10. DEFCON for Dentists – published 12.06.2012
If I were to write a list of the top 5 blogs that I had ever written as far as I was concerned, then DEFCON would be in the top 5.
It’s self-explanatory and listed below, feel free to steal it, modify it or use it if it is of any help to you.
It’s a dangerous thing to say, but as I write these blogs, I’m currently sitting at 1 (1.5 at the worst).
The United States military has a threat alert system they use to define the level of threat to the country on a military basis. This is called DEFCON, which is short for Defense Condition.
I am not sure where I came across this, probably in a film but I then started to modify this in my mind to apply to myself and the amount of stress in my life from time to time.
DEFCON in the United States ranges from 1 – 5 with 1 being absolute peace with no threat and 5 being effectively a nuclear war. The same general principle applies to me when I consider where I am in my stress cycle.
Over the past few years I have become much more aware of where I seem to exist in this cycle of mine and I am able to try to classify my position and take action as appropriate.
I don’t get to 1 very often in my DEFCON scale and thankfully, I don’t get to 5 very often either!
The last time I was at 1, was a family holiday at a villa in Majorca I 2010 where we had 10 days of a wonderful trip and I was not able to receive any signal on my phone (I think that was the key to getting to 1)
The last time I was at 5 was in 2005 and ideally I would not return there again.
The general default setting is to sit in either a high 2 or a low 3 and that is ideal and perfect, providing enough stimulus to get the things done that I want to but with not too much stress.
In reality, it is really difficult to maintain this equilibrium for me and inevitably I will move towards a high 3, or even more, and have to reign myself back in or make some adjustments to push me back down the scale.
There is a balance to be struck here for me all the time and it is a constant process of trying to keep stimulation high but stress levels low. I think the secret for me is that I understand it now and that I have a real will to reduce the stress levels in my life and refuse to sit at a high level 4 all the time, regardless of the personal consequences of that.
When it goes wrong for me, the exercise goes out the window, healthy eating goes out the window and my weight starts to increase and my skin starts to fall apart. I am lucky to have someone at home, in Alison, who can see these signs before I can and can turn around to me and say “sort yourself out”.
The goal is DEFCON 2-3 as much as possible, stimulated but in control.
Blog post number: 1508