It is that time of year—again—when we look back to assess the previous 12 months and to project what will be in store for us over the next 12 months. I love January because it demands a conscious choice: do we hit the restart button or just hit the “keep it rolling” button?

This past year FIT impacted many lives. Thousands of people shared how the Backsafe® stretches and lifting techniques changed the way they felt. This is particularly rewarding to us, as we estimate that thousands of people learned how to avoid painful back or shoulder injuries—resulting in many of these employees being able to stay away from addictive opioid medications.

26 years ago in developing this Injury Prevention methodology, we noticed that many people went to work, came home, went to work, came home, not completely aware that their well-being could be more under their control. Many aches and pains were being incorrectly assigned to “getting old”.

Our general physical well-being is the sum, the net, the bottom line result of various decisions that we make. What happens in our Backsafe workshops is a subtle, yet powerful shift of a viewpoint. We find that people become aware that they have a say in how they feel—physically. They come to realize that they can “do something about it”; “it” being their physical well-being…being in pain or not in pain.

Back injuries just don’t occur because we are unlucky. Back injuries, shoulder injuries, computer related aches and pains happen because we were never taught the simple rules and techniques that prevent injuries and discomfort. There is a wonderful change in people when they discover the causes of life-altering discomfort and can immediately act to correct it.

I write this in January, because I too need to remember: It isn’t easy all the time, but I know my body feels terrible if I just let it “roll” from one day to the next without being really in charge of it. When I correctly apply the Backsafe 3 Rules of Lifting and Stretching, eat a [somewhat] healthy diet and push my body to exercise, I feel so much better.

January is a time to decide who will be the boss of how we feel for the next 12 months and beyond; because, there is absolutely no one else in charge of how we feel. We are in charge! And it feels really, really good to let the body know.

The benefits are a life with less or no pain, plus more energy and alertness. It’s a wonderful feeling when we are healthy and dictating to the body versus the other way around.

Happy New Year to each of you! We will be helping thousands of people again this year to learn how to live without injury and pain. Please call (1.800.775. 2225) us today so that we can help your organization have a Healthy and Prosperous 2019!

Dennis Downing, CEO
Future Industrial Technologies, Inc.