drug rehab.
Now before coming to a conclusion about this, I'd first like to make a disclaimer that I in no way condone the usage of drugs or the exploitation of those who are deeply affected by a substance abuse.
I'd also like to preface with the reason I posted this in the Speedway is that there is a lot of personal information included within that I would prefer not sharing with the entire forum.
With that in mind, I'd like to start by discussing where this idea came from, my personal connection to this industry and how I feel there is an eminent need for change in this industry which like solving most problems can also come with a financial reward.
The idea itself came to my head as the business I work for does food service/hospitality audits and I found out today that some of our customers are drug rehab centers. The specialist I spoke with knew about their food service programs and how inefficient and poorly run they were which got me to thinking about how inefficient and poorly run the centers themselves are.
My personal experience comes from having several people very close to me, including my best friend, end up in a rehab center. I have mentioned him before, but for anyone who doesn't know, my best friend was someone I often referred to as my "little brother", I met him in a computer graphics class I took in HS when I was a senior and he was a freshman. When I met him he was a lot like myself at that age as he was smart, talented and passionate but he was also very shy and self-concious. In addition I knew his older brother who was in a few of my classes and he was much like my older brother as he was involved with bad people and worst of all drugs. As I was able to stay away from drugs despite what it was doing to my brother and that I had battled a lot of self-esteem/self-image issues that could have led me to this lifestyle, I did not know if Simon could too, so not only did we become friends from day one, but I also wanted to be a big brother for him.
A few years later, he started working at a local hospital and I started to notice a lot of changes, mostly what used to motivate and excite him didn't matter any more, I also heard him joking about how he worked with a bunch of idiots and I figured he worked by the mental ward. I was wrong! It was the drug rehab center. Not only did he work around these people, but he started hanging out with them and worst of all, started doing drugs with them. Now by drugs I don't mean pot and shrooms(both of which I have tried, but thankfully never became a habit), but cocaine and heroine. As I was away at school when this happened, I didn't know until it was too late and it had already taken over his life. When I got back and started working for his step-dad, I tried one last time to help him, but realized it was too late and then I left for Austria and 10 days before I returned he died of an OD :nonod:
This was the worst thing that has ever happened in my life as I mentioned he was a younger version of me and had felt I not only let him down as a friend and big-brother type, but that a part of me had died with him.
The reason I tell the story in detail is because it is important to understand who he was, yes he had become a junky, but the person I knew until the day of his death was much more than that and while I have come to terms with the fact that what led to his death was his choice, how he got started and most of all a little known danger of drug rehab centers acting as recruitment centers for not only patients, but others around there such as employees or friends and family of patients.
Although his life was lost to drugs, to the end he was passionate about learning of and discussing the inefficiencies/hypocracy of both drug law and drug rehab centers, as I have no interest in politics and it is not allowed on this forum anyways, it is not worth discussing the legal issues of this subject, I will however stick to discussing what I feel "I" can change.
With that in mind here's how I see the connection between the fastlane and this industry.
First off, the drug rehabilition industry despite its inefficiencies is still a profitable industry. On top of that many of the top programs such as AA, NA and CA are more about mindset activities than actual medical treatment(this is what detox centers do). Therefore what better mindset to apply to this field than the fastlane!
The mindset that they sell and what I've seen from others I have known to go through it is the same "victimization", "excuse making" and "it's not my fault and I have no control over it" attitude that defines those in the financial slowlane.
In fact going to a few of the meetings with my older brother, what I had observed and the changes he incurred made me sick!
For instance, he introduced us to "friends" of his in there who had gone through rehab with him before, as if this was an accomplishment to end up back there :nonod:
Or my favorite, when the message he received from one of the outpatient programs was to lecture others on their "addictions" such as the one time I got drunk about a year back and he felt it was his responsbility to tell me how terrible of a person I was and to never do that(something I already knew and since that episode have not gotten drunk and rarely even drink), while he was doing nothing to solve his own problem.
These are just a few of the many examples. Bottom line, it is much like the inefficient financial gurus and as MJ's aim is to show people the light financially, I would like to take aim at this issue and see much of the mindset activities of the fastlane as an effective way to combat this issue.
What I see as challenges are:
-Finding my aim for this...
As I mentioned in the disclaimer, I do NOT want to do this to exploit the pain and suffering of others as I've seen most rehab centers do, thus I need to be sure that while I do have financial aspirations that this is not what motivates me. In fact, if anything the motivation should be to honor Simon and be the effective educator on the dangers of drug use/abuse that he strived to become and create a legacy for him.
-Gaining credibility...
I don't have a PhD or an MD, but then again, neither do most of the people behind 12-Steps or support groups, in fact most are faith based programs.
-Convincing people who don't want to be helped that this is the way...
Sadly, the only true way to rehabilition is through will-power and desire(much like in the fastlane to millions) the biggest inefficiency of drug rehab is that most participants are there against their own will either because of a court order or a family member forced them to be there, which is noble, but it would be like forcing a child to go to a specific school against their will which can actually backfire and do more harm than good.
-Overcoming a force that no-one has fully understood
I'll have to do my DD prior to pursuing this, but Simon once told me that even the best rehab centers still only have about a 30% success rate and even then, most end up living a "functioning addicts" in that they can blend in with society, but can turn the corner at any moment, thus never being fully healed. With this in mind as well as all the contradictory stories and disclaimers out there, it goes to show that no one has figured out what the root cause of this behavior is and if all the PhD's and MD's who have put countless hours into research into both the possible mental and physiological causes can't pinpoint them, how will I?
-Focussing on something that I am passionate about, but don't fully comprehend
While I have learned a lot about the WHY people do drugs, I will never know as much as somebody who has actually done them and has overcome a chemical dependency, of course I am not willing to learn this first-hand so the only way to gain traction is to find people who have been there and could help figure out how to correct the inefficiencies from a first-person point of view and help define the material of the program.
-What name to use for this program?
While "The Fastlane to Drug Rehab" has a ring to it, it is not what I would envision the name for this program, not to mention I would never commercially use "The Fastlane to.." without MJ's permission, not only because of how much I respect him, but because I'm assuming he has it trademarked. So therefore I would either need his written, express consent to use the material I have learned here or figure out a way to put my own spin on it and come up with my own brand.
So without further ado, comments, questions and criticism is greatly appreciated.
Now before coming to a conclusion about this, I'd first like to make a disclaimer that I in no way condone the usage of drugs or the exploitation of those who are deeply affected by a substance abuse.
I'd also like to preface with the reason I posted this in the Speedway is that there is a lot of personal information included within that I would prefer not sharing with the entire forum.
With that in mind, I'd like to start by discussing where this idea came from, my personal connection to this industry and how I feel there is an eminent need for change in this industry which like solving most problems can also come with a financial reward.
The idea itself came to my head as the business I work for does food service/hospitality audits and I found out today that some of our customers are drug rehab centers. The specialist I spoke with knew about their food service programs and how inefficient and poorly run they were which got me to thinking about how inefficient and poorly run the centers themselves are.
My personal experience comes from having several people very close to me, including my best friend, end up in a rehab center. I have mentioned him before, but for anyone who doesn't know, my best friend was someone I often referred to as my "little brother", I met him in a computer graphics class I took in HS when I was a senior and he was a freshman. When I met him he was a lot like myself at that age as he was smart, talented and passionate but he was also very shy and self-concious. In addition I knew his older brother who was in a few of my classes and he was much like my older brother as he was involved with bad people and worst of all drugs. As I was able to stay away from drugs despite what it was doing to my brother and that I had battled a lot of self-esteem/self-image issues that could have led me to this lifestyle, I did not know if Simon could too, so not only did we become friends from day one, but I also wanted to be a big brother for him.
A few years later, he started working at a local hospital and I started to notice a lot of changes, mostly what used to motivate and excite him didn't matter any more, I also heard him joking about how he worked with a bunch of idiots and I figured he worked by the mental ward. I was wrong! It was the drug rehab center. Not only did he work around these people, but he started hanging out with them and worst of all, started doing drugs with them. Now by drugs I don't mean pot and shrooms(both of which I have tried, but thankfully never became a habit), but cocaine and heroine. As I was away at school when this happened, I didn't know until it was too late and it had already taken over his life. When I got back and started working for his step-dad, I tried one last time to help him, but realized it was too late and then I left for Austria and 10 days before I returned he died of an OD :nonod:
This was the worst thing that has ever happened in my life as I mentioned he was a younger version of me and had felt I not only let him down as a friend and big-brother type, but that a part of me had died with him.
The reason I tell the story in detail is because it is important to understand who he was, yes he had become a junky, but the person I knew until the day of his death was much more than that and while I have come to terms with the fact that what led to his death was his choice, how he got started and most of all a little known danger of drug rehab centers acting as recruitment centers for not only patients, but others around there such as employees or friends and family of patients.
Although his life was lost to drugs, to the end he was passionate about learning of and discussing the inefficiencies/hypocracy of both drug law and drug rehab centers, as I have no interest in politics and it is not allowed on this forum anyways, it is not worth discussing the legal issues of this subject, I will however stick to discussing what I feel "I" can change.
With that in mind here's how I see the connection between the fastlane and this industry.
First off, the drug rehabilition industry despite its inefficiencies is still a profitable industry. On top of that many of the top programs such as AA, NA and CA are more about mindset activities than actual medical treatment(this is what detox centers do). Therefore what better mindset to apply to this field than the fastlane!
The mindset that they sell and what I've seen from others I have known to go through it is the same "victimization", "excuse making" and "it's not my fault and I have no control over it" attitude that defines those in the financial slowlane.
In fact going to a few of the meetings with my older brother, what I had observed and the changes he incurred made me sick!
For instance, he introduced us to "friends" of his in there who had gone through rehab with him before, as if this was an accomplishment to end up back there :nonod:
Or my favorite, when the message he received from one of the outpatient programs was to lecture others on their "addictions" such as the one time I got drunk about a year back and he felt it was his responsbility to tell me how terrible of a person I was and to never do that(something I already knew and since that episode have not gotten drunk and rarely even drink), while he was doing nothing to solve his own problem.
These are just a few of the many examples. Bottom line, it is much like the inefficient financial gurus and as MJ's aim is to show people the light financially, I would like to take aim at this issue and see much of the mindset activities of the fastlane as an effective way to combat this issue.
What I see as challenges are:
-Finding my aim for this...
As I mentioned in the disclaimer, I do NOT want to do this to exploit the pain and suffering of others as I've seen most rehab centers do, thus I need to be sure that while I do have financial aspirations that this is not what motivates me. In fact, if anything the motivation should be to honor Simon and be the effective educator on the dangers of drug use/abuse that he strived to become and create a legacy for him.
-Gaining credibility...
I don't have a PhD or an MD, but then again, neither do most of the people behind 12-Steps or support groups, in fact most are faith based programs.
-Convincing people who don't want to be helped that this is the way...
Sadly, the only true way to rehabilition is through will-power and desire(much like in the fastlane to millions) the biggest inefficiency of drug rehab is that most participants are there against their own will either because of a court order or a family member forced them to be there, which is noble, but it would be like forcing a child to go to a specific school against their will which can actually backfire and do more harm than good.
-Overcoming a force that no-one has fully understood
I'll have to do my DD prior to pursuing this, but Simon once told me that even the best rehab centers still only have about a 30% success rate and even then, most end up living a "functioning addicts" in that they can blend in with society, but can turn the corner at any moment, thus never being fully healed. With this in mind as well as all the contradictory stories and disclaimers out there, it goes to show that no one has figured out what the root cause of this behavior is and if all the PhD's and MD's who have put countless hours into research into both the possible mental and physiological causes can't pinpoint them, how will I?
-Focussing on something that I am passionate about, but don't fully comprehend
While I have learned a lot about the WHY people do drugs, I will never know as much as somebody who has actually done them and has overcome a chemical dependency, of course I am not willing to learn this first-hand so the only way to gain traction is to find people who have been there and could help figure out how to correct the inefficiencies from a first-person point of view and help define the material of the program.
-What name to use for this program?
While "The Fastlane to Drug Rehab" has a ring to it, it is not what I would envision the name for this program, not to mention I would never commercially use "The Fastlane to.." without MJ's permission, not only because of how much I respect him, but because I'm assuming he has it trademarked. So therefore I would either need his written, express consent to use the material I have learned here or figure out a way to put my own spin on it and come up with my own brand.
So without further ado, comments, questions and criticism is greatly appreciated.
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