can decide will make a different to your physical, emotional or brain health and start implementing them.  

If you need help where to get started on your journey feel free to connect with me.  I’d love to journey with you in any way I can.