Welcome to Business Life 360 wit K., where we get to know thought leaders and innovators t and impact in the world of busi And we see firsthand how business and life have evol And now helping us all learn, le and grow is our host, Kristi K. Kristi K.: Greetings and welcome to Business Life 36 A healthy mind, a proactive stra for our medical care, a purposeful career and life.

All our keys to being a healthier executive.

And in this episode, it's all about just that.

We're busy working, running arou helping others, often at a dizz and rarely stopping to take stoc own health, well-being and the On this episode, we're stopping, we're taking stock and we're building a plan to bec the healthier employee and exec and in building that plan.

We're all going to learn together from experts on how to improve our mental hea How do I identify and address age related health c and how to find our purpose?

So kick back, maybe take a few notes and come along with me.

Announcer: Business Life 360 with Kristi K. is made possible by ProMedica, a locally owned, nationally rec not for profit health care netwo that has a strong commitment to clinical excellence, providi high quality patient care and ad social issues that impact healt The John B and Lillian E. Neff College of Business and Inn at the University of Toledo.

Developing lifelong leaders for the world of business.

And by the Greater Toledo Community Foundation, also by viewers like you.

Thank Kristi K.: It has been said that the need for purpose is essential to wellbeing, happiness, success.

I travel to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to a company called Kumanu that is at the intersection of b change and technology.

Let's meet the founder, CEO and purpose officer, Dr Vic Strecher to find out why Purpose just might keep us as bu humans healthier.

Dr. Strecher, it's great to be here at Kumanu.

Vic Strecher: Thank you.

And welcome to come on in.

Welcome to Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Kristi K.: So you have started t company that really helps human beings find purpose.

Tell us more about how this got Vic Strecher: Yeah, well, I've gone through my own difficu personal experiences.

And when those happened, I found what brought me through it is fi and thinking about and affirming what matters most in my life ag and then resetting goals, new go those things that matter most t So my daughter had passed away a little more than 10 years ago and she died very suddenly of a heart attack and quite une And when that happened, I kind of lost my purpose in my and didn't really care that much about anything.

And I found myself in a K.ak two miles out in Lake Michigan wondering whether I should conti K.aking to Wisconsin, which is eighty four more miles And it really worked.

And I, I don't know how to say this.

I'm a scientist, but I felt my daughter Julia in and I felt her telling me that you need to get over this.

And it turned out to be Father's I didn't even know that I was at a crossroads in m I decided to go back to shore, but only if I could change my l And because I was not really rea for living anymore.

And I came back and I started looking down on myself almost a if I was like a therapist lookin saying, Vic, you need some help I said, well, Vic, you're a behavioral scientist.

If you're worth your salt, you should be able to help your And so I pulled out a sheet of p still kind of dripping wet.

I mean, it was early in the morn wrote down the things that matt My wife, our older daughter, Rac my students at the university, I started writing these things And then I said, let's set goals around those th Let's set new goals.

And I decided to teach every one of my students as if they're my own daughter, Now, I have over 400 students.

You know, suddenly I have four hundred daughters.

Kristi K.: A tall task.

Vic Strecher: Yeah.

So what it meant, though, is tha I had to start taking care of m So I started meditating every da I started eating better.

I started sleeping better.

I started really looking for things that would gi more energy and vitality so that when a new student came with a problem or an issue, I could look at them as if they might be my own daug and expend that level of energy And that changed my life.

That ability to focus so much.

And then I thought, wow, you know, that's my field.

I'm in the field of public healt and I've always covered the surf of behavior change.

You know why you should do this?

Why you shouldn't do that?

You know all about risk.

And, oh, you might die if you keep smoking or whatever And then I thought, well, what's cause of some of these things?

And a root cause to so many issu whether it's opioid abuse or cigaret smoking or alcohol problems or you name So many of those things have a r in being unhappy and a root cause of being unhapp is not having a purpose and dir So I thought, let's just keep go Let's keep going until you can figure out how to people find greater purpose and just like you did for yourself.

Kristi K.: And I want to talk a more about purpose and sort of the definition of that is purpose.

Is it motivation?

Is it sort of inspiration?

And is it is it sort of are you born with it?

Vic Strecher: A purpose to me is or set of goals around the thin that matter most in your life.

That's it.

So think about settin type of goal.

A goal could be a box on a checklist, like I'm g shop for, you know, milk.

That's a goal.

It could be.

I want to touch the other side of a swimming pool underwater.

You know, so I'm going to swim f if I have if I am going to try to touch the other side.

We know that through research, there's over two thousand studi research where they say in one g here's a goal that we'd like yo and the other just do your best imagine purpose in life being t Goal or goals that you have, that you're setting and you wak and you say, I have this purpose in my life, as opposed to, well I'll try to be the best I can be, that's fine.

And that that would lead to more and meandering around life, maybe looking at social media.

Oh, what's Kim Kardashian wearin Who cares about what Kim Kardashian is wearing?

Honestly, you know, you have you You have this brief time on this And why not focus on the things that matter most in your life?

Not in anyone else's life.

You k you have your life.

You have this brief time on this And why not focus on the things that matter most in your life, not in anyone else's life.

Kristi K.: You know, to as you c through this very difficult exp with your daughter and the K.ak and suddenly you're finding pur What kinds of health benefits did you find for yourself?

And when you are helping others find their purpose, what do you see as kind of some of the benefits of being p Vic Strecher: Yeah, well, a lot of mental health benefits As soon as we start finding grea purpose and direction in our li we almost don't have time to be sad for sure.

Kristi K.: And it does stand to you get up in the morning and have a place to be, a place to go, a mission and fulfillmen And so I could see where that wo really give somebody a reason t Vic Strecher: And this can happe in all walks of life.

So often people ask me, well, is this just for people at the top of the pyramid, top of the hierarchy, people who have everything else and now going, oh, what's my pu I actually see people with lower at the top of the hierarchy.

They're going, wow, I've made a lot of money.

I've made millions of dollars.

And now why am I so sad?

You know, my my partner hates me and my kids won't talk to me.

I'm working all the time.

I get home and I have two hundre more emails to do.

And I don't have time or inclina to talk to anybody in the family or just watch TV.

And that's at the top of the pyr We see people in all walks of li wanting and needing and finding and we can help them do that.

Now we know how to help people.

Kristi K.: Now, as we're talking about healthy executives and finding purpose and kind of forward with a life path, let's leave our viewers with a few action steps that they can take today to say, how can I start to find purpose Or maybe they're kind of in that middle ground, as you said earl and they're not quite sure if they're on that path to purp What can they do?

Great.

Vic Strecher: Well, first of all you're an executive, so you're And one of the things I would en these leaders to become are purposeful leaders.

So what that means is that you d a purpose in your life.

You develop purpose within your And it depends on the work, what kind of purpose you're goi But one way to start it is to ask what matters most What matters most in my work.

And write that down.

Write a couple of other things that matter most.

What causes do I care about?

Who relies on me at work?

What would happen if I were to l And then on the basis of that, you start thinking, OK, what kind of purpose do I have?

And then you want to make sure that you convey that and you su your employees in finding their in life in part through their w Because when that happens, those employees become much mor They're far more likely to say, I want to stay in my job.

They're far more likely to ident with their organization.

Do your employees say when they're referring to the o we or do they say they if they say that you're in trou We are like this.

That's what's so important.

I want everybody at Kumanu to say we, Kumanu.

Kristi K.: Yes.

Dr. Strecher, thank you so much for being a part of business li and for all you're doing to make beings better.

Thanks, Kristi.

Taking control of our own health Medical appointments follow up care may get downrigh confusing, particularly as it relates to what doctor to what lifestyle changes we can ma what paths to forge, to feel go to stay healthier, live longer and have a high quality of life No wonder we may feel overwhelme and even give up.

Family medicine specialist at Primerica, Dr. Matthew Rennels joins me to help us build a plan for a healthier work and home l Great to have you here, Dr. Renn Thanks for having me.

So we want to talk a little bit about the healthy executive and building a plan for, let's say, that 40 plus male fe If that patient is coming in to, say, have an executive phys what sorts of tests should he or she be looking for Rennels: a robust history, colle what things have been done to them in the past?

What type of diagnosis they've been given in the past and then a good quality physica from there that typically helps the physician on necessity of o to get typically starting with things like laboratory stu going into immunizations, going into any required cancer screenings are typically the big we look at from a laboratory an We typically look at blood count kidney function, liver function sugar screens for diabetes, chol screens for heart and vascular We look for other cancer markers maybe a urinalysis marker on oc to help us screen for additional conditions.

From there, then we look at their immunizations, what's been done as a child?

What do they need going forward Do they have any additional risk that may make them susceptible to diseases that would require an immunization earlier?

Then from there, we'd look at cancer screenings.

Has cervical cancer screening been up to date?

Colon cancer screening been up t Do they need a more robust skin examination for skin cance Breast cancer screening all fall that realm and then males later Prostate cancer screening starts to become more relevant.

Kristi K.: Now we talk about lif changes that we all need to mak Clearly, that is something that we want to exercise more.

We want to eat better.

If you could pick three items that each of us and our viewers and our listeners could implement today.

Yeah.

What would those be that would m the most impact in our lives?

Dr. Rennels: I think it's easily more exercise, better diet and improve the qual or length of sleep.

Kristi K.: I really like that physical activity sometimes.

Yo we hear all these different numb 20 minutes a day, three times a And that might mean going out in and taking a walk around the ho something like that just to get the body moving.

Co Dr. Rennels: So there's a lot of benefits to exercise.

Certainly American heart will su that we do one hundred and fift a week of moderate physical acti However, there's benefits to just getting up from your de for 30 seconds every hour, taking that walk.

So it depends what your goal is.

But if we start small and work t one hundred and fifty minutes a you'll certainly gain a lot of Kristi K.: And so we do hear a l about resilience and that we've all done so well getting through and managing, living through a pandemic.

However, at a certain point, does resilience kind of become stress and all the stress that we're carrying with us?

And how do we, as healthy and busy executives, manage that stress a little bett Dr. Rennels: Absolutely.

I think you've got to rely on the resources around whether it's a loved one at hom whether it's your physician and touching base with them, family doctor or psychiatrist, whoever that may be.

So if you can get a good foundat a good base, you certainly won' touch or purpose.

And then to maintain that resili you certainly need to keep up with your health, keep up the ba keep up the screens I mentioned and not fall short of some of those goals you had So to take it a step further, you kind of look for that purpose and look for what's coming in t And I certainly think that that will help guide and maintain that resilience, because if you don't know what's coming next, sometimes you don't know what t With me, we have routine screening questions we should b every individual when they encou do they feel down, depressed an Do they have any mental health concerns for us?

The patient can take those serio And so that's my recommendation back to them is when you're ask it as an opportunity, because we are looking for those things.

Kristi K.: And that's a good tra because we're going to be talkin with someone from the American Psychological Association more about mental health.

So I want to say thank you so mu Rennels, for all of your insight and for helping keep our execut healthier and to kind of that qu in that plan for a strategy in taking care of our own well- Absolutely.

Thank you.

Thanks again for having me.

And now, as we've just heard fro Rennels, a significant component self care and feeling better is our mental health.

Let's get the conversation started with one of our nation' leading authorities on mental he and wellbeing there.

Lynn Bufka joins us tonight on Business Life 360.

Dr Bufka is senior director of the American Psychological A Her work on a landmark study cal in America has been truly enlig And on this healthy executive ep Bufka is here to give us enlight on building strong mental health habits for life.

Welcome to Business Life 360, Dr Dr. Bufka: I'm so delighted to b I think this is such an importan Kristi K.: Absolutely.

Now, you have been a part of thi landmark study called Stress in Give us an overview of.

What the mission and kind of the or of your research and what some of your findings Dr. Bufka: Sure.

We poll sample of people living in the U.S. every year.

We've been doing thi for over a decade.

And our polling is really lookin what are people telling us about their experience of stress So our most recent survey, we were asking individuals in the early part of this year, what have they experienced in r to the pandemic?

20/20 has been, I would say, unprecedented far too often, but it was really an event that have never experienced in our l both with the pandemic, the social justice unrest that has gone on and the myriad that our lives have been transf So what did we find?

We found that more than 60 percent of adults surveyed reported undesired weig since the start of the pandemic Two thirds said they gained weig they didn't mean to gain, but a third said they lost weigh They didn't mean to lose.

We found that parents in particu said that their mental and physical health has been imp since the start of the pandemic We found that one in four essent workers have been diagnosed with a mental health disorder and that we have found that bla in particular are telling us they have concerns about the fu Kristi K.: Well, given all of th no wonder we all feel stress and anxiety, and that's really e and depression as well.

So what are the implications of some of these things in term our mental health in the world o and in everyday life?

Dr. Bufka: You know, I think it's important for people to rea that generally human beings are So we handle adversity.

We might have times when we are stressed and overwh But the majority of people figur ways to cope and come through i But for some individuals, partic they are not taking care of the if they are not trying to manage the stressors that they experie they will go on to experience me and physical health problems.

They'll go on to develop anxiety disorders, depression.

They may have high blood pressur We know that stress is linked to physical health conditions like obesity and being overweig We know that it's relet can be r to heart problems, to cancers, that there's stress really has an impact on us, on all our So finding ways to adapt, to res to and manage how we handle stress is essential.

Kristi K.: And I think that's probably resonating very well wi some of our viewers and our lis So in that regard, we're busy ex we are grandparents, we are par We are trying to manage all of these things.

How can we gain a better perspec And what are some of the actions we can take to really start to improve our mental health?

Dr. Bufka: But when we're faced with a lot of stress, we basically have three options We can try to figure out how to whatever is stressing us.

Do we have some control over it?

Can we do something about it?

We can also try to determine what our responses of our response to the difficult is, making it worse.

How can we change that?

And if we have any capacity to leave a situation that's caus a lot of stress to do that.

So those are sort of the three m of doing of approaching things.

So if we can identify things that we have some control and do something about it.

Grea In the stuff that we don't have over, how are we thinking about Are we telling ourselves this is the worst possible thin I'm never going to get through t Or are we thinking about, OK, I can manage this one day at a One thing that's really helpful is to think about the various stresses that we fac not so much as threats, but as challenges, sometimes even as opportunities And just changing that language brain in the way we talk to our Makes a difference in terms of the level of emotio and the negativity that we might to situations with Kristi K.: when it comes to kind of the pos pandemic stressors.

There's a part of me that really has focused on self and some introspection that for me has been positive.

Talk to us a little bit more about what you see kind of coming out of the pandem in terms of our mental health and our stress and what your stu showing as we move forward.

Dr. Bufka: Well, one of the things that we know abou is that they often can make diff periods, be periods of growth a You know, many people, because of the forced slowdown in their lives, had an opportunity to evaluate what's important to them, what do they think is essential and going forward, maybe better able to act on tho Maybe people realize they don't to have 15 different activities going on, that they're really sa with these three and perhaps will spend more downtime or more time with the people they live Or maybe individuals realized how much connections to certain are valuable to them and they'll really hard to keep those conne So we will return to a place of more engagement in the world, greater interactio going out to dinners and movies But we also have a better sense of what our priorities are and how we want to act on those.

And perhaps the motivation for ensuring that we're able to live those priorit more clearly as we go forward.

Kristi K.: Dr. Bufka your knowle your research has been really, fascinating and enlightening, and we cannot thank you enough for all you have done to help us and to grow tonight.

So thanks for being a guest on Business Life 360.

Dr. Bufka: Thanks for having me, It's really been a pleasure chatting with you.

Kristi K.: Dr. Bufka, we've learned so much from her and her research on mental healt anxiety and well-being.

This has truly been an enlightening conversation.

Thanks again, Dr. Lynn, backup from the American Psychological Association for being our guest.

Here we are with Quick Hits and Vic Strecher, and we are asking some rapid questions, are getting some quick responses to get to know him a little bit Are you ready for this?

Yes.

OK. What is the core value that defines you the most?

Gosh, I would say helping people find purpose in their lives.

Kristi K.: Your concert of choic concert, it has to be the ninete seventy five.

Matty Healey.

Kristi K.: First pet?

Vic Strecher: First pet was name dumbest beagle in the world.

Kristi K.: Does he have purpose?

Vic Strecher: Absolutely.

He is the most purposeful pet we've ever had.

Kristi K.: Where do you go for Z Is it right here by chance?

Kris Where do I go for Zen time?

Vic Strecher: I might go right h and chill and meditate, actuall In fact, I love making craft coc I'm really, really good at making craft cocktails.

And I also am a meditator, but I don't allow myself a craft cocktail at the end of t until I've meditated.

Kristi K.: I heard once you made and you meditate Vic Strecher: and then forgot the drink.

Righ Kristi K.: All right.

Your favorite vacation spot.

Vic Strecher: Oh, gosh.

St. Lucia has this amazing welln spa called Body Holiday.

Kristi K.: Go to winter activity Vic Strecher: Go to winter activity would be skiing.

I lov Kristi K.: Well, Vic Strecher, g hits.

Great to learn more about And thanks for being here.

Vic Strecher: Thank you.

Kristi, it was a lot of fun.

Kristi K.: What an enlightening So how do we begin to build our formula for a healthy executive We can all commit to becoming more purposeful in our daily li to monitoring and scheduling our medical health more closely into building routines and awareness of our mental hea That's a wrap on this episode of Business Life 360.

I'm Kristi K.e, reminding you that success is by your own def We'll see you on the next Business Life 360.

Announcer: Connect with Kristi K on LinkedIn at Kristi K. Hoffman and hear the Business Li 360 conversation on FM 91.

On Thursday mornings to watch previous episodes and visit our website at wgte.org/36 Business Life 360 with Kristi K. is made possible by ProMedica, a locally owned, nationally rec not for profit health care netwo that has a strong commitment to clinical excellence, providi high quality patient care and ad social issues that impact healt The John B and Lillian Neff College of Business and Innovati at the University of Toledo.

Developing lifelong leaders for the world of business.

And by the Greater Toledo Community Foundation, also by viewers like you.

Thank