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21 -873 -WZBG, January 21st, third Wednesday of the month. For those who book their calendar that way, that’s when we do a visit with the folks from the McCall Behavioral Health Network. Joining us this morning from McCall, Joshua Lucurzi, who’s a digital marketing manager at McCall, is our guest this morning. Good morning, Joshua.
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Good morning.
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Thanks for having me.
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Thanks for joining us on the show. So it is, you know, we’re three weeks into January. And of course, a common theme for many folks is to make resolutions or try to make changes in January. Usually by this time, a lot of folks have fallen off or fallen away from those commitments that they made on January 1st. But at the same time, you know, January, because it is a fresh start, it’s a brand new year, I think our minds automatically reset. And it’s like, all right, this is a good time.
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to make changes because you get a fresh start, you get a brand new year. But it’s not that simple, is it?
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It’s not. And everything I’m about to say is coming from the king of failed, failed New Year’s resolutions. I’ve had the same resolutions for at least 10 years, and they fail every year, sometimes months, weeks, even days. And I’m sure there’s people right now that they haven’t even started or gotten into the things that they want to do. And make a change with. And, you know, January, kind of like you said, I think everyone is in that first step of they have the motivation, the energy, the excitement to make some changes, to look at their lifestyle, see what they want to improve on, see what they want to bring into their life.
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But like you said, it’s not that simple. There’s roadblocks. And for some reason, a little bit of time goes by. the latter end of January and we kind of fall off those resolutions.
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And there’s a reason for that I guess it’s it’s a little bit like I guess trying to keep going on an empty tank you know you you you need something that’s going to propel you something that’s going to sustain that motivation. So what’s the missing equation?
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Yeah, so I think I figured it out. So after 10 years, after 10 years, so two of my resolutions, one of them has been exercising and going to the gym and another one has been playing more music. I used to play the saxophone all throughout my life and it’s kind of been this missing piece of me as it’s been collecting dust in the basement for 15 years. Um, and every year January comes and it’s that you know that first step is there having the motivation having the energy that next step which is getting yourself ready to go you know for the gym getting those new sneakers getting the new clothes looking at a workout plan getting that gym membership or you know getting yourself psyched all the tools you need but then the actual moment where it’s time to do it you either don’t do it or you do it for a couple weeks or a couple months and then it falls off and what comes with that a lot of times and this is what i experience every year around this time is so much shame and frustration and feeling like there’s something wrong with me i can’t do some of these simple little things that i want to change about my life and it just doesn’t last where’s my willpower right yeah and it’s like what is going on with me and I noticed this year I didn’t make a declaration of these are the things I’m going to change, but it kind of hit me that I’m actually doing and following through on some of my resolutions and trying to think about what has changed. It dawned on me. So I recently on McCall’s social media shared a video testimonial from one of our alumni.
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His name is Dan, who had a sports injury and then fell into substance use disorder. our alumni. Then the second half of the video, he doesn’t dive into the ins and outs of treatment. He doesn’t dive into like the clinical side of things, how it’s helping him. He talks a lot about the people. He talks a lot about being in a group, how a group provides accountability, shared live experience, how just the camaraderie of being with other people.
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And that’s when it dawned on me, like, why am I now going to the gym? the past month. It’s because instead of 10 years of trying to go have my own workout plan, do my own thing. I started doing a cycling class, started doing a strength training class. My wife is also on board and we’ve been going together. Um, you know, with my saxophone, I, every year I’m like, I’m going to get a new music stand.
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I’m going to get a new this like a couple months ago. I’m like, I think I should get a new saxophone. That’ll help me play more. It’ll sound better. And didn’t. But I joined a band.
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I joined the Symphonic Band and now I’m practicing. And so it’s like watching this video of Dan talking about people, it clicked that what works for me is when I let people into my life, into my goals, and I’m accomplishing those things with others. And I have other people’s accountability. And when I’m not at that cycling class, they’re like, where’s Josh? He should be here. Or when I’m not in band, it’s like, well, there’s one less saxophone.
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Something sounds off. And that’s what has been helping me.
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Yep, I think I can relate to that a little bit. Some years ago when I wanted to get into running for competition, it started as a dare here in the studio from a guest in the studio about being able to train for the Litchfield Hills Road Race. And my motivation was I accepted the guy’s challenge. and I was training with other people to run the race and run it for the first time. I had never run a race at that length before. But again, having that camaraderie, that shared goal, that connection, that support kept me going and got me to that place to where I ran the race.
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And you know, I’m stuck with the running for another 10 years before backing off on it.
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But yeah, having that support, having that backup, having somebody who’s got your six i think um you know maybe provides that continued motivation to get through it yeah and i think it’s so much harder for people that have some of these really serious challenges or roadblocks that they’re trying to overcome. You know, here I am, I’m talking about, you know, trying to play my saxophone more. But the there’s people that wake up on January 1st and they look in the mirror and they say, this is the year I reduce my drinking. This is the year that I really I do more for my mental health. Maybe I’m going to meditate more. Maybe I’m going to, you know, do this or that.
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But again, I think there’s that missing piece of trying to put in the effort and make this whole plan for yourself. I’m going to do it. I’m going to reduce this. I’m going to, I’m going to dump all of it in the sink today. I’m going to, um, throw out whatever, whatever. And, but then nothing happens, you know, then you go and you get more, whatever.
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And I think, it’s when you really allow yourself to think that seeking for help, asking for help, looking for a group of people that are in the exact same boat is not a weakness. It’s actually a strategy. It’s really what, and thinking about it as like, you know, I’m not going to this group to fix myself. I’m going to this group because there are other people that are in my shoes and I think they could help. And I think reframing it that way could be really powerful.
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A lot about realistic goal setting, too. You know, don’t going down the rabbit hole of, you know, I’m a failure because I can’t do this on sheer will on my own. And the other is, you know, setting this marker that is unattainable. you know, to work toward it and to get there is, you know, is much more satisfying and sustainable than setting some goal for perfection that It’s just out of your reach.
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Exactly. That is a huge piece of it. Um, you know, I think back to one time when I was really in a good gym routine was when I had a friend with me in college. Then we graduated, that ended. Then I got really into it again when I was about to get married because I wanted to feel good and look good for my wedding. And then, um, the wedding came and then that was it.
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And so, um, You know, I think we have to realize that there are kind of these ups and downs with our goals, but sometimes we just stay in the down and we never go back. Or we kind of go up, like sometimes this time in January we go up, we’re feeling good, but then we start going down. And I think having others there to kind of get you back up and then when you do fall a little bit, they can help you.
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Recognize that it’s okay that you’re down there and help build you up a little bit So for those who are listening and maybe struggling with substance or with something that is compromising your life and your goals Just think about those goals in a new way reframe that support and treatment And how you’re going to go about it and find a way to sustain it. Even if it’s not perfection. It’s You’re working, you’re moving in the right direction, which is okay. Unintentional ride, but there it is. Josh Lucurzi, our guest this morning from McCall Behavioral Health Network. Appreciate having you on the show.
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Yeah, thank you so much. I appreciate it.
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I know you’ve been dodging all the upper respiratory stuff and everything this year.
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I made it today.
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You made it today. We’re glad you did. Thanks, Josh.