Even a Near-Perfect Machine Requires Maintenance

I stumbled upon this edict from the late Dr. Albert Szent-Györgyi and it landed with a profound impact: “More than sixty years of research on living systems has convinced me that our body is much more nearly perfect than the endless list of ailments suggests and its shortcomings are due less to its inborn imperfections than to our abusing it.” This perspective resonated with me so loudly, in fact, I pondered it for days.

Reading into the Nobel Laurette’s assertion, I surmise that generally speaking, the human body does not require major adjustments but instead, like any machine, can and will benefit from a steady dose of maintenance. Maintenance that is specific and targeted toward areas in need of support and practiced with persistent diligence and not just administered when the need arises as a hopeful antidote to achieve wellness. (The latter being a faulty premise that all too often results in the axiom “too little, too late.”)

Maintenance is synonymous with support and support is a function we know and care much about at Trellis. So much so, it forms the foundation of our company vision statement: “To provide the necessary support and structure for true, meaningful, and sustained positive change for individuals, …”

Ideally, this support is in the form of science-based techniques, psychometric tools and assessments, coaching, and teaching with the intent of providing maintenance to the human being, or, in Dr. Szent-Györgyi’s words, the “…nearly perfect body.” Maintenance should enhance performance through improved system coherence, resilience, and overall well-being.

The very best maintenance package addresses the entire Brain-Mind-Body System™ (BMBS™) and can deliver a number of varied benefits including but not limited to improved sleep, increased willpower, sharpened memory, more effective choice/decision making, fitter critical thinking, more constructive relationships at home/work, and more efficient communication skills. This type of support system can also bolster leadership capacity, increase personal effectiveness, provide direction toward finding purpose, amplify anger management and conflict resolution skills, and introduce and augment health-sustaining habits (food selection, exercise/movement, gut biome restoration and maintenance etc.)

Using a vehicle metaphor, if BMW is the ultimate driving machine (their contention not mine) your goal should be to find and use the approaches and techniques to make each of you the ultimate living machine. After all, why settle on being a Yugo when one can become a Rolls Royce? If so, their drive on the highway called life will be so much more pleasurable and sustainable.

- George