Tony Mendes, Ph.D.
My journey into wellness started when I enrolled in a Ph.D. program at the University of Missouri – Kansas City. I was acutely interested in the psychological effects of exercise, based on my own personal experience and research that was just coming out at that time. My dissertation, “The Effects of Exercise upon Psychological and Physiological Stress Variables in Male Coronary Heart Patients”, the culmination of my studies, contributed to early research on the subject. Fortunately for me, at the end of my academic studies, AT&T was interested in conducting a pilot study for a corporate wellness program, and of all places, Kansas City. I was hired by that company, the pilot program was a huge success, we expanded the program to locations across the U.S. and I was eventually transferred to corporate headquarters in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. While in New Jersey, I taught my first college course at the Rutgers University Medical School on “Facilitating Treatment Adherence”. The course was based on concepts in helping patients achieve a healthy lifestyle. Also at that time, Irwin Professional Publishing published my book, “Inspiring Commitment”, based on my research in determining key factors that contribute to a person’s ability to commit to important life decisions. Following my corporate days, I started my own consulting business, specializing on building commitment in organizations and reducing stress with employees. For the past 20 years I have specialized in Entrepreneurship Education and have taught at The University of Illinois- Urbana Champaign, The University of North Texas and the University of Missouri – Kansas City, from where I retired in 2024.
Now I’ve decided to return to my roots to begin a Health and Wellness coaching/consulting practice. My coaching is based on my years in wellness, experience as a therapist in private practice and the knowledge and understanding I gained as a college professor. Central to my coaching is the Commitment concept including a structured, but flexible process of getting more out of life. My belief is that aging is something to embrace and regardless of how many years we have left, we all have the power and ability to improve the quality of our lives. Yes, it is possible that as we get older, we can feel younger.
When it comes right down to it, my philosophy of life is quite simple. We are all unique and fortunate to be alive on this planet, even for a short period of time. This fact of uniqueness is sometimes underappreciated by the average person. Instead, we go through our lives as if time is endless and we constantly wait for the “time” when we can be fully alive, or at the very least, when we can be content. How many of those days do we have to be fully alive, full of joy and happiness? I don’t know. But the real question is how can we make the most of our remaining days? How do we fully appreciate this paradise that God has created for us on earth and how do we experience love, giving and receiving, to the best of our abilities.