Taking Control of Your Health Before the Other Shoe Drops
Sep 16, 2026
TL;DR: Nicole Hollar, behavior change keynote speaker and coach, explains why so many people wait for a health crisis to make their decisions for them instead of acting the moment something feels off. Waiting doesn't make the issue disappear. It just hands the decision to a doctor, a diagnosis, or an emergency room instead of you. This article looks at why people delay, what it costs them physically, mentally, and emotionally, and how to start taking ownership of your health now, before the shoe drops.
You know the feeling. Something's been off for a while. Energy that isn't what it used to be. A number on a bloodwork report you didn't ask questions about. A twinge, a lump, a symptom you've quietly renamed "probably nothing" so you don't have to deal with it right now. You tell yourself you'll get it checked out after the busy season, after the trip, after things calm down. Things rarely calm down. And that's exactly how a manageable problem becomes a five-alarm one.
In coaching, I call this an "I should." I should get that checked out. It sits in the back of your mind, quietly draining energy and manufacturing guilt, while you convince yourself that not dealing with it counts as a decision. It doesn't. It's the absence of one. And here's the part nobody wants to hear: health is one of the areas where people give away their power fastest, because fear is loud and denial is comfortable.
Waiting Doesn't Cancel the Outcome. It Just Changes Who's in Charge of It
Researchers who study what's called "patient delay" have found a consistent pattern: people minimize symptoms, tell themselves a story that makes waiting feel reasonable, or assume things will resolve on their own. Sound familiar? The story is rarely "I don't care about my health." It's usually "I'm probably fine," "I don't want to overreact," or "I don't have time for this right now."
The shoe drops either way. The only real variable is whether you're the one who decided to act, with information, options, and some room to breathe, or whether a crisis decided for you, on its timeline instead of yours. That's the whole game of personal power in one sentence: you can't always control what's happening in your body, but you can control when you engage with it.
Do the Research. Just Don't Let It Replace the Conversation
Being engaged with your own health is not the same as diagnosing yourself in a search bar at 1 a.m. and deciding you have eleven weeks to live. Useful research means understanding your own history, your family's patterns, what your labs actually mean, and what questions are worth asking before you sit down with a provider. You're not trying to out-doctor your doctor. You're trying to show up as a partner in the conversation instead of a passenger in it.
That shift changes everything. A passenger nods along and hopes for the best. A partner asks, "What else could this be?" and "What would you do if this were your body?" and "What happens if we wait six months?" Those questions aren't rude. They're ownership, and they routinely change outcomes.
If It Doesn't Feel Right, Say So
Most people have been trained to treat a medical opinion the way they treat "because I said so," as a final answer instead of a starting point. It isn't. Providers are human, appointments are short, and sometimes the first answer is the right one and sometimes it's a guess dressed up in confidence. You are allowed to ask for clarity. You are allowed to get a second opinion. You are allowed to say, "I hear you, and this still doesn't sit right with me," without apologizing for it.
That's a boundary, not defiance. Blindly complying with advice that contradicts your own instincts isn't respect, it's abdication. You know your body's baseline better than anyone glancing at a chart for twelve minutes. Trust that data too.
Look Outside the Obvious Box, and Build a Bench of Support
Sometimes the answer isn't a different opinion from the same specialty, it's a different specialty altogether, a functional or integrative approach, a support group of people living with the same diagnosis, or simply someone in your corner who will go to appointments with you and ask the question you forget the second the door opens. Initiative doesn't mean doing it alone. It means refusing to let "I don't know who else to ask" be the reason you stop looking.
The Longer You Wait, the More It Costs You
This is the part people underestimate. Waiting isn't neutral. Physically, small issues left alone tend to compound. Mentally, unresolved health worry becomes a low hum of background anxiety that quietly taxes your focus and decision-making everywhere else in life. Emotionally, it breeds a specific kind of resentment toward yourself, the sense that you saw this coming and didn't act, which is a far heavier weight to carry than the original problem ever was.
You don't get to choose whether your body eventually forces the issue. You do get to choose whether you're the one holding the pen when it does, or whether you handed it over months ago and called that peace of mind. It wasn't peace. It was postponement. And postponement, in health as in everything else, is rarely free.
Questions for Reflection
- What's the "I should get that checked out" on your list right now, and what story are you telling yourself to justify waiting?
- Whose voice carries more weight in your health decisions than your own instincts do, and why have you let that happen?
- If nothing changes for another six months, what does this actually cost you, physically, mentally, or emotionally, compared to what it costs to act now?
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do people wait until a health issue becomes a crisis before taking action?
Fear, denial, and a genuine belief that the symptom will resolve on its own all play a role. Research on "patient delay" also shows that people often minimize how serious something is until it becomes undeniable. It isn't a character flaw. It's a common, very human way of avoiding an uncomfortable truth for as long as possible.
How do I advocate for myself in a medical appointment without seeming difficult?
Come with specific questions, ask what else a symptom could indicate, and say plainly if an explanation doesn't match what you're experiencing. Self-advocacy isn't confrontation, it's collaboration. Most providers respect an informed, engaged patient far more than a silent one.
What does personal agency have to do with taking care of my health?
Personal agency is the ability to recognize what's driving your behavior, tell the difference between what you can and can't control, and consciously choose what happens next. You can't control every health outcome, but you can control whether you research, ask questions, set boundaries, and act early. That choice is where your power actually lives.