Yo DaVita!

MTM Flash:  2500 participants!   Including 150 friends and family.  Here is an amazing statistic — 109 from Saudi Arabia!!  And another … 47 from Brazil!

Local neighborhoods, Global Village. Your Mayor, KT

Dear DaVita !

I am leaving the Colombian jungle, saw 5 monkeys on the way to the car.  Since they are used to seeing people at the home I was within 4 feet of them.  Amazingly quick and cute.

Yesterday (Saturday) we left sleeping place at 7 am, breakfast at 6:30 so no workout as gym does not open until 6 am.  But when we returned at 6 pm I headed straight to the gym, and told people I would be late to dinner.

45 min on bike, then short session with sledge hammer on tire.  Then pushed a sled until I could barely breathe.  Then my arm muscle work, 8 sets.  Followed by 3 sets of leg muscle work. Followed by 6 minutes of leg stretching.

Last night I did take the time to sit on the back deck and listen to the jungle.  I hope it still counts as emotional well-being time if I admit I had a beer.

This morning is the beginning of 11 hour trip home.  I got up early to be at the gym at 6 am, and the attendant never showed up! So I will have to workout when I get home.  Darn.

My day yesterday was 80% allocated to The Nature Conservancy, a wonderful environmental organization I am involved with.  The other 20% was Village work.

I hope you and your teammates are achieving your goals!  Be well, savor the adventure of life !!!

With respect and affection. KT

Greetings from the jungles of Colombia!

On Wednesday I woke up in Rio in Brazil, at 6:30 am and headed down to the gym.   I did 45 minutes of lifecycle pedaling at a solid pace, followed by 8 sets of arm strengthening internal and external rotation exercises with the exercise bands I brought with me (I take them on pretty much every multi-day trips).  I was moving a bit slowly as we had flown in from Sao Paolo, Brazil the prior night and had a late dinner.  Anyway I then did 5 minutes of leg stretching, and 25 push-ups.

Off we went to a day of meetings with our kidney care team.  Their office, called The Rock, has some beautiful views and is filled with vibrant colors.  We are growing at a rapid pace in Brazil, and doing wonderful things in improving care, including dialysis adequacy and CVC reduction.  I had an earnings call with our shareholders at 8 pm that night, got back to the hotel a little after 10 pm, had a light late dinner and went to bed.

Got up about the same time on Thursday, yesterday, and had another good 32 minutes on the bike.   I did the same 5 minutes of leg stretching, and another 10 minutes of various stretching exercises.  We then headed straight to the airport to fly to Bogota, Colombia.  It was about a 6 hour flight, I got a lot of work done with that wonderful uninterrupted time.

Once we landed in Bogota I did a conference call back to the US, and then went to a meeting with the Health Minister of the country.  He is new in the job, and was quite thoughtful and impressive.  We had a good conversation about our accomplishments in Colombia, where we now take care of 20% of all the dialysis patients in the country.  Once again we have achieved excellent improvements in clinical outcomes, it was fun to talk about them.  It is also the case in both Brazil and Colombia that the Village spirit is high!

Even though my hotel in Rio was right on the beach, and a nice walk would have been good for my emotional well-being, so far each day on this trip which started on Sunday afternoon in Denver with a 13 hour journey to Brazil, has been too jam-packed to allow that to happen.  Oh well.

I then headed out to the jungle, for a meeting with The Nature Conservancy.  More on that later!  I hope each of you is achieving your goals!!

One for All, your Mayor, KT

Greetings to the Good People of the DaVita Village, and Welcome to MTM XI!!!!

Yes, it is once again Match the Mayor time.  Four weeks where we join hands across the world and strive to lead a healthier life, to break some not-so-good habits and start or strengthen some better ones.

Thousands of teammates participate every year, and we welcome all of you who will be checking this out for the first time.  I will write a little blog or do a little video every other day and report on what I am doing and how I am doing.  I will read every comment that is sent to me, but it is unlikely that I will be able to answer each.   The answers I do write, however, will be for everyone to see.

Right now it is Sunday night.  I am on a 12 hour journey to Sao Paolo, Brazil.   I will be spending a week in Latin America, specifically to see our teams in Brazil and Colombia.  I will be in 4 cities over 5 days, on a plane every day I believe, and then fly home on Saturday.   These trips are always a bit of a challenge, so I am getting myself psyched up.

The focus this year is on steps and emotional wellbeing.  Good stuff to focus on.

On the steps front, I work out almost every day all year. Getting a workout in each day when I am traveling internationally is tough because I am so fully booked, but we will see how I do.

On the emotional wellbeing front I need to do my best to get my sleep and exercise, and get a little quiet time each day to reflect, and try to remember all that I should be grateful for each and every day.

I wish each of you well, and hope we can help each other do good things for ourselves, which will help us do good things for others.

Until Tuesday, this is KT from a plane … I am going back to work!

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

Good Evening DaVita Village !!

Well another year of MTM draws to a close …. MTM X in fact.   Once again it has helped me experiment with new ways of leading a healthier life.  Once again I have enjoyed watching what many of you were doing.  Once again MTM helps some folks, like me, do more than they would have otherwise.   This is good, this is part of what it means to be a community first and a company second.  Encouraging one another, challenging one another, listening to one another.

MTM exposed how often I am getting less than 7 hours sleep.  A lot.  The 2 minute stretches have almost become a habit, although they are more like 1 minute – but I can still feel the difference.  I am also doing more quiet time moments, and more conscious of connectedness.  I was already pretty solid on the gratitude front, I have had my about every other day gratitude mantra for several years now.

I hope many of you did similarly well or better.   I wish good health to you and your families.  I wish for you a fulfilling year.  And I hope to see you again next year.

“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”

One for All & All for One

KT

Allison Farish “More time for daily reflection and mindfulness.”

Jenny Bajaj “I have been working on mindfulness based practices to manage my stress. If I notice myself on edge, I take a minute to practice a technique, and then get back to whatever I was doing.  I would like to spend less time with my inner critic and more time in gratitude.”

Good Morning DaVita !

It is Friday morning, a beautiful morning up here in the Rockies.   I had a wonderful town hall session with our global Quest (Compliance) team, and then gave myself the amazing treat of sitting and watching my Stanford Football team eke out a last minute victory.  I was uncharacteristically good in that I ordered a salad and then a salmon dinner with brussel sprouts.  Normally if I sit down to watch a football game while eating dinner it is steak or cheeseburger time.  But it was feeling like a bad calorie week, so I had to draw the line.

Speaking of the week, in continue my stretch of less than 7 hours of sleep.   I am looking forward to a long sleep tonight, as I will not set the alarm Saturday morning.  While I have a bunch of work to do this weekend, and perhaps 2 conference calls, I also will get great exercise both days, almost certainly to include at least one hot yoga class, which is so good for me.  As we near the end of MTM X, here is where I stand:

1. Continued my normal almost 100% exercise in the morning regimen
   1. Although I have made it consistently longer and more comprehensive, adding more flexibility and strength to my normal cardio
2. Have definitely improved in stretching during the day, little micro-sessions
3. Have definitely improved in ensuring quiet moments during the day
4. Have somewhat improved on connectedness and gratitude.  On the first one I think my normal approach was pretty strong, and I want to get a lot better on the gratitude, on top of the good progress I have made
5. Have been inconsistent on the sleep front, no progress overall.  2 above average weeks, then back to prior levels.  Yikes.

So over all I am better off, and more aware of where I want to maintain a positive trend, and where I want to create one.  Plus it was fun to get some notes from you guys, and to feel a part of a team of 2300 from across the world, working on improving our quality of life!

I hope you have a wonderful day, and I cherish the fact I get to share life’s journey with the DaVita Village and so many of you.  Just like healthcare service, Life is a team sport.

A French author, Colette, once said “I had a wonderful life!   I only wish I had realized it sooner.

One for All & All for On

KT

Good Morning DaVita !!!!!!!!

It is Thursday morning, I am up in the Rocky Mountains, at a DKC (DaVita Kidney Care) retreat.  It has been a great meeting, and I love being up here even though we are working all day and night.

If you take a look at my scores, the last week has had some serious gaps – namely I have rarely had 7 hours of sleep, and in the last few days I have done fewer of the 2 minute breakouts for stretches and movement.  Darn!

Yikes. I just realized I have to run to the meeting.  I will send more later today.  I hope you are all doing well, all 2300 of you !!

One for All

KT

Dave Hoerman- “Stir fry, with vegetables and not a lot of sodium and additives! :)”

Anne Bailey- “I have tons of roasted veggies and lean meat for dinner most nights.”

Mandy Hale- “Salad!  I love a hearty salad with my favorite healthy toppings.  Fish and hardboiled eggs are two of my favorite toppings.  If I am craving something sweet I may go with berries and almonds.”

Patrick McKinnon– “I enjoy my crossfit gyms in Denver and in Dallas.  After initial trepidation, I have grown to value working out in groups, which pushes me far more than I would push myself.  In fact, my regular workout groups have become a second family for me and get me into a good mindset for the day.”

Mandy Hale– “Do I have to pick just one? I love competing in triathlons, so I am going to pick swimming, biking and running! ”

Elise Duke– “With four kids and a full time job, I have found it difficult to stay active on a daily basis. After turning 40, I decided it was time to shape up and get moving. I make it a priority to fit in 30 mins of activity – whether it be yoga through an app on my phone or the exercise bike I have at home.”

Traciee Huff– “Dancing”

Allan Cullop– “Hiking”

Dave Hoerman-“Love hiking, walks with my family and our dog Banjo, and especially love going for bike rides, both road and mountain. I also enjoy skiing, snowshoeing, and staying really active in the winter.”

Jonathan Lujan– “Train in mixed martial arts.”

Anne Bailey– “I get 15K steps a day, on average, and do strength training 2-3x a week.”