Happy New Year!  As we navigate through the holidays, and head into a new year, all under the spectre of another wave of Covid, I thought it would be worthwhile to bring into the Hive one of the foremost experts in dealing with substance dependence, mental health, and compulsive behaviors.  You may already know Coach Blu Robinson, the founder of Addict 2 Athlete, whose stated “mission is to establish and maintain recovery by promoting lifestyle changes through erasing negative behaviors and replacing them with positive ones.”  Addict 2 Athlete team members routinely engage in running and other exercise as a positive replacement, as well as doing terrific service projects in their communities.  It is an incredibly energetic program that helps people to set new goals.  It can provide personal and group coaching, along with inspiration through its web site resources, blogs, and terrific Addict 2 Athlete podcast.  These lessons of recovery I think are relatable to all of us, whether we are in recovery or not.  Coach Blu grew up in a dysfunctional home and struggled with his own substance abuse.  He became sober in 1996 and has been a force in the recovery community since 2001, including partnering with David Clark.  Coach Blu has so much deeply helpful advice to dispense in this discussion.  Note his wisdom about stopping thinking like a victim, but instead thinking about being an agent for positive change.  And his five Champions Challenge principles to win in 2022, which are based on the concept of doing things outside of yourself which will lead to creating the biggest results.  One I like a lot is treating people with respect who you don’t think you need.  I’ve put that into play at every school I’ve worked at spending the time to know the athletic secretaries and janitors.  One athletic secretary was a competitive bodybuilder and I learned from her about how that sport works.  Another was a fan of the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League, so I learned about that league, and I always had something to talk with her about.  I’d also bring all of them an occasional simple gift like a grapefruit.  They are truly the people who get things done at schools, not the ivory tower administrators.  Anytime I’ve needed something done, I probably got better response because I treat them like people.  Coach Blu has a lot more of this kind of solid wisdom, so please take a close listen to this episode, I think almost everyone will get a lot out of it.

Coach Blu Robinson and Addict to Athlete:
addicttoathlete.org
[email protected]
Facebook & Instagram @addicttoathlete and @agentsofrecovery
Podcasts: Addict to Athlete, Agents of Recovery
Twitter @AgentsRecovery

Bill Stahl
[email protected]
Facebook Bill Stahl
Instagram @stahlor