Take the time to do things you never thought you could

A man is face-down and lifeless in the Thames River in London, England. He needs mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. And the task falls on Michael Bibb, Dip PFS, BA, who was never a strong swimmer and, like the person in trouble, is in the middle of competing in a triathlon.

“If you would have told me that I would be there, doing that, a year before, I wouldn’t have believed you,” said the four-year MDRT member from Warwick, England. “If you had seen me swimming like a broken washing machine, you wouldn’t have believed it either!”

Challenging and giving

This was August 2016, not long after Bibb participated in his first Ironman 70.3 competition, for which he’s currently training again. This passion started with a series of international bike trips with his cousin (Paris to Geneva, Geneva to Venice, Venice to Rome), which then escalated to a marathon, a 100-mile bike ride, the triathlon and Ironman. Along the way, he has helped raise money for the Dallaglio Foundation, Action Medical Research, the Salvation Army, the Freddie Farmer Foundation and the Rainbow Trust.

“What inspires me about the Ironman is the empowering attitude; all athletes want you to compete and do your best,” he said. “This is very similar to my friends at MDRT — that sense of giving a leg-up rather than a hand on the shoulder pushing you down. After last year’s gathering in Vancouver, I set up an MDRT study group to surround myself with those can-doers!”

Making time

Bibb, who said he participates in Ironman to inspire his four children and himself, has a weekly training plan he sticks to even if it means doing a required run at 10 p.m. He knows he must be flexible and make time for what is important, which is why staff members of his practice work only four days per week, given one day to pursue something else that is significant in their lives.

One staff member is a choreographer and is currently working on a production of “Spamalot”; another, a mother of four, uses that day for family time. “When we started working together, the three of us said that we wanted it to be meaningful, and I think we are very close to that balance,” Bibb said. “Could this be holding me back from Top of the Table? Maybe, but I like to think that my team has fulfilled lives. We all have a great standard of living, and if there is something we really want to do or someone we really want to be — best dad, super mum, working artist — we can. And, by the way, we do life planning and financial services too!”

For more Whole Person ideas

•        “Well mind and body” (pdf)
•        “Don’t allow negativity” (video)
•        “Whole Person balance quiz” (pdf)

Written by Matt Pais, MDRT Content Specialist