Gutierrez, N. Defying diabetes. Retrieved from www.uthscsa.edu/mission HHS launches diabetes prevention campaign to reach high risk groups (2004, April …
Defy Someone or Defy the Odds
Barbara ONeill, PhD, CFP, Extension Specialist in Financial Resource
Management
Karen Ensle, EdD, RD, Family and Community Health Sciences Educator
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
Dont be afraid to attempt something new
Remember, it was amateurs who built the ark
It was professionals who built the Titanic
Unknown
Remember when you were a small child and your parents told you not to
do something? What did you often do? You turned around and did it anyway?
Acts of defiance are how preschoolers begin to assert themselves It is
their way of rebelling against parental restrictions and attempting to
manipulate people Defiant children generally perceive payoffs to their
behavior including increased power and control over others and the
satisfaction that comes with successfully breaking the rules
Acts of defiance can also be used in a positive way to improve your
health and/or increase your wealth One way is to simply defy someone and
make a
recommended behavior change If others say youll never be able to
do something eg, lose weight, quit smoking, exercise, repay debt, save
money, defy them and take the necessary action to prove them wrong For
added motivation, make a bet with someone eg, a friend or sibling with
a desired reward and a time deadline For example, I bet you [a certain
dollar amount] or [tickets to a play] that Ill be able to [describe
behavior change] by [date] Better still, challenge the other party to a
competition and compare your respective progress Tap into the same urges
to rebel and compete that you once had as a child Feel the smugness that
comes with proving other people wrong as you take small steps toward
improved health and finances
There are many similarities between expert recommendations to
challenge a defiant child and defiance to improve a health and/or financial
behavior Step one is to decide which current behavior you want to change
and the preferred behavior you eventually want to see Step two is to
determine the smallest sign of change Step three is to catch someone
doing something good ie, making a positive change and acknowledge it
as an incentive to continue
making progress
What if you dont have anyone to defy? Not to worry You can still
employ this behavior change strategy by defying the odds and not allowing
yourself to become a statistic with regard to issues like diabetes,
obesity, overspending, and bankruptcy Not sure where to get started?
Below is a list of startling health and personal finance statistics that
are definitely worth defying:
Health Statistics to Defy
Almost two-thirds of Americans are overweight BMI between 25 and 299,
obese BMI between 30 and 399, or extremely obese BMI of 40 and
above
An obese person spends 900 more a year in medical expenses than a person
of normal weight
American adult caloric intake has risen from 1,854 to 2,002 calories per
day over the past 20 years This 148-calorie per day increase equals a
weight gain of 15 pounds per year
Cigarette smoking, followed by poor diet and physical inactivity, are the
leading preventable causes of death in America
Some 18 million Americans have diabetes and 41 million have pre-diabetes,
meaning their blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not yet at
the level that qualifies for a diabetes diagnosis
More than 60 of American adults do not get the recommended 30 minutes of
physical activity a day and 25 arent physically active at all
In a 2004 study, for every 30 minutes spent commuting, workers had a 3
chance of becoming obese compared with workers who spent less time
driving
Wealth Statistics to Defy
The average US household carries about a 9,300 credit card balance
By one estimate, about seventy percent of Americans are living paycheck
to paycheck and have no money left over after paying basic monthly
expenses
The number of household bankruptcy filings soared to about 16 million in
2004
About half of all bankruptcies in 2001 were triggered by illness or
medical debts
Average American households are saving only about 1 of their disposable
personal income
Only three in ten US households meet the recommended guideline of
holding at least three months expenses in cash assets for emergencies
The median net worth assets minus debts of all US households in 2004
was 93,100
About 15 of US workers experience financial distress that affects
their workplace productivity
One-quarter of US households are considered wealth-poor
They have net
assets under 10,000 and are a layoff or emergency expenditure away from
financial disaster
The following quote unknown author makes a strong statement about
the power of defiance:
If you want to see something done, just tell some human beings
it cant be done
Make it known that its impossible to fly to the moon,
or run a hundred metres in nine seconds, or solve Fermats Last
Theorem
Remind the world that no one has ever hit sixty-two home runs in
a season,
Stuffed eighteen people into a Volkswagon Bug,
Set half the world free, or cloned a sheep
Dangle the undoable in front of the world
Then consider it done
Use the Defy Someone or Defy The Odds Worksheet, below, to make plans
to use a bet or a dare or a competition with someone as an incentive to
change a health or personal finance behavior Then pick a health and
wealth statistic that you would like to defy and describe your action plan
Defy Someone or Defy The Odds Worksheet
| | |
|
|Question |Health Goal |Wealth Goal |
|What is the current | | |
|behavior that you want to | | |
|change? | | |
| | | |
|What is the preferred | | |
|behavior that you want to | | |
|practice? | | |
| | | |
|Who do you want to defy? | | |
| | | |
| | | |
|Why do you want to defy | | |
|this person? | | |
| |
| |
|How will you defy this | | |
|person? | | |
| | | |
| | | |
|What statistic do you want| | |
|to defy? | | |
| | | |
|How will you defy this | | |
|statistic? | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
Action Steps
Health
Pick someone to defy or compete with as an
incentive to change a
health behavior
Keep imagining how good it will feel to prove to someone that you
can change
Pick a troubling health statistic and take action to defy it
Wealth
Pick someone to defy or compete with as an incentive to change a
financial behavior
Keep imagining how good it will feel to prove to someone that you
can change
Pick a troubling financial statistic and take action to defy it
References
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wwwamericaonthemoveorg/Wactivelivingasp?PageID8
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changes in US family finances: Evidence from the 1998 and 2001
Survey of Consumer Finances Federal Reserve Bulletin, 89, 1-32
Andrews, M 2004, Dec Get healthy, get wealthy Money, 3312, 57
Bi, L Montalto, CP 2003 Emergency funds and the alternatives
Consumer Interests Annual, American Council on Consumer Interests, 49
Retrieved from
wwwconsumerinterestsorg/public/articles/indexhtml?cat264
Bucks, BK, Kenickell, AB, Moore, KB 2006 Recent
changes in
US family finances: Evidence from the 2001 and 2004 Survey of
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Chatzky, J 2004, Oct From debt to wealth on 10 a day Money,
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Citing dangerous increase in deaths, HHS launches new strategies
against overweight epidemic 2004 March 9 Washington DC: US
Department of Health and Human Services press release
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Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
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waistlines VISIONS, Rutgers Cooperative Extension, 163, 1, 7
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Wall Street Journal, D2
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of
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Counseling and Planning, 7, 157-188
Gutierrez, N Defying diabetes Retrieved from
wwwuthscsaedu/mission/articleasp?id254
Henneman, A 2004, April Increase your calorie salary Retrieved
from http://lancasterunledu/food/ftapr04htm
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wwwschwablearningorg/articlesasp?r631
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Marketwatch: Illness and injury as contributors to bankruptcy 2005,
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http://contenthealthaffairsorg/cgi/content/abstract/hlthaffw56
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http://parentcenterbabycentercom/refcap/preschooler/pbehavior/65487h
tml
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May 13 Washington DC: Consumer Federation of America Retrieved from
wwwconsumerfedorg
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wwwhealthywomanorg
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Schlosser, E 2002 Fast food nation New York: Perennial Books
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