20 December 2019 | 9:00
Marek Demcak

Healthy competences

The avocado is unique. It is an incredibly healthy food, loaded with many essential nutrients. Avocados are weight loss friendly, heart-healthy, and, last but not least, taste incredible.

No matter how much I am passionate about avocados, I am sure that there are still some people who don’t know that avocados do exist.  Some do not know how to prepare them, and some don’t know how to make a tasty meal out of them. To make this story a bit more professional (and located more in the “IPMA world”), I may say that those people simply are not able to apply the knowledge, skills, and abilities – as regards avocados – to achieve the desired outcome. For example to be more healthy.

So I decided to change it, at least for myself. To take responsibility for my health and to eat tons of avocados.

Let’s say now you already know that avocado is healthy. But do you also know that it is actually a fruit? Right – to collect information, to learn and extend our knowledge – is a never-ending story. Especially when something looks totally like a vegetable but it is fruit actually. As Albert Einstein once said: „the more I learn, the more I realize I don’t know“.

So I finally did it. I bought one avocado in order to try it. After reading plenty of articles about the „favorite pear of all alligators“, I was “courageous enough” to change my health forever.
But that was really a mess. Seriously: to skin that fruit! It was a disaster. My fingers were completely green, my knife – completely green… And guess what?! A sideboard in my kitchen – also completely green! Only one thing was not green obviously. This brown seed in the middle, but I also did not expect it to be so stuck there.

So that is how actually looked my “avocado beginnings”. Of course now – I am totally professional. I can say that after several attempts, I own the skill to do it right. I am skilled to the skin and to prepare fresh avocado, without making my kitchen (and myself) completely green.
But honestly, I discovered that I don’t like to eat only fresh avocados all the time. What I need in my life is also some flavour. So I decided to ask my friends about their tastes. And guess what? They don’t like it either. “Yes, it is healthy. Yes, it is accessible. And maybe even necessary to eat” – they say. “But we want our food to be more spicy, sweet, and yellow, and more colourful, even a bit squared”. I discovered suddenly – I simply cannot please everyone, can I?

As I started to dig in, I discovered two main civilizations in Mexico. The Mayan and Aztecs. The first “gave us” Chichen Itza, and the second – the recipe for fantastic guacamole. The name of the meal has its origin in two Aztec Nahuatl words: ahuacatl (avocado) and molli (sauce). And while Chichen Itza is taking your breath away, Guacamole is simply unforgettable. Maybe I am exaggerating a bit, but I am speaking here only about this amazing taste of this spicy sauce – that not everyone is able to prepare. Of course, it requires fresh fruit, a lot of practice and the right knowledge to make one – the right skills.
So I reached for them. With my new ability to create a super tasty ahuacatl molli from the “alligator pear”, I can now please myself, and many of my friends. And also teach them how to prepare healthy food. A fruit – in this case.

And, you know what? I even do not have to prepare this super fantastic green dip all the time. Sometimes I just want to eat just avocado, only with salt and pepper. Sometimes, I put a spoon of honey on it. And from time to time, it is even ok for me to speak about it. To spread a piece of knowledge and change the life of somebody else.

Stay healthy my friends!

Written by
Marek Demcak

Marek works as a LEAN Coach at Vaillant. His main job is to coach and develop sustainable culture of continuous improvement industrial plants of the Vaillant Group in Slovakia and England. Besides his love in Process improvement, he is very enthusiastic about project management as well. Marek founded and developed IPMA Young Crew in Slovakia. Currently, he is the Management Board Member of IPMA Slovakia and since march 2019 also the Management Board Member of Young Crew Global, responsible for GYCWS and Coaches and Mentors program. His hobbies range from books to different kinds of sports such as Crossfit and climbing iron ways. Why is he so involved in IPMA? As he says: “Whatever we do in our lives has the impact on the world and other people, therefore we should do the right things, be more professionals but never forget to have fun” 🙂

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