Upcoming Event: Kansas City Southwest Clinical Society Annual Conference
I’ve got some exciting news!
This fall I’ll be speaking at the Kansas City Southwest Clinical Society‘s (KCSWCS) 96th Annual Fall Clinical Conference. Over the course of two days the conference gathers over 500 providers to hear local, regional and national experts, in both plenary sessions and symposiums, review basic concepts and emphasize recent advances in medicine, guideline implementation and disease management.
The KCSWCS has been helping medical professional for some time, since 1923 in fact, and is one of the oldest postgraduate medical education organizations west of the Mississippi (possibly the oldest). They are completely independent with no affiliation with any area medical schools or hospitals, and their activities are devoted entirely to continuing medical education (CME).
I’m extremely honored to be among the 40+ experts in the field, and to be one of the two key-note speakers who will present during this conference. I’m excited to share my experience not only as a cancer survivor, but also a healthcare professional (16+ years as an Army Medical Service Corps Officer) and a communications expert.
You can learn more by clicking here. Of course, KCSWCS does these kind of conferences all the time, if you want to reach out, you can contact Ruth Smerchek directly (Ruth@kcswcs.org).
For you medical professionals out there, these conferences give CME credit for the American Medical Association (AMA), the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and the American Board of Internal Medicine’s (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program.
Hope to see you there,
Greg
Continuing Medical Education and Patient-Centered Healthcare Communication
I’ve spent a lot of time in hospitals.
For most of my time in the military (16 years, in fact) I was an Army Medical Service Corps Officer, and I dealt with nearly every aspect of providing healthcare in locations far and wide.
After a full career I retired from the military, was busy doing other things and then one day…BOOM, I was diagnosed with stage III throat cancer.
Now I was spending a lot of time in hospitals but for an entirely different reason. The world that I thought I knew so well was turned completely upside-down when I became the patient.
Beating cancer was the hardest things I’ve ever done. Period. But I learned a few things along the way, and the perspective I gained has put me in a unique position to help both healthcare professionals and patients alike.
Patient-Centered Healthcare Communication
I have long been an advocate of continuing education and I LOVE that the medical community has formalized this concept into Continuing Medical Education (CME). It’s a way that medical professionals stay on top of their game, and I, like most in the medical field, had an requisite number of credits to fulfill each year.
Patient-Centered Healthcare Communication is my teaching program for medical professionals, and I designed it specifically to work in the CME framework.
What exactly is it? It’s sharing what I’ve learned from being both a medical professional and a cancer patient. It’s looking at the way communication flows, not only between doctor and patient, but within the entire staff. It’s about understanding the patient’s experience from start to finish, who they interact with along the way, and ultimately, how to deliver them the best care. Its also about how to deliver the most devastating news a patient might ever hear.
After a diagnoses that few survive, I’m incredibly fortunate to be here. I had a stellar medical team who helped me through a terribly difficult time. Sharing my story is just one of the ways I show them my gratitude.
This is not your standard CME. This is my life, and this is my passion.
I’m ready. Are you?
CLICK HERE TO SCHEDULE YOUR CME
See you soon,
Greg
Three Points of Contact and 113 Resilience Tips for Teens
I have to admit, I have some amazing fans.
Some of you are military, some of you are health care providers, some are athletes or marathon runners, and others know me because of my experience battleing cancer.
Of all these amazing people though, one group of you is very near and dear to me. I’m talking about teens. I am extremely proud that my book Three Points of Contact is consistently at the top of the Amazon Best Sellers list for teens. Let me explain why:
You all know I’m a resiliency coach and I specialize in dealing with adversity. What qualifies me to do this you ask? Well, dealing lots of adversity, starting from when I was a teenager.
I was raised by a single mom and times were tough. In high school I was working three jobs and missed graduating by 1 point. For a time I was homeless, and I literally slept on the Air Force recruiters doorstep so that I could enlist in the military.
Like anything, practice makes perfect, and I’ve had a lot of practice with adversity. It’s through years of dealing with adversity that I developed the pillars of Optimism, Visualization and Action that have become the Three Points of Contact.
We cannot control the adversity that comes our way in life, but we can control how we deal with it. These are things I wish I knew as a teen.
Actually, there are many things I wish I had known back then. I’ve got 113 of them in my book, so I’ll be posting more of them here, with a focus on some of my favorite fans: teens.
So stay tuned for that, and until then, live everyday with enthusiasm.
Cheers,
Greg
The 5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins Changed my LIFE!
Back in June of 2011 I had been cancer-free for one year. Coming back from stage III throat cancer was not easy, but as I sat in the University of Kansas Cancer Center waiting for my one-year follow-up, I had this nagging question that I couldn’t shake. The questions was “is this all that is left for me?” waiting with bated breath every year for a positive follow-up, to hear that “Things are fine Greg”.
I didn’t like that idea, but I didn’t know what to do about it. That’s when I saw this TEDx video from Mel Robbins:
Something happened when I watched that video in the waiting room at the Cancer Center. Mel introduced her “5 Second Rule” and it motivated me to make a change right then and there. I applied for a job in Germany while still sitting there before my appointment. It was Wednesday, June 15th 2011 at 2:30pm in the afternoon.
I got the job, and moved to Germany for five years. To say that single decision changed the course of my life is the understatement of the century. But it didn’t stop there. I decided to run more, and now have run 11 marathons. I decided to write a book, now it’s sold over 100,000 copies and is being used in universities and cancer centers around the world.
I can’t even imagine who I’d be or where I would be if I had stuck around in Kansas City waiting for that next positive check. Waiting for life to happen.
Of course, I’m not the only one. Over 8.4 million people have watched Mel’s video and her 5 Second Rule has been helping all kinds of people take control and change their lives. It’s been so successful that she made The 5 Second Rule into a book that just came out Feb 28th.
The basic premise is this: We all have things we want to do, or know we should do, yet we don’t do them. We hesitate, we wait, and we kill our progress with doubt, excuses, worry or fear. It could be anything from getting up early and going for a run, or voicing a new idea at work.
The point is this, when you feel that hesitation, start counting down from 5 to 1. When you get to zero, you act. You act before you brain has time to doubt, to fear, worry and to kill the idea. Now you have the law of inertia on your side (an object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion).
Why does this work? I certainly can’t explain it better than Mel herself:
Whenever you feel an instinct fire up to act on a goal or a commitment, or the moment you feel yourself hesitate on doing something and you know you should do, you should use the Rule.
I’m really impressed with this book because she clearly maps out how to use this tool to:
– Become confident
– Break the habit of procrastination and self-doubt
– Beat fear and uncertainty
– Stop worrying and feel happier
– Share your ideas with courage
It is IMPOSSIBLE read this book without becoming motivated to attack all those things you want to get done. If it doesn’t motivate you, you’d better check your pulse! Mel knows that there is greatness in all of us, and it’s on the other side of our excuses.
So many great success stories in this book (including one about me, Thanks Mel!), but I’ll close with two quotes from Mel that really stuck me:
“The difference between people who make their dreams come true and those of us who don’t is just one thing: the courage to start and the discipline to keep going.”
There it is. 5 Seconds. Courage. Discipline. That’s all you need to succeed. So when to start?
“There is no right time. There is only right now. You get one life. This is it.”
Now get out there and make a change. Start with this book.
Cheers,
~Greg
The Power of Community College (my next book)
Last week I was at the CONCACAF Champions League game between Sporting Kansas City and Vancouver Whitecaps. Really beautiful stadium at Children’s Mercy Park, and I always love supporting my Kansas City teams.
Midway through the game there was a weather delay, and I had a few minutes to record this video (on Facebook live) and I talk about lots of exciting news and interviews I have coming up.
My next video is with Oumar Ballo, a defender for the Swope Park Rangers in the United Soccer League. We talk about lots of great things, and community college is of course one of them.
Check out the video below to see what’s coming!
Cheers,
Greg
Shout Out in the NCO Journal
As many of you know, I started my days in the military many years ago as a humble Airman in the Air Force, and overtime, worked my way up to being (slightly-less) humble NCO (non-commissioned officer).
I routinely speak at NCO Academies around the world and I’m honored anytime I get to stand up in front of these young men and women. They are doing amazing work and are at pivotal moments in their careers and lives. Being able to share some of my life-lessons with them is incredibly rewarding for me.
I can’t make it to every NCO Academy though, and certainly can’t talk with every NCO out there. Or so I thought.
This week the NCO Journal honored me by featuring my story on their homepage. This really means a lot to me, and I hope a few more NCOs out there can hear my message, no matter where they are in their careers. You can check it out here.
For those of you who are not familiar with it, the NCO Journal is the official magazine for non-commissioned officer professional development. It is published at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy at Fort Bliss, Texas, and I had to pleasure of working with Pablo Villa throughout the process of writing this story.
So I’m sending a special thanks to the NCO Journal and to all the NCOs and Petty Officers out there. Thank you for your service, you are the backbone of our military.
Keep charging and Auf Geht’s!
Cheers,
Greg
A special thanks to the University of Kansas Hospital
At my last routine check up at the University of Kansas Hospital I took a few minutes to answer some questions about KU and some of the themes from my book.
I can’t say enough good things about the KU team, their work has been exceptional and they have truly become another family to me.
Special thanks to the KU Broadcast Studio for putting together such a great video!
Check out the video, and hope you enjoy!
~Greg
The Power of Silence & US Speaking Tour Wrap Up
Just got back from a number of speaking engagements across the US, which included the NYC Marathon Expo, the United States Military Academy at West Point, and the NCO Basic Leadership Course at Fort Carson, to name a few.
I was approached by an amazing lady after I spoke at the New York City Marathon and she told me my book, “Three Points of Contact has saved her life” she asked if I would tell some short stories on some background information I presented in my book. This is the first short video and I will try to keep these around two minutes. This first video is from the chapter on Visualization and the Power of Stillness and Silence. This can be found in my book on pages 70-77.
Enjoy!
~Greg
Master Resiliency Training and Armed Forces Network
A couple of weeks ago I had the honor of being interviewed on AFN (Armed Forces Network) here in Stuttgart, Germany. It was a great opportunity to talk about my experience with cancer and how Master Resiliency Training prepared me for the rough patches along the way.
Check out the video below, and let me know what you think!
A special thanks to SSG Jelle, SGT Calhoun, Douglas Smith, Stefanie Pidgeon and the rest of the AFN Stuttgart team for making this happen and for putting together such a great video.
Cheers,
~Greg
Change You Life with Silence NOW!
Just finished my two-week speaking tour across the US! I had the opportunity and privilege to meet so many people amazing people along the way. Check out the video below to hear more about it, (shot while on the Seattle Great Wheel).
Enjoy!
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