Does Our Built Environment Affect Our Relationships?

by Grant Gamble | March 26, 2021 | Lifestyle, Wellness

Does Our Built Environment Affect Our Relationships?

What Does a Healthy Community Look Like Beyond COVID Blog Post

Grant Ian Gamble is an international business strategy and growth consultant, best-selling mindful leadership author and speaker. He works in a broad array of industries helping companies build teams, navigate change and drive growth. He has over 35 years of experience in the health and wellness sectors.

The “Big Mac” symbolizes the belief that more is better. If one beef patty is good, wouldn’t two beef patties be better?

Similarly, the colloquialism of the “McMansion” suggests that bigger is better when it comes to homes.

It feels as though in modern housing estates with tightly packed McMansions, compromise on the lot size is a given in order to get a bigger house for the money.

This is not just developers trying to maximize their land asset, it is also consumers saying they’d rather get a bigger house and forgo lot size in order to achieve additional square footage.

The modern McMansion has a lot of square footage and a plethora of spaces created by this extra area. Most have 4+ bedrooms, multiple bathrooms, guest rooms, play rooms, man caves, a formal dining room is often the standard, the living area is usually huge and there is often a grand staircase with a large foyer and chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. The basement is almost always capacious, often offering more room for storage of “stuff” as well as being a welcome retreat for teens at times.

This spaciousness has been a blessing on some levels, with many people beginning to work from home during COVID and needing that extra room for an office.

When I first moved to the U.S. from Australia, I was amazed at the magnitude of these large homes, sometimes with just one or two people living in them. Where I had come from, houses were more ranch-style and fairly minimalist. A good friend of mine here in the U.S. was very well heeled and lived in a home of almost 10,000 s.f., by himself. Now this is on the high side of what I’m describing, but he admits he really only used 4 rooms regularly in this home of over 20 extra-large spaces.

As much as this behemoth and other friends’ more modest McMansions of 5,000s.f.+, astounded me, I accepted that this was the upshot of prosperity and that homes in fact symbolized success for many people.

When I came to build my own home here in the U.S., I was lucky enough to find acreage close to town and built a home of about 3,000s.f. on the property. Not extra large, but certainly big for one person. As I was building the home, I met my future wife, we moved into the house, got married and started a family.

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Eventually, we filled out the house with two beautiful children and expanded it a little over time. We added a pool, a basement apartment, and eventually even a guest house on the property. Most recently, I added an art studio for my wife who is an artist, among many other things. By the end, we had well over 5,000 s.f. under roof, with two double garages and lots of deck space.

These additions all seemed logical at the time and we felt we utilized the home pretty well. Most rooms got used, we often had guests, rented the guest house out, and life seemed relatively normal in our home.

That feeling of normalcy completely dissipated in the fall of 2020, when we somewhat spontaneously decided to sell our home, move into an RV and hit the road full-time.

The decision to sell up and travel was primarily driven by COVID and the growing stress we all felt under the stay at home status. Most of all, we felt we needed to break out of the rut in which we collectively found ourselves.

We assumed and confirmed that moving into an RV is much akin to moving into a tiny house.

Even though we bought a 40-foot bus, it tops out at less than 400s.f. When our 2 slides are out (extensions that you can slide out when you’re parked). That meant we needed to sell, store or give away almost everything we had.

We filled the RV’s shelves, drawers and storage compartments with the items we thought we’d need and found that it all fitted with not much space to spare.

We closed on the sale of our house and hit the road with excitement laced with trepidation at this monumental step.

Let me add at this point that our family unit comprises three big dogs, two teens and ourselves. So we crammed 7 relatively large bodies into this small road capsule. Side note, the dog addition to our entourage was not ideal but the new owners of our home probably wouldn’t have appreciated three “stray” dogs floating around their new residence.

We are 5 months into this experiment and in spite of all the inevitable trials and tribulations, we have found ourselves.

As with all things, this will likely not be a permanent state, but

we have grown so much closer and so much more appreciative of each other that it is remarkable.

What is more remarkable is that we felt grateful and appreciative of each other before we embarked on this “voyage” and honestly didn’t expect that to change much, but it did.

In this tiny space, we have inadvertently placed ourselves in full view of each other. There is no hiding or locking ourselves away. When someone is making dinner, or washing the dishes, they are in plain view. When someone is filling the dog bowls or taking out the trash, it is obvious. When someone is struggling with something, it is immediately apparent and we can reach out and offer support.

Our lives have become more transparent to each other and we are learning much and growing furiously in this new exposed state.

When I think about it, we have returned to our familial roots at some basic level.

The circumstances we are living in now are not dissimilar to how our forebears would have lived in a one room hut, teepee, yurt or even a cave. In those days, people truly lived together. Space was limited and being respectful of each other and pitching in was necessary, not an option.

People survived because of community, because of communal living, sharing and giving.

Family members were there for each other in the best and worst of times and people depended upon each other to survive. Communication was naturally effective.

When I say we have found ourselves, I really mean that we are consistently more connected, more in tune, more respectful, more grateful, more transparent and more appreciative than I ever remember us being for an extended period of time.

I have come to believe in recent months that this growing appreciation of each other is because we actually see each other. We see our contributions, we see our stress, we see our struggles, we share our pain, our joy, our love.

When we had a relatively large house, we were much more disconnected, less likely to spend time together, less likely to see dinner being prepared or the trash being taken out.

There is no doubt in my mind that there were times when we were completely unaware of a family member struggling with things and ignorance is not bliss when someone close to you needs help.

So what’s the moral to the story?

This is all anecdotal and only one family’s experience. Life on the road, or in a tiny home, is not for everyone. There are lots of compromises to be made and I am also glossing over the very challenging times we all had in the beginning. There are inevitable concessions to be made when you live life in close quarters.

But I could not be more unequivocal about the inherent benefits this degree of proximity brought to our individual and collective lives.

So I think the moral to the story, in my mind, is that maybe less is more. Sometimes having less stuff can be a good thing.

And maybe even having a smaller home can actually be a benefit to the quality of our lives as individuals and as families.

And when we finally sell the bus and move into a home again, it will likely be much smaller than the one we would have envisaged before embarking on this journey. Because one indelible lesson we have learned on this 8,000-mile journey is that we love being near each other, giving, sharing, encouraging and loving each other on the good days and the bad ones.

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PEOPLE FIRST, ALWAYS.

What Does a Healthy Community Look Like Beyond COVID?

by Grant Gamble | March 22, 2021 | COVID-19, Lifestyle, Wellness

What Does a Healthy Community Look Like Beyond COVID?

When we explore the power of community, nothing brings it into focus more clearly and powerfully than the varied responses to the COVID crisis. Through this lens, the dichotomy of our present reality also comes into stark relief.

As COVID descended squarely on the shoulders of humanity, partisanship and commercial interests were squarely at odds with the need for communities to work in harmony and solidarity to stave off escalating infection and spiraling death rates.

It seemed that where partisanship and conflicting interests generated fractured approaches from within communities, COVID flourished.

One antithetical extreme is the kingdom of Bhutan, a tiny landlocked country in the Himalayas bordered by China and India. Bhutan has only reported one death from COVID and an infection rate of less than 0.01% (compared to over 9% of the population in the U.S.).

In Bhutan, the guiding measurement of the country’s success is “Gross National Happiness”. This metric values economic development backed by environmental conservation and cultural values.

Has this guiding principle contributed to Bhutan’s unparalleled success in countering COVID? I think it’s likely, but I’ll let the scientists, epidemiologists, statisticians and actuaries argue the merit of that conclusion.

What is known is that like the “Donut Economic Model” embraced by Amsterdam to balance its approach to community wellbeing, Bhutan looks to its communities’ wellbeing as a foundation stone.

Bhutan and Amsterdam are not isolated examples of community wellbeing underwriting a societal philosophy. In fact, the whole Scandanavian peninsula has long been recognized as a maven for valuing community wellbeing.

In a Greater Good interview, economist Baron Richard Layard, of the London School of Economics, reflected on the high marks the Scandanavian countries uniformly scored every year in the World Happiness Report:

“You don’t have to turn your back on economics, but it’s not the be-all end-all. Human relationships are extremely important and need to be given a great deal of attention—we shouldn’t sacrifice them in the name of economic efficiency.”

Regardless of its causal effect on COVID, Bhutan’s goal of “Gross National Happiness” and the Scandinavian commitment to community wellbeing are admirable.

They certainly inspired me to think beyond some of the constructs I’ve created for myself in my 35-year career in wellness.

My work in the wellness arena began in the heyday of the fitness industry where flop socks and lycra was all the rage. Over time, my enthusiasm for fitness morphed into a deep appreciation for the more holistic benefits of wellness.

As I explored the boundaries of wellness, I had the opportunity to create large integrated wellness campuses with the goal of blurring the lines between healthcare and wellness.

These centers were focused on attracting the “Interested Deconditioned” segment of the market to movement, and building community from within their shared experience. The “Interested Deconditioned” segment represents almost two thirds of the population who know they need to move more to be healthy, but haven’t yet found a solution they’ve been able to sustain.

THE DONUT ECONOMICS MODEL

Source: Kate Raworth

Over the course of this journey, I have seen community wellness blossom when a small group of like minded individuals, seeking to change lives for the better, join forces and share their passion.

I’d often postulate that the right wellness team could change lives in a warehouse and that the trappings were secondary to the people driving the change.

Having said that, the surroundings can certainly complement the outcome and I had the privilege of heading up the development of a beautifully appointed wellness center in Charlottesville, VA where we amassed an incredible track record for “changing lives” and penetrated deep into the fabric of that community.

Through programs ranging from regional Physician Referred Exercise Programs (P.R.E.P.), all the way down to basic balance classes for seniors, this team of wellness advocates significantly influenced the wellness of an entire community, achieving the highest community penetration rates of a wellness center in the country at the time.

The performance of this team, the diversity of programming and our ability to create partnerships with and complement the efforts of local healthcare providers fostered confidence in the medical community that generated momentum rarely seen in these types of initiatives.

Like the Bhutan principle or the “Donut Economic” premise, the community wide appeal of the programming we were able to create underwrote the economic prosperity of these centers and allowed us to maintain alignment with the goal of changing lives.

This initial groundbreaking success underwrote future campuses up and down the Atlantic Coast. As we refined and expanded the model, I was realizing that these wellness centers could and should be at the heart of a community.

At that point, projects had ranged from kids campuses to senior centric havens, but often these elements remained separate and distinct.

When I was able to blend the generations together on one campus, the upshot was magic.

Kids were inspired by their elders and the seniors were rejuvenated by the energy of youth. I share a couple of anecdotes in my book, “The Affinity Principle™”, but the stories were endless.

This started a personal journey of discovery for me.

I began exploring lifestyle resorts, intentional communities, destination wellness, and wellness real estate developments. There were a lot of moves afoot to increase access to wellness lifestyle and some wonderful outcomes were emanating from these initiatives.

In my research, I was drawn to Dan Buettner’s work for National Geographic in the Blue Zones study. Dan’s work looked at communities across the globe that enjoyed the longest lifespans and highest quality of life.

At the heart of this study was the unequivocal finding that “community” was the number one factor in influencing the health and longevity of the members of that community.

As my understanding of community and its impact on wellbeing continued to expand, I began integrating more of these learnings into the wellness models I created. If community underpinned longevity and wellbeing, it had to be hardwired into any model I promoted in the future.

Reinforcing this conclusion and underpinning my belief that the Bhutan COVID aberration was more related to their community model than may ever be acknowledged, a new study suggests that one of the most important community resources for fighting COVID is social capital: the network of relationships within a community.

According to the study, across over 2,700 counties in the U.S. where people trust each other more, feel more connected, and care for each other more, there are far lower infection rates and fewer deaths from COVID.

The study’s authors found that counties in the top 25% of social capital had nearly 18% fewer cases of COVID-19 and 5.3% fewer deaths from COVID-19 per 100,000 people than those in the bottom 25%.

These findings validated my belief that social capital, community centricity, trust, communications and connections underpin wellness.

They were also accentuating my understanding that putting people first has an immeasurable benefit.

Where most Western Nations measure success through the lens of GDP (Gross Domestic Product), or CPI (Consumer Price Index), Bhutan measures its performance in “happiness.” Where the instant gratification of consumerism was underwriting economic

growth in many parts of the world, Amsterdam was seeking to create inclusive and sustainable economic development while creating a safe and just space for its community members.

This truly resonates with me.

I had always managed companies with a “People First” mindset, arguing that the money was a by product.

This premise was founded on first hand experiences birthing startups and rebirthing companies that were struggling. When I approached the business from a people-centric perspective, I was able to grow trust, communication, function and performance.

This premise is the basis of my book I mentioned earlier, “The Affinity Principle,” which presents a formula for business success through a people-centric, mindful leadership approach (sounds like the Bhutan philosophy when I reflect back).

In simpler terms, I distilled The Affinity Principle into a formulaic basis for long-term sustainable business success:

Mindful leadership creates an incredible team performance, which leads to an awesome customer experience and that yields great financial results.

If a tiny nation state such as Bhutan can build a sustainable economy around happiness, and an economic and tech goliath such as Amsterdam can balance its economic prosperity with mindful planetary and social boundaries, what could we achieve in our own back yard?

Could we develop a village concept that is centered around wellness and sustainability and yet underwritten by economic prosperity? A place where people come first and prosperity follows, literally and figuratively? Where longevity is intrinsically connected to quality of life? Where human relationships are the thread that binds the community together and allows it to function and prosper?

This may all seem a little idealistic, but innumerable pockets of inspiration are blossoming across the globe. As COVID’s grip loosens, I believe our need for community, to feel more connected and care for each other, will continue to rise in its aftermath.

Ultimately, if wellbeing is intrinsically linked to community, it just makes sense to plant these seeds in our own backyard. There is indelible proof of the benefits, innumerable examples of the ways and means to achieve this objective, and unparalleled momentum to underwrite such an initiative. What are we waiting for?

CITATIONS:

1 Haug, N., Geyrhofer, L., Londei, A. et al. Ranking the effectiveness of worldwide COVID-19 government interventions. Nat Hum Behav 4, 1303–1312 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-01009-0