Why Do I Love What I Do? A Path to Better Health and Wealth
I recently sat through a lecture by John Maxwell, a leadership guru. I will admit that I am not always the best leader, but I want to improve, I truly do. Hence this article I’m writing.
He had some amazing truths to share, and I’d like to relate some of those things and how, or even what, I’ll be communicating as we go forward together.
John said you cannot deliver what you have not developed. When you prepare to educate, you’re doing what you’re teaching, not teaching what you read or heard.
Talk is cheap, and actions speak louder than words. For years now, I have been seeking in my life what makes me feel better physiologically, emotionally, and even spiritually. I did not fully realize until recently that I have been examining nutrition and health since I was 15 and started running over 5 miles daily then. I stopped that crazy business after a year, but I learned things about my body and health. I kid about that being crazy; it just didn’t fit my lifestyle after that year. One notable thing is that I would feel especially turned on after running like all systems were heightened and running at maximum potential.
Of note is that when I lived in Brooklyn (10 years later), I began running again, as it seemed I was surrounded by runners, so I took the hint. Not daily but several times weekly, and for shorter runs of 2–3 miles. Same effects though; I felt alive — I mean truly alive.
Years later, I started running to help my oldest Isaac, who at the time was 6 years old. Do you know that not only him but his younger brother Jude started running as well, at the tender age of 4? We actually, 1 year later, had built up to running 3 miles daily, every morning, 6 days weekly. Can you believe that a 5- and 7-year-old who was autistic and brain-injured is still running 18 miles weekly? That didn’t even include the warm-up walk to and from the DuPont Estate across the street from our neighborhood back East in Wilmington, DE.
This article is not about running, but rather a way of thinking that I want to share going forward. About analyzing how you feel and what influences that, for good or bad. Naturally, I want the best for you, just as you want for me, so any discoveries I make about health or wealth I want to share.
A major influence in my life, encouraging critical thinking and examining what is good for the body and what is not, was my mother. A fiery little Lebanese woman who was passionate about food and passionate about everything else. She suffered through 2 bouts of cancer when I was a teen, and the second round was terminal, yet she beat the odds and the “terminal cancer.” I should mention she was a nurse (a RN), and this certainly in her case lead to a more critical weighing of recommendations from doctors and the medical field in general. She cured herself holistically with multiple different natural treatments, supplements, and approaches.
Do you know while she was healthy, nearly every dinner she made for Dad and us 6 kids started with a salad every night? I can still see her spooning it out at the table, and then Dad being given his and eating right from the steel mixing bowl. He was a practical, no-fuss sort of man. It was a really fine practice to start the meal off with a raw macrobiotic diet. Her critical thinking lead to far more than just nightly salads and dinners made from scratch by this little powerhouse of a woman. She had a profound influence on many, but especially on the way I see things and the way I examine the medical field in general.
I’d like to share with you about my dad now. He was a critical thinker from a different angle. He examined the establishment, and although working within the parameters, he was always suspect of it’s influence and even wrongdoing and would point it out. This was also something my grandfather had noticed, to a lesser degree. Grandpa did not trust the banks and never had a mortgage, never. He and grandma owned 2 homes in their lives and paid cash for both of them. They paid cash for everything, and in their era I’m not sure they even had a credit card. Grandma was the last to survive, and she passed away in the early 90s, to give it some perspective. Their country of origin was Slovakia, and from the limited amount of probing with a Slovak friend of ours, from what I can gather, there was a lot of mischief and cheating of the common people by the establishment and institutions in this part of Eastern Europe. This questioning mindset continued into the US as a young teen immigrant with my grandfather.
Thank God it did. So much of how I question things, what I will try and not try, and what I share with you all, I owe it to my parents, and their parents before them, and their deep, rich, celebratory, and gritty cultures. The values I was taught were not to take advantage of anyone, to look out for one another, to be generous, and to be kind. But certainly don’t be taken advantage of by anyone, anything, or any institution or professional. I recently had a client hire an attorney and pay thousands for the exact same advice I gave them 10 months prior. Not to say the attorney did anything wrong; it’s just that sometimes you have to trust who you trust. And titles are just that, titles.
Examining what I have done in life for employment and the jobs I have pursued have inevitably been centered around people and interaction with them. But without the people, and helping others, the job would have fallen flat, and my desire would have waned. I see this and look back to both my parents, observing my dad always helping his clients get the most affordable insurance they could. Even when he retired, his clients would call him for advice for the next decade or more, not the company, and he would help them. Dad was a minimalist, just like many Eastern Europeans. He was not comfortable spending/wasting his money or anyone else’s either. I practice this same thing for all of you, less is more, which I think is a huge help when implementing health care solutions, insurance, and anything else. Every dollar counts, and I hate wasting anyone’s hard-earned money.
My mom would have given you the shirt off her back, which she did quite often. She fed thousands of people over the years, in her kitchen and dining room, on the back patio at our graduation parties, and otherwise. What an exceptional display of hospitality from them both!
I have been striving to live up to those values without even consciously realizing it. Our tax planning strategies go back to these same values from Mom and Dad, both. Less for the IRS, more for you. In fact, as I wrote this, I was on a plane to Kansas to learn more effective tax planning strategies for all of you reading. Accomplishing these planning techniques to save on taxes requires work and the same amount of pay for us. In other words, we do it solely for your benefit, even though it takes a lot of team effort from all. Why would we do that? The preceding paragraphs hopefully explained it well enough 😌.
Let’s return back to our friend John Maxwell, the leadership author and coach, who pointed out that 4 big questions need to be answered by me as I pursue my vision, which will positively impact everyone I touch.
What do I want…:
The people to see?
The people to know?
The people to feel?
The people to do?
In the coming months, I want to help you see and know what I would like you to feel and to do to help yourself thrive.
I want you to see what the truth is about your health and your wealth. I want you to know it’s ok to question things that are recommended by others and to know I’m your friend. I want you to feel a sense of calm and confidence knowing we’ve got you and a plan is in place. But more importantly, you are on the best road you can be on, and you’re doing your very best because you’ve chosen to ask questions, examine your health and wealth, and find someone you can trust. And you’re on a journey of knowledge and wisdom, and we all should keep growing on this journey.
Going forward I’d like to continue sharing items of keen interest in retirement and health. Let’s face it, what’s retirement, even a wealthy one, without the time or good health to enjoy it? Hopefully, we can get both accomplished to the best of our abilities.
To your good health and good wealth,
Charles Dzama.
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