I am passionate about personal health, and I believe your health is your most prized possession. It amazes me how many people pay little to no attention to their health.

You know what you're supposed to eat. We all do. So why do so many of us still go out and chow down cheeseburgers and fries every day? I'll tell you why: because it won't kill us. Not today. It's easy to eat well, and it is easy not to. It's not the one junk-food meal; it's the thousands, over time. Why do you walk past the exercise bike? Because it's easy. It is these simple errors in judgment, compounded over time that will take you away from reaching your goal. Your health goal.

You see one person eating a good meal, and one person eating an awful meal. One taking a walk or run, another sitting and watching the television. Is there any difference between the two? Nothing you can see; not today, and probably not tomorrow.

The difference between success and failure is not dramatic but subtle. The truth is, what you do matters. It is the little things day in and day out that will truly make the difference in your lifetime. It's not willpower. Willpower is vastly overrated and fluctuates like our emotions. Instead, it is positive daily actions repeated over time.

The same is true with back pain. One day you bend over to pick up something and suddenly feel sharp pain. It wasn't that one movement, but usually the result of bending over thousands of times to pick up your kids, move furniture, working in the yard, gardening, riding a bicycle, etc. Then one day: "Wow, I have back pain, how did that happen?"

Let's stop it before it starts by making small changes in how we lift, sleep, sit, stretch, and work. We can teach you the proper body mechanics and proper stretches to help avoid future injury, but it takes small actions repeated daily or weekly.

Those little things that will make you successful, that will secure your health, happiness, your dreams, are simple, tiny things that nobody will see, nobody will applaud or even notice. At the time you do them, often they will feel like they make absolutely no difference. Like they don't matter. But they do!

Dr. Wayne Fichter, D.C., is the lead doctor at Natural Spine Solutions, with more than 15 years of experience treating families. He also has been the lead doctor in handling serious neck and back problems through non-surgical spinal decompression. Call (208) 966-4425 for all of your spinal and wellness needs.