When I first became a doctor my greatest goal was to be an amazing diagnostician.I would fantasise about diagnosing some really rare condition which had stumped great minds. My conversation with patients would tend to be one sided and in all honestly my patients contribution would preferably be some good physical signs and an ability to answer questions with a yes or no.
The evidence that exercise helps you live longer is pretty overwhelming – it appears to halve your risk of diabetes, hypertension, stroke, heart disease and most cancers.It is also meant to be one of the most successful treatments for anxiety and depression. So it was with some considerable surprise that I read about some research from a psychiatrist in Bristol who found no benefit when he prescribed exercise to his patients.
Regular readers will know that I use a technique called NLP or neuro-linguistic programming whilst consulting.This technique or more accurately set of techniques was developed by a couple of Americans 40 years ago. Bandler and Grindler studied the habits of successful people and found that they had some common traits and if the rest of us mere mortals were to learn these traits we could become more successful at … well whatever it is that we want to do.
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When asked what was the most important characteristic of a good general he replied that they should be lucky! It is often said that people make their own luck. To quote one of the most famous golfers of all time, Gary Player “You know, it’s strange but the more I practice the luckier I get.’
We now know that luck is indeed hugely influenced by someone’s state of mind. The more self confident and optimistic you are the luckier you tend to be.
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