I’ve been experiencing a distracting level of back stiffness for the past 18 months. In my stubbornness I believed I could push through it using the wise tactics of working out harder, stretching more diligently and generally ignoring the issue all together. The body has a way of getting your attention. After months of caveman-like behavior I began experiencing a sharp pain down the left side of my body. Obviously I doubled down on my pride infused self diagnosis. I even decided I wasn’t working hard enough so I would begin publishing my workout and routines in an effort to publicly hold myself accountable.

Needless to say , the pain has persisted. The body wins. The final straw was not being able to chase my kids on a sunny Spring day. I’m waiting on results from some tests and scans. I’m probably looking at rehab. I’m embarrassed, honestly I’m a bit scared, but I’m also relieved. I gave up the arrogant bit of trying to tough it out and fix myself. I was honest with myself. I’m broken down. Something is wrong. I need help. That paradigm shift (from that of pride to that of need) has been refreshing. Just admitting something is wrong that I can’t fix on my own has lifted a burden off of my back.

How often does this same pattern happen in business? How often do we know there is an issue but we let it grow to the point that it demands our attention. How often do we take an issue and double down on fixing it ourselves rather than getting expert help? How often do we rely on past successes to guarantee future successes, even when the facts don’t line up? Even if we successfully fix a situation, how much time is wasted due to pride (my personal favorite is when we use the cost of external help to justify our pride). Just admitting you can’t do it alone, or shouldn’t do it alone is what you need to start the path to improvement.