Getting High on Recovery

My life changed when I watched this video by Zach Anner.

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I’ve never met Zach Anner but he changed me. Zach was born with cerebral palsy and he lives out of a wheel chair. He has many things that I would consider disadvantages: his legs don’t work, he moves awkwardly and slow, he is not in control of many of his movements and he cannot function without help.

Yet Zach works out, he is a comedian, he travels, he has met Oprah and he wrote a book. His setbacks make it hard, but he strives to be 1% better every day.

When I came across his post, I was pretty depressed. It amazed me how Zach managed to be so upbeat when he has so many reasons to be depressed.

With depression, comparisons can devastate you. Sometimes seeing someone else in a positive mood can become ammunition that your brain uses against you. It can trigger cycles of cruel self talk and shame.

Two Things I Learned From Zach Anner that Changed Me

1. Zach reminded me to have fun with my struggles and weaknesses. He doesn’t make excuses and he doesn’t take his cerebral palsy too seriously. Rather than getting worn down trying to control things that are really out of his control, he just laughs. And he is pretty funny!
2. Zach reminded me to take away one positive thing. If you improve by 1% every day, you can change your life in a little under three months.

“Improve a little each day. It compounds. When 1% compounds every day, it doubles every 72 days, not every 100 days. Compounding tiny excellence is what creates big excellence.” James Altucher

You can learn more about Zach and his book, “If at Birth You Don’t Succeed” by clicking on this link.

You can’t spell “mile” without Smile, so maybe you should start with that because that makes the road ahead look so much brighter. Zach Anner

Keep It Real.

Photo Credit: Andrew Martina