When I was around 40, I noticed the misconceptions that specialty can produce.

I had acquired some medical clients who were putting together one of the first infertility clinics. The group consisted of two OB/Gyns, two urologists, and some scientists who could handle the test tubes and petri dishes. I met with them a few times and got to talking to one of the gynecologists about the work they were doing.

I’ll never forget a statement Bob made. We’d been chatting about some of the fertility procedures when he declared: “No woman over 40 should even attempt to get pregnant.”

The laugh bubbled through my teeth before I could compose myself. “What?!”

“No really,” he said. “The eggs are too old and too much can go wrong.”

“But,” I countered, “what about the 40-somethings who aren’t having a problem? They’re not coming to see you. They’re not part of your perspective.”

Bob didn’t get it. But I did. And since then I notice this type of tunnel vision. Six months ago, returning to the office after a Friday lunch, I had a bad sidewalk fall. It was a fluke of a misstep, but my right arm hit the concrete like a pile driver. Definite injury. I took my arm home immediately. I considered a stop at the ER but imagined it would be crowded and slow, I could move my fingers, and I concluded that if it got worse I could visit the hospital later.

There was so much pain that night I couldn’t turn in bed without waking. Close to dawn I started accepting the idea that I must have broken something. But a few hours later I got some mobility back in the elbow. As days passed the bruising appeared, the wrist and elbow griped, and I began to heal.

A few weeks later I was talking to a doctor client and mentioned the injury. He chided me for not seeing an MD about it. I said, “but Michael, it seems to be healing.” He told me I just didn’t know the things that could go wrong. Why he could tell me stories…

And I said, “what you can’t tell me about are all the folks who fall and don’t see a doctor and don’t need to; they’re not part of your ‘study.’”

It was the same thing with friends of my parents, who owned stores and thought every customer was a shoplifter. Or folks in security or intelligence who declare that everyone is an enemy: “you just don’t know…” (yeah, well neither do you).

We live in a diverse, changing, complicated world. My advice is mix it up. Make changes. Meet new people. Try other activities. Move.