Season 1 Chapter 18 -Q4 Process- The Work On Our Health
8 Dec 2025 · 17 min
Dr. Eric Janowitz and Jenny explore the difference between working in your health, like exercising, and working on it, like planning and preparing. They discuss how to build capacity through delegation and high-capacity people, and why consistency and early momentum matter more than waiting for perfect conditions.
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Welcome to the Synergy Life Podcast. Our purpose is to help multiply the positive experiences of your life in all areas. Dr. Janowitz, best selling author of the Synergy Health Solution, is the creator of the Synergy Success Cycle, a framework that helps uncover what makes top achievers successful in areas of their life. We interview amazing people who are excelling in light and help our listeners gain valuable insights so they can apply them to achieve their best life possible.
Chapter 18, Q4 Process the work on your health. The work on our health is a part of our journey in this life. Dr. Janowitz walks us through how to make the most of it. Dr. Janowitz, tell us what the difference is between the work on your life versus the work in your life.
Yeah, you know, it's a great distinction. I got this distinction from the book the E Myth from Michael Gerber. And he talks about working in your business and working on your business. And a lot of people tend to work in their business. You're doing your day to day all the activities that make that company work and then the work on your businesses, the planning and all the strategic work that goes in behind that. Well, if we think about our health as like a business or a corporation or an organization, we have to have elements to where we're working, not only in our health, working on the activities, the things that we think about doing healthy activities are the work kind of in your health, but the work on your health is all the planning and preparation that goes to help to create that, to make it a possibility to carve out that time for it. So that's really working on your health. And most people fail because they don't work on their health. They don't really plan for success. So of course then it's impossible to really have good action steps and work in your health.
Okay, you talk about the journey of learning.
Yes.
Which is all a part of working on your health.
Absolutely.
How does this help us to create that health plan to work on our health?
Well, again, you know, so much of this is the psychology, Jenny. So it's the mindset. So whereas we talked about, in the last series, we talked about the sigmoid curve, which is where when you decide to do something, you're going to have an initial dip down. Well, another way of looking at this is called the journey of learning. And so the first stage, whenever you're entering anything like say, okay, I want to start cooking healthy. Right. Is that you really become, when you enter it, you're unconsciously incompetent, which means that you're unaware that you're really bad at it, you know, and so you get this kind of like, oh, my God, I didn't know I was bad at this. And that's when you enter this. And you know, then you see just how maybe hard this is to do. Whatever it is, cooking, running a marathon, deciding to lose, you know, 30, 40 pounds, you become, you know, you didn't even know maybe you had it.
So this journey is that dip.
That's the dip.
This is where we go through the break.
It's like entering it. But then what happens is that first dip in it is then the second step. The second step is you become consciously incompetent. So now you become aware that you're not good at it. So the first thing is you're like thinking about, hey, I'm going to do this. When I'm hiring doctors, I tell them that it's not what you don't know, it's what you don't even know that you don't even know that you don't know.
You're unaware that you're unaware, right? You have no awareness of.
You don't know what you don't know.
You don't know what you don't know. That's called being unconsciously incompetent. It's a fancy word for saying that. But then when you start to go on that journey, you start to go, wow, I really stink at this. That really stink at that. That's that dip down. And that's when you become consciously. You become aware that you're not good at this and you're incompetent. Then that's where you decide to then go on the effort to take the next step to do the work, to put the time in, the energy, the resources to get good at whatever it is that you're doing. In this case, looking at health activities. That's when then you become. Through that process, you can become consciously competent, which is where you are aware and you're good at it. And most people think that that's like the summit, like, hey, I'm thinking about it and I'm good at it, right? Well, that's not really the high point of that, is when you become a person who is unconsciously competent, which is now you don't have to think about it. You know, the same people say it's like riding a bike. Well, it's like riding a bike means that at first, when you rode a bike, it was really hard. First you thought, oh, bikes are easy, you know, well, then that's you're unconsciously incompetent. Then you get on a bike and go, wow, I'm struggling here. Then you get good at it and now you're thinking about it and you have to put concentration to it as a kid. And now you can just get on a bike later on and you can get on it. You are now unconsciously competent of this thing. You can just do it. Well, that is one of the high points in this thing. An even higher level, we don't go into this in the book. And even higher levels, when you can become a teacher now you have to be able to a way to teach people what you're good at that you don't even have to think about. It's like, you know, getting a cook. You know, someone who can be like a master chef can just start to like make the food and they know how to do it without even following a recipe.
I am not there yet either, am I? A few things, right?
But then a true master is someone who can teach you a skill set that they have learned that they are so masterful at, but now they could also break it down again. So how do you like, dissect that? Right? And so that's where the stages of learning and they're painful. And you know, a lot of times people will dip down and go, hey, this is not what I want to do. I mean, I remember I wanted to learn how to play guitar and I started playing and I'm like, I am not good at this. And then I had to make the decision, do I want to focus on the pain of learning this or not? And I decided, you know, I like listening to guitar and not playing guitar. So I put it pulled out of that game. But there's certainly going to be elements in your health where you need to stay in and stay in that game and have those leaders and those accountability partners in all those areas. That's why the people equation is first in this mix here, in this discussion, and then going in there to go through that process. So in kind of summarying this whole thing is one, you have to realize that it is a process and not hold judgment to it and then go through the steps through that and put the work in and you'll get the rewards.
Is this where creating capacity and planning comes into place?
Sure. Well, I mean, you have to understand that it is a process and then you have to plan for that process. And you know, when you look at people, I love this term of like high capacity people. Well, you know, high Capacity people have the same amount of time in a day. You know, they say if you want to get something done right quickly, you ask a busy person.
Yes, right.
Like someone who helps me with this production. His name is Kellen and he does a great job because he's a busy guy, but he could just get it done. And so when you're around high capacity people, because they've learned how to get their processes down, they plan properly. So when you see a person who is a high capacity person and creates capacity in their life, they have a team, they've developed that they know their why and they're able to execute things at a rapid fire rate and produce a high result and create that capacity, right?
Absolutely. Okay, so this is a very popular question and you just talked about time management and busy people being able to get things done. Do you think that it's really possible to have a work life balance?
Yeah. You know, it's so funny you say that because there's so much talk today about work life balance. And so really the millennials really like that. I mean, people are looking for jobs where I can have this work life balance. And you hear that so much today.
And I want to invite people to see a different way of looking at this. So it's not what they're saying is wrong, but this different approach. So when they're looking at it, they're not looking at work life balance. From a synergistic model, synergy is about how do you multiply things to get a greater result. And so most people think like, if I'm working, then my life is suffering. So if I add work, I subtract the quality of my personal life. And so they're looking at in terms of addition and subtraction, which is not a synergy model. Synergy model is about multiplication. So instead of thinking about work life and going, well, if the office demands me of these things or my work demands me of these things, then I miss out on this, which is like fear of missing out, Right. Or not having this balance. Well, instead of looking at that way, what if my work was part of my passion? What if my work was part of what I loved? What if work was a reflection and expression of my values and my preferences and things that I did? So I don't know how many hours a day that I work. I'm sure it's well over 40, but it doesn't feel like work because it's what I love to do. And so I love my work and I love my time off of work. And I feel like the better and more effective that I am at work, the better and more effective I am at being a great parent, at being a great spouse, at being a great friend. So I believe that work life balance is a myth, and it's a misconception. It's really about how can I have a great work, a great life, go at them both very hard and very effective at a very high level, have a very high standard for them, and that if I can create a great work life, I can create a great personal life too, you know? And I believe when you work hard that you will get success in areas, even in financial areas, which can then afford me to have those great vacations, afford me to do the things that I want to do with my family. So I don't think about this takes away from this. I say this multiplies this. And so I don't know if work life balance would be the word that I would look at. I would look at work life synergy would be the way I would look at it.
I like that. Yeah. Now.
How would you explain to someone how to simplify the process of time management and planning? Because in order to achieve all of the above that you just mentioned, it does require planning, as we discussed.
Absolutely, of course.
Wise time management.
Of course. So again, we talked about it that everybody's got the same time, right? And so if you look back at the other chapters in this book or this series that we share on the video and on the podcast, they talk about Pareto's principle, which is the 8020 rule. And so we talk about that. 20% of your activities typically produce 80% of your results. And so when you're planning, you're really starting to go again, going back to the synergy success cycle. I mean, it's paramount and core to this whole process is what is it that I want, where my strengths lie, what am I good at? And then using that time management to do the things that you're really good at that are aligned with what it is that you want. And to get these things done. I mean, I always said, I don't cut the lawn, I cut the check. Because I'd rather spend those four hours on a Saturday with my family creating a relationship that because I worked hard, I did what I loved, it created enough margin to where I can then provide that to a person who does that for their work and give the lawn portion of it to someone who actually enjoys that and is passionate about that, will take great care of my lawn so that I can have A great relationship with my kids. I laugh because I met another high capacity person that I learned something interesting even last night. He goes, I hate pumping gas. He goes, I just think it's such a waste of my time to sit there and pump gas. And I never thought about that.
And I never really needs to move to New Jersey.
So I'm telling you. He goes, I love it because with COVID I'm not pumping gas. But he had other people pump gas for him and I thought, well, that's silly, but for him it works. He said, I have a better use of my time than I can do this with. So time management is really about prioritizing what's important for me, what am I best at doing, and then leveraging those people to do that. Right. And so that's the key. Like I can come up with my workouts and I can research them and do all this, which would take a lot of time. Or I hire the best personal trainer that gives me the accountability, puts me on a calendar so it schedules me because if it's not scheduled, it's not real. And that's a big part about planning.
But.
But then he also is going to shorten my time because he just is going to tell me what to do and he thought through the process and he's passionate about it and I can just go unconscious and just. I trust him, I trust my leaders and then just do what they've told me to do and then I get the results.
Right, Right. Very smart. I love it.
Now, you talk about how starting an activity is really often the hardest part. It's harder than actually doing the activity.
Yes.
Like you mentioned working out. I think that's the most popular example of this. It's the hardest part is getting into the gym and getting a system going.
That's right.
And the workout is the easy part.
That's right. I mean, so you know a lot of things. You know, you have like potential energy and kinetic energy. Right. It's like an object in motion, stays emotional if otherwise. Otherwise stopped. And the same thing occurs is that your life will stay stuck in this area until you put that energy towards that for it to make change. So moving that boulder, getting it moving first is the hardest part. It requires the most amount of energy. And so in my chiropractic practice, we combine and stack things. So we combine chiropractic, we combine physical therapy, home care exercises and office rehab exercises. Then we have advanced procedures like laser acoustical wave therapy, spinal decompression therapy, manual therapy. So you have all these things. And I tell a patient, you know, they're like, well, should I start that at the beginning or can I add that later on? And I'm like, well, of course you can add that procedure later on. The problem you have is that if you can do it at the beginning, you're going to get a lot more momentum and move that flywheel. There's a flywheel concept they talk about. And From Good to Great. It's another awesome business book you can apply towards your health. But if you can put that extra energy at the beginning of things, that is what's required to get that momentum, then it's much, much easier. So a lot of people tend to give up because they're not. Either have the resources or they're not resourceful, or they don't have that confidence level in that activity, or they're not clear on their vision. Again, the Synergy Success cycle can show you those gaps. To know that that momentum is going to be there or that momentum is necessary to get there.
Right.
Yeah.
Okay, so now we got over the hump of starting, we have some momentum going.
Yes.
How important is consistency and why is that harder for today's generation?
Yes. You know, it's amazing. I mean, think about it. With your cell phone, you can get such immediate results. I mean, the thing that fascinated me when I was going to school, I was in psychology as my first bachelor's degree. And they talked about these studies where they said, hey, kids, you can get like one Snickers bar if you right now, or if you wait for three days, you can get five Snickers bars. You know, it was like this, like, delayed gratification.
That's my favorite chocolate bar. I think I would wait.
Mine too. Mine too. But most people will go for the here and now and the immediacy. And so.
Because technology has advanced so much and we can get results at our fingertips, I mean, you can think about, you can think about. A concept can come in your mind. I want this product. You can literally, at a stoplight, go on Amazon, I'm guilty. Buy it, and it can be on your doorstep that day or the next day.
It's an insta world we live in.
It is, and it's a wonderful thing. And God bless the logistical enhancements that companies have made. But what that's created is a brain that can't tolerate the long haul of things. And so our generations now are so used to things happening so quick that they're not willing to put the time, the energy and the effort and the brain isn't trained to be able to endure that. And so when you're making a shift in your health, if you've had a health challenge that you've maybe let go, maybe you didn't have a good healthcare team and you were on a sick care team and you didn't have a good standard, you didn't have people to support you and you had a lot of stress or different things happen in your life or trauma occurred, it's going to take work and it's going to take time and you're going to have to go through that sigmoid curve or that learning curve that we talk about. So all that's really to get the mindset ready to know it's going to be a process. But that process is going to require consistency. And, you know, the greatest, most successful people that I've seen in business and in life are not the ones that think about today and not even the ones that think about the next week. They think about the quarter, they think about the year, they think about decades, they think about generational health, generational wealth, generational legacy. And so the only way you can do that is to be consistent. But you got to tie into your purpose. You got to have the people that support you, you got to know what you're good at, you have to have those accountability partners and all those are the steps to create consistency and then to have long standing results in your health and in your life.
Excellent. That's a lot of food for thought.
Yes. Thank you, doctor.
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