Greetings to the Good People of the DaVita Village

It is Tuesday night.  I am alone at home in Denver, doing a little work and listening to Christmas music.   It brings back strong memories of my Mom, whom we lost 2 years ago at this time.  She loved Christmas, and created Christmas traditions and spirit that her 6 kids love still today.  I strive to do the same with my kids.

So for today’s thoughts on emotional well-being, I recommend listening to Christmas music.  With the fireplace going.  I will shortly go sit in the living room and enjoy our Christmas tree and the other decorations that are up.   Many of my tree ornaments go back to when I was a child – we marked the year on each ornament, unless it was the rough plastic you could not write on.

A magical time, if you are open to it.

Just as Match the Mayor can be special, if you are open to it.

I worked out this morning, as usual.  Only 26 minutes on the bike, 8 minutes of stretching.  I did walk around my office about 100 times as I was on conference calls today.

But mainly today is about being grateful.  Grateful for the amazing Mom I had 60 years with, including so many special Christmas’s.   Grateful for my current family, grateful for getting to work with so many of you taking care of people.  Grateful.  A good place to be.

Take care my friends.  Be well

KT, your Mayor

Yo DaVita !!

Greetings from California, it is Sunday afternoon in northern California, I cannot fly back to Denver until Monday, after my final post-op session with the doctor.  The wonders of modern health science, we all have so much to be grateful for in this realm !

First, I have only worked a couple hours this weekend, that has been nice, although the email queue is about 400 long, so I have to get at it soon to try to live our core value of Service Excellence.

Second, as many of you will recall, I cannot do my normal more strenuous exercise for about 5-7 days after the surgery, and then I can ramp it back up over a week or so.  That is very frustrating for me.  But today I did a full 70 minutes of high/medium steady intensity on the lifecycle, plus about 20 minutes of non-extreme stretching.  Plus I will take a one hour walk with my brother in an hour.  I usually read on the lifecycle but today I watched most of my Green Bay Packers loss to the Arizona Cardinals.  Darn.   Yesterday I did 45 min on the bike plus 14 min of stretching, but no walk.  I also got to watch my Stanford Cardinal beat Cal, which makes them 8 and 4 so they will get a decent bowl game.  I am not super intense about football, but I enjoy it as a bit of relaxation with friends, and a little tribal behavior.

Today’s walk will also be great for my emotional well-being, as my brother and I are close, and we will go over all aspects of life, family, friends, work, health, fulfillment/happiness, etc.  All while breathing in the wonderful fresh air.

We are racking up some awesome step totals …. More importantly I hope many of you are enjoying these new habits, and advancing your personal and emotional health, and perhaps relationships too – life is a team sport!

Respectfully,

KT

Greetings to the Citizens of the DaVita Village,

237 million steps so far!  Enough to go halfway to the moon!

I started today with my workout, 28 minutes on the bike, solid intensity.   Then 6 minutes of stretching, and I was out of time.   We did a 2 hour Board call, then I had lunch with the Deputy Secretary of HHS, the #2 person in all of HHS.  Good conversation.

Then I was off to the airport to fly to Chicago, with conference calls on the drive, which is the norm.  Got good work done on the plane, I do some of my best work on planes because there are no interruptions (unless I hook up to wifi!).

In Chicago I went to Northwestern to do a meeting with a professor, then a meeting with some of the students we have made offers to, then a fireside chat with about 200 attendees, then a leadership class until 9 pm.  Then back in the car, 40 minutes back to the airport to fly to California, a 4.5 hour flight that will get me in about 1 am California time … which will be 4 am for my body given I started the day in DC.

Tomorrow I leave my home at 6:45 to go in for my second eye surgery.  I will have to take the day off to be safe – not day off from work, but day off from any real activity.  I can start walking the next day, and do mellow exercises, but will be frustrated for 5 days or so before I can ramp up again.  Oh well, I am grateful for this wonderful surgery!

Please keep your momentum going, and pursue another level of healthy living, together with your 2799 new friends!

Take care, KT

Yo DaVita !

Good day, it is Monday afternoon and I am about to fly to Washington DC to work on our transformative integrated care legislation, The PATIENTS Act.  On the way back from DC I will stop and speak at the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern in Illinois, and then fly on to California for another eye surgery – the first one is going well!

Thanksgiving was great for my emotional well-being.  Good sleep, great family time,  good quiet reflective time.  I probably worked an average of about 4 hours a day, not great but not bad.    Also, of course, I exercised each and every day, sometimes twice.  Each day was 40 to 60 minutes of lifecycle.  Thursday and Friday also included 45 minute walks, one with family, one alone.  I also loved getting some reading time, and doing some unhurried life updates with our son and daughter.

I hope each of you had quality time with your loved ones, and quiet time with yourself.  I hope you are hitting your goals, and developing new life muscles.  There are over 2800 of us now, and we have done something like 195 million steps, that is pretty cool!

At Thanksgiving we always go around the table and talk about what we are especially grateful for.  For the 19^th year in a row, one of my sources of gratitude was my work at DaVita – I feel so lucky to work with you and have this job.  A special opportunity to serve and thrive.

One for All & All for One.  Your Mayor, KT

Yo Davitans !!!

I have been remiss in posting, I am sorry!   Things have been a bit hectic with doctor appointments, work and family stuff, but to be honest I sort of forgot!

The good news is I have exercised every day since my last post. The other good news is that after my Wednesday post-op doctor appointment I was given the green light for ramping the intensity of my workouts back up, or halfway back up.  The other other good news is that my eye is doing well.  And the other other other good news is that I have taken a walk 4 out of the 5 days, in addition to the workouts.  Finally the other other other other good news is that we have had a glorious Thanksgiving weekend, with loved ones together, quiet time, noisy time, good sleep.

Denise and I watched The Color Purple with our 30 and 28 year old children last night, such a powerful movie, I first saw it 25 years ago.  Powerful movie about what it was like to be an African American back in the 1920’s and 30’s.  Tough stuff.  Powerful.

One of my workouts was with my daughter, we do boot camp together.   These are brutal interval workouts, which she custom designs based on the professional sessions she has been to.  I cannot keep up with her on most of the exercises, but it is a great full body workout.  For scoring purposes my workouts, excluding the walks, were continuing to be in the 40 minute range before my Wednesday doctor appointment, and up to an hour or more on Wednesday and Thursday after the doctor’s okay.

The walks, both alone and with loved ones, are quite special in terms of emotional wellbeing.   I also am trying to get myself to do better at deeper breathing, all day every day.  Such a notable physiological and psychological impact.

On the bad news front, I have been eating too much over the past week, much more than usual.  3 full meals a day, and I am up about 3 pounds.  Feels terrible!  I have started the journey back down in the last 24 hours.   It is kind of funny, in my normal work-life I am too busy to eat a lot, and the portions are smaller at restaurants than what I serve myself at home.  I guess I better get back to my normal work and travel life.

I hope each of you are doing well in building new habits for a healthier life, both physically and emotionally.  We are all out here rooting for you!  Life is a team sport!

One for All,

KT

Greetings to the Good People of the DaVita Village,

First, we smashed thru the 100,000,000 step level as a tribe!  Second, the highest average steps per participant are:

1. Atlas (4,292 avg. steps)
2. Pioneer (4,255 avg. steps)
3. Friends & Family (that is pretty surprising, and cool) (4,291 avg. steps)

As to my own journey, I had a strong 50 minutes on the lifecycle yesterday (Saturday). Strong in that I was going at a pretty high RPM … it is still frustrating to me that I cannot do the more strenuous stuff yet.  But my eye is recovering well, so my dominant feeling is one of gratitude.  I also had a great hour walk with Denise, my wife, where we caught up on lots of life stuff.

I also did 3-4 hours of work, as I will do today, catching up on email.  I also am trying to send out some anniversary congratulatory notes to Village Citizens who are hitting 20 or more years.  We have had a couple 40 year anniversaries, amazing!  I also just did my first selfie video, if it passes muster it will be sent out by the Wisdom Gods to all MTM participants.   Please give me feedback, it was quite the awkward thing to do so I don’t think it was very good.

Good luck in breaking an old bad habit, or starting a healthy new one.  We are in this together, 2700 strong.

Take Care, Your Mayor, KT

Yo DaVitans !

Good morning!  It is Saturday and I am feeling so grateful to be alive and healthy.

I had my post-op appointment with the surgeon yesterday at 7:25 am.  It went fine, but we had some issues so the total time consumed was 3.5 hours instead of 30 minutes.  So I was scrambling doing conference calls on my cell phone in the building lobby.  I had not brought my Bluetooth so I had to hold the phone up to my ear, which feels absolutely barbaric at this point, and darn tiring after an hour or two.

I did 35 minutes of low resistance but reasonably high RPM lifecycle, which is all I am allowed.  Therefore I also did a one hour hike up a hill in a beautiful forest near home.  Did this with two close friends, so it was a great time to review each other’s lives, what is going well, what is not.  We discussed family, work, health, and our goals for the upcoming years.  We did not finish on the hike, so we sat for another 30 minutes in the backyard, and then I also got together with one of them last night and we spent another 2 hours.  This was good for the soul.

Walking around with blurred vision is quite humbling, even though the blur is manageable.

I hope each of you is finding the time to build a new and healthy habit during MTM … whether is it a daily walk, a daily reflection, reading time, whatever.   Life is a team sport, we are in this together, sharing a big chunk of life’s journey.   Our Village does so many good things for our patients and for each other – may it always be so.

Take care, Your Mayor, KT

One for All & All for One

Greetings to the Good People of DaVita,

It is Thursday afternoon.   My big news is I had cataract surgery this morning – I was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed young man who spent countless days outside in his youth and never wore sunglasses …. So the doctors told me years ago this day would come.  One result is that I must take it very easy today, a modest and mellow walk is the only option on the table.  In addition I cannot do a lot of the strenuous exercise I cherish for a week or two.  What a nightmare!

On the other hand … I am so lucky that medical science has evolved to where it is, so my condition can be corrected!  And I will be able to take more walks, and at some point do low resistance life cycle.  The long walks could actually be a positive on the emotional well being front …But all my leg and core work has to stop, except for some of the stretching.  Darn!

Last night was one of the sacred nights in the annual calendar of our Village – namely the Night of Honor.  It was a part of the larger Directors and Above Leadership Meeting, about 1200 citizens.  I just love Nights of Honor, as we recognize teammates who are amazing role models for our Core Values.   In addition I got to present a Chairman’s Award to Vanessa Pfeiffer !  Her energy and passion for our patients and teammates is special.  Each honoree got a vibrant standing ovation as they approached the slide, and JR did a great job of opening up the evening.

Spending time honoring others is one of the most powerful and nourishing activities I can imagine, from an emotional wellbeing point of view.  It speaks to our souls, our aspirations, our hopes.

Namaste, KT

Greetings to the good citizens of the DaVita Village!

Quick Monday morning message.

I got great exercise yesterday, which is normal for my weekends.   32 minutes on the bike, a 40 minute brisk walk during a beautiful snowfall, 12 sets of arm strengthening, some great core work, 12 minutes of stretching, and a few miscellaneous exercises.  Was great, I watched the Green Bay Packers while doing all this, America’s ONLY community owned professional sports team!

The walk was also great for my emotional calmness, although after a work call I just completed, my third of the day, I could use another one!  we have a hot tub at home and I think I will need to sit in it a bit to calm down, as I pack for being on the road for a bit.

One of my favorite quotes in the world, is one I repeat a couple times a week … “there is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy.”  I love that quote, it helps me stop and take a few deep breaths and reminds me of how much I have to be grateful for, and the importance of staying present to that.

All the best, picture that you are part of a 2600 person team, each one cheering you on!

Your Mayor, KT

Dear DaVitans,

It feels so good to be home, it is Sunday morning.  I left last Sunday afternoon and returned late yesterday afternoon.

The journey home was about 12 hours with a couple plane flights.  I got a huge amount of work done, basically every minute except for a 90 minute nap, and when I was walking thru airports.  Some folks that work with me dread my international trips because they I send hundreds of emails with responses, questions, and new ideas.  Yikes.

I had the most wonderful town halls in Brazil, both in Sao Paolo and in Rio.  The teams were so warm, welcoming, and energetic.  The Village spirit is alive and well there.  Unfortunately because of traffic in Bogota, Colombia I was only able to have my meeting with the Minister of Health.  Then I had to do some conference calls with the US and fly away, although I did have a reasonable chunk of time with Ricardo, our country leader.  But I missed seeing the team.  Next time!

Once I did get back to my home late yesterday afternoon I did one short DVA conference call, then took a solid walk with one of our US Senators, Michael Bennet.  We covered a lot of topics, he is a wonderful public servant.  Oops, for tracking purposes the walk was at a modest pace, and lasted 45 minutes.

After that, at 7 pm, I hit the gym for a great 75 minute workout, while watching my Stanford football team roll to a big win.  32 solid minutes on the bike, some outstanding knee therapy/stretching, two sets of push-ups (30 and 20), some great leg weight-lifting, and general stretching.

My Friday in the jungles/forests of Colombia was very good for my emotional wellbeing.  Being close to the monkeys and crocodiles, talking about conservation, hearing the birds, being outside a bunch … it had a very soothing affect.

I hope all of you are achieving your goals.  I will get an update on our participation!

One for All, Your Mayor, KT