Do you know what is your most important business asset? Is it your car or your office or your technology?
No, your most important business asset, the one you can’t do without, is you.
Let me tell you a story about me (indulge me).
Over twenty years ago I had a health problem with my stomach. It wasn’t life-threatening but it did make my life miserable. Finally I gave in to the normal resistance any guy has to going to the doctor. I went. I had to keep going back, too, as various doctors tried all sorts of pills. Eventually, when my social life had all but gone and my working life was really hard, one doctor referred me to a consultant who was prepared to do a (then) unusual operation. Although I was off work for a month or so, this surgery fixed me up, and after about a year I felt like a normal person.
One thing all this did teach me is that if I thought I had any health problem I needed to go to the doc. I acquired a habit of getting checked out now and again.
So it was that a few months ago I went to our nice lady doctor because I had been feeling a bit unwell for a few weeks. She ordered all the usual tests, and while it turned out that what was making me feel unwell was only temporary (and indeed it cleared up) a blood test indicated a problem much more serious for which I had and have no symptoms.
It turns out I have one of those really nasty things guys can get which require a sort of radiotherapy. I have a very good chance of being completely cured, but if I had not been a fairly regular visitor to the local medical practice, the disease might have progressed to a point at which it would have been much more difficult to cure.
Many guys ignore symptoms. I went for years without going to the doctor until a health problem I couldn’t ignore made me go. However, it is important to get checked out and especially as you get into your forties. Guys are the worst for burying their heads in the sand, but it is not just us men. Sadly I have had female colleagues who really should have gone to their doctor before they did.
It is not your business if you are not there to run it. There might be no business at all, or no you, and maybe your family and your employees rely on you. They certainly want you around.
Don’t confuse yourself by thinking “I am fit and therefore I must be healthy”. It doesn’t work like that. I am fit and I try to maintain my fitness. Fit doesn’t necessarily mean healthy, so have those regular tests.
This is rather a personal post, but my business is personal, and so is yours. Look after yourself, because you are your most important business asset.
