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by Donald B. Ardell, Ph. D.
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Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)

How To Win Friends and Influence People -- to Live Wellness Lifestyles (Encore)

Wednesday April 23, 2003

One of my favorite living characters is Harry Browne. Browne is an eloquent advocate for individual liberty. We need such advocates, given the government's responses to threats of terrorism, the drug war and much else. In pursuing his lifelong mission, Browne manages to champion all manner of wellness-supportive values. Like myself, he believes that the insane war on drugs is a threat to our freedoms and a breeder of crime, as well as unsafe drugs, police corruption, oppressive law enforcement and other safeguards based upon the Bill of Rights. Browne is also a leader in such diverse areas as education, financial planning, health care, taxes, privacy, relationships, the environment and, last but not least, wellness mindsets. He is the author of my all-time favorite wellness book, a 1973 work that provided a basis for much of what I discovered about self-responsibility, the foundation of a wellness lifestyle, when writing my own first book High Level Wellness. I refer to Browne's landmark work entitled How I Found Freedom In An Unfree World.

If you believe that self-management is a good idea and want to be an effective model for such a healthy and satisfying, exciting lifestyle, consider these Harry Browne-inspired principles of persuasion.

Promote wellness by appealing to the self-interest of others. Avoid preaching or expecting quick adoption of your ideas about healthful attitudes and behaviors.
Steer clear of arguments or debates. There are countless diets, exercise forms, alternative medicine modalities and other possible approaches to wellness. Let people find what forms work best for them. Concentrate on guidance via references, resources and basically inspiring others. They can see easily enough the salutary effects such a lifestyle bestows upon your life.
Listen when people tell you of their wants and needs. Explain the connections between wellness skill areas and their ability to connect with desired wants and needs.
If possible, identify with the social goals others seek -- better health status for the poor, a cleaner environment, a free society with harmony amongst diverse populations -- and suggest that entitlements and other government intrusions might be less effective than better incentives for personal responsibility for the realization of such goals.
Be compassionate and respectful of the beliefs and needs that might have led some folks to smoking, alcohol abuse, obesity or whatever. You don't have to approve of their habits or cultures -- but if you don't acknowledge their needs, you are less likely to be able to help them find a better way to solve their problems.
No matter what the issue, focus on the central point: how much better off the individual will be in taking responsibility for his/her own health and life.
Acknowledge your good fortune in having been born in a relatively free and quite prosperous nation and otherwise raised in circumstances at the higher reaches of Maslow's hierarchy. Any plan for improvement would be aided by recognition of the good things we already have.
Focus on the ways this and other countries could be so much better with a wellness-based culture, with a great deal less dwelling upon all the wrongs that exist today.
Cleanse yourself of hate, resentment and bitterness. Such things steal time and attention from the work that must be done. Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.
Speak, dress, and act in a respectable manner. You may be the first wellness advocate someone has encountered, and it's important that he get a good first impression. No one will hear the message if the messenger is unattractive.
Remind yourself that someone's "stupid" opinion may be an opinion you once held. If you can grow, why can't someone else do likewise?
Don't raise your voice in any discussion. In a shouting match, no one wins, no one changes his mind, and no one will be inspired to join your quest for a wellness-oriented society.
Never resort to the tactics of televangelists and politicians. They use character assassination, evasions and intimidation because they have no real benefits to offer most people. As a wellness promoter, on the other hand, you are offering information people can use to set themselves free.
Resolve to be civil to those who disagree with you and treat everyone with respect. However anyone chooses to treat you, it's important that you model behavior for friend and foe alike.

These fourteen principles are my own extensive adaptations from a similar set of principles Harry Browne devised when he ran for president in 2000. In its original form, it was titled "A Libertarian's New Year's Resolutions." (Source: Liberator Online, Vol. 5, No. 1.)

I recommend the works and speeches of Harry Browne. He is an inspiration for all who want to protect our freedoms, not take them for granted -- and his principles can be warped a bit to promote healthy lifestyles, as I hope I have demonstrated.

Be well and, whatever your political and lifestyle orientations, try to look on the bright side.

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