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1 1 The 5 AM Miracle with Jeff Sanders #206: My Recent Trip to the ER and My New Plan to Let Go June 5, 2017 Introduction [Play Gymnopedie ] What happens when your chest tightens, your stomach turns in circles, and you feel like you're about to take your last breath? I know the answer all too well. [Fade Out Music] This is The 5 AM Miracle - Episode #206: My Recent Trip to the ER and My New Plan to Let Go This week I discuss my recent health scare and how I m responding by radically changing how I approach just about everything. [Fade Music Up and Out]

2 2 There is a first time for everything. A few weeks ago I had my first ride in an ambulance, my first trip to the Emergency Room as a patient, and my first real confrontation with the possibility of death. Today I will share the story of what happened and how I m going to be preventing this crazy situation going forward. Ready? Here we go! My Recent Trip to the ER Mounting Stress 1.Multiple speaking engagements 2.Audiobook recording 3.Negotiated a new book contract 4.Collections (potential credit issues) 5.Contract dispute (potential firing or lawsuit) 6.Rough family medical news 7.Mounting financial stress in the business 8.Academy launch 9.Intense exercise 10. Long work days

3 3 11. Higher levels of caffeine 12. Intense seasonal allergy problems (I take shots for) 13. Looming presence of a new book to write May 11, 2017 at 9:25 pm 1.Stress had been mounting for weeks 2.Intense workouts at the gym in the days leading up to the incident 3.Very intense chest workout at 5:30 pm the day of 4.I was eating a big salad with tough ingredients (celery, Swiss chard, cucumbers, etc.) 5.Food got lodged in my esophagus at chest level 6.Felt indigestion and heartburn sensations, assumed the problem was digestive minutes later, felt chest pains 8.1 minute later, it was hard to breathe and I thought I could pass out 9.Walked to the kitchen and paced around near Tessa minutes later she asked if I was okay 11. I told her I had chest pains and couldn t breathe well 12. She immediately jumped to get her keys and drive me to the hospital 13. I climbed into the car, panicked, overheated, felt claustrophobic and decided to go back in the house minute later, Tessa called 911

4 15. Chest pains increased, breathing became more rapid, the pain peaked, and I seriously thought I would pass out or even die 16. In the next 5 minutes, the pain slowly began to subside 17. First Responders arrived, followed closely by an ambulance 18. Heart Rate was around 95 BPM 19. Blood Pressure was 170/130, and then slowly began to improve 20. I felt nervous, and was shaking quite a bit, mostly in response to the situation, not due to the esophagus or chest problem 21. I was given 4 baby aspirin 22. I was asked if I wanted to go to the hospital and I hesitated 23. The First Responders asked Tessa, and she said I should go, and I agreed 24. I rode in the ambulance and slowly began to feel much more normal, just mad at myself and annoyed that I would let this happen 25. In the ambulance, I became stressed about how much money it would cost me to go to the hospital (which reflects the US Healthcare System) 26. I then thought about how I would discuss this incident on my podcast, or in my book 4

5 27. I then thought about taking a selfie 28. We arrived at the hospital around 10:30 pm and I was placed in a room by myself 29. The nurses took my blood pressure, drew blood, gave me an IV drip, performed a chest x-ray, and discussed my health history 30. A nurse asked when the last time I had eaten was. I told her I was eating a salad as the pain began. Another nurse said it should have been a steak hours later, the blood tests and x-rays revealed no problems with my heart and no obvious diagnosis 32. The doctor conjectured that the cause could have been an esophageal spasm, caused by muscle spasms, stress, caffeine, and/or a pain attack. 33. We left the hospital with no medication. The plan was to rest, de-stress, see a cardiologist for a follow-up on potential heart problems, and my general physician. 34. We got home at 1:30 am. 35. After doing my own research I concluded that the cause was a perfect storm of muscle spasms: a.i did not chew my food well enough b.i was eating hard-to-digest veggies and they lodged in my esophagus c. This caused a chain reaction of muscle spasms in my chest 5

6 6 d.my chest muscles over-reacted because I had worked out those muscles harder than ever before just a few hours prior e.my chest muscles squeezed my lungs, making it hard to breathe, which resulted in a full blown panic attack, rapid heart rate, high blood pressure, and the real fear of death. 1 Year Ago 1.A year ago I had worked too hard, had too much on my plate, and I crashed and got sick 2.This year, I wanted to prevent that from happening again, so I reduced my stress, intelligently planned out my schedule, and was making great progress. 3.But, I still had a lot on my plate, and the projects were much bigger in scale (big book contract, big launch of the Academy, recording of my audiobook, etc.) 4.Then, 3 BIG things I could not control popped up, one after the other, after the other. 5.Collections, Contract dispute, rough family medical news. 6.I wasn t prepared to handle these difficult situations amidst everything else that was going on. 7.I am not even sure how I would have handled these

7 7 by themselves, let alone combined with everything else. 8.A perfect storm arose and I was crushed beneath it. 9.I booked a lot on my own plate, and the universe through a whole nother gauntlet of crap into my life without my consent. 10. What could I have done to prevent this? 11. What can I do now to recover from it? 12. How should I live going forward? 13. How do I predict crazy things that are unpredictable? 14. How can I respond with more wisdom, patience, and calm in the face of such adversity? 15. How can I manage my time, activities, emotions, and mindset to handle bigger challenges that are sure to come my way? 16. A 32-year old man who works out every week and eats a healthy vegan diet should not find himself in the ER with chest pains. 17. It s insanity and should not happen again. My New Plan to Let Go Scaling Back 1. Cutting the number of projects I m working

8 8 on at a time 2. Reducing the number of hours I work per day 3. Sleeping more 4. Reducing the intensity of my workouts 5. Striving to respond wisely to challenges instead of reacting emotionally Meditation Daily Practice 10 minutes per day Calm App Deep breaths all day long, not just during meditation practice 10% Happier with Dan Harris Meditation is like a bicep curl for the brain Get distracted, then return to the breathe (or your focal point) Final Thought I don t know the exact cause of the health scare that resulted in my trip to the ER However, I do know that... Reducing my stress is desperately needed Meditation is already working wonders I want to be the kind of guy who can handle tough situations well

9 9 I want to be stronger I want to be more capable I want to be calm, rational, and able to objectively respond in the moment to seemingly unbelievable situations I want to be better, and I believe I m on a path to get there Action Steps: #1 Perform a quick self-evaluation How is your health today? Do you have a plan to improve your health now, and for the foreseeable future? How do you handle stress? What could you do differently today to lower your stress and be more proactive with how you handle difficult situations? #2 Meditate. If you haven t taken it seriously before, I urge you to take it seriously now. Though meditation is one of many strategies you can try to lower stress and improve your health, this is a great one to begin with. Download an app and begin. I recommend the Calm App, Headspace, and 10% Happier.

10 10 [Fade In Music] As always, if you would like to see the complete list of the links I mentioned in this episode, please visit the show notes page at JeffSanders.com/206, as in Episode 206. Finally, on the podcast next week I will be interviewing a music legend from Nashville, Tennessee, Mr. Lionel Cartwright. Lionel and I will be discussing music, careers, his creative process, and a few great productivity strategies. Well, that's it for this episode of The 5 AM Miracle Podcast. Until next time remember, you have the power to change your life, and the fun begins bright and early. [Fade Music Up and Out]