WGTS ninety one point nine, it's Jerry and Claude. We care about your health. We want you to do well. And today we're going talk a little bit about self care.
Self care, specifically setting boundaries. We've got Doctor Neil Roy, Chief Medical Officer at Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center with us to talk about saying no without the guilt, setting those boundaries. So, Doctor Roy, how come setting boundaries is so hard to do?
That's a really good question.
Societally, we are so programmed to say yes if you want to climb the ladder, make people happy, please your loved ones.
And we often say yes at the expense of our own wellness and our own well-being.
So saying no is so antithetical to the way most of us are brought up and live our lives.
And having guilt and shame for saying no is part of the reason it's so hard.
Now how is setting boundaries a form of self care?
I would encourage everyone to adopt the mindset that saying no not only is good for your own health, but it's also stronger for the relationship. Saying no to an activity you won't be able to wholeheartedly do is actually a more honest and sincere way of making that relationship a strong one and also taking care of yourself. Saying yes to going out with your friends when you're not gonna be there mentally does a disservice to your friends and does a disservice to you. So having the confidence and the ability to say no will really make your life better. Okay. Let's get practical. How can I set boundaries in different aspects of my life?
The first thing I would do is really start by prioritizing what your goals are for your life.
I would recommend everyone either on their bathroom mirror or on their nightstand write down what their most important values are in terms of service, your family, your loved ones, your children, your work. Decide what your values are. And then within those values, what your priorities are there.
And then once you have a guiding set of principles, determine whether or not other tasks that you're doing can contribute to that end goal. And let me use an example.
Early nineteen hundreds, there was a British rowing team, and that team wanted to win the Olympics. And they made a Netflix movie after this called The Boys in the Boat. And they said, "All the activities we do this year, will they make the boat go faster?" And if the answer is no, they're not doing that. So after having a practice, if they're gonna go and have an unhealthy meal, they'd ask, "Will the boat go faster?" And if the answer is no, they said no to that activity. That year, they won gold in the Olympics.
And by having one guiding principle, it makes it so much easier to say no and say no in a way that others will appreciate and understand that. So if I say no to my boss saying, "Hey, Dan, who's my boss, I really can't do this evening meeting because I have to spend time with my family, and I haven't seen them all week.
And if I was there, I wouldn't really be so present and give the meeting the time and focus it needs. But we can do the meeting next week. I'll try and make sure I'll be there and be available." He understands that it's in his and my best interest to not be at that evening meeting.
That is good advice. Now I just have to start applying it. Maybe by saying no to you, Claude.
That's not a problem.
However you need to do it, Jerry, you should try it.
If you want more of these health minutes, you can check that on our website. It's wgts919.com.
And a big thank you to Adventist HealthCare for sponsoring today's health minute.
