“The power to change your life lies in the simplest of steps.” —Steve Maraboli

THE PATH TO HEALTH POWER

The Labor Day holiday marks the point at which we are back from vacation, back to work, back to school and ­back to health benefits enrollment. Very soon, information about fall health benefits enrollment will begin to flow.  

It will describe types of health plan coverage, new apps for navigating the complex health system, eligibility for in-network services, penalties for out-of-network services, pharmacy benefit options and—the topic of heightened interest—how much everything will cost, taking into consideration plan premium contributions, co-pays, co-insurance, and health reimbursement accounts.  

In this very familiar scenario employees are only getting half of the message about health: how to obtain and pay for medical treatment. It feels as though everyone is required to get sick. The other half of the message—how to create high states of personal energy, high functional capacity, resistance to common illnesses—is nowhere to be found. Pervasive, problem-oriented health messaging prevents us from recognizing that building health, capacity and power are realistic possibilities.  

Health power derives from having a foundation of high energy, capacity, and resilience. It enables us to navigate the treatment system with confidence and control. When it comes to our health we would like to feel confident, resourceful, and independent. More commonly though we feel vulnerable, insecure, and ineffective, unsure how to amass power and get control.

There are compelling reasons for why we need to broaden our thinking beyond health problems and treatment. Building health power makes it possible for people to pursue those things in life that matter most and takes less investment of time, expense, and effort than attempting to recapture health and capacity once it is lost. These concepts are unfamiliar but not new.

A full discussion of how to break free from the tyranny of limiting health beliefs can be found in our just-released concept paper: The Path To Health Power. Invest a few minutes to review it and you also will be closer to breaking free.

TREATING ILLNESS IS NOT THE SAME AS CREATING HEALTH

START BUILDING YOUR HEALTH POWER WITH 7 ESSENTIAL SKILLS

We wish you a powerful month.

Sincerely,
Your colleagues at Advanced Wellness Systems