We guide healthcare professionals in a solution-focused approach so clients can embrace possibilities, opportunities, and a fresh vision for the future.
Cheers to 2024 from us here at A Fresh POV for You! We’re ringing in the new year and taking time to be mindful and express gratitude for all that 2023 brought. We’ll be back in a couple of weeks with more fresh points of view to guide and support healthcare professionals in implementing a solution-focused approach to practice so clients can embrace possibilities, opportunities, and a fresh vision for the future. In the meantime, see below a few things we each were grateful for in 2023.
3 highlights Tami is expressing gratitude for from 2023:
Exploring Michigan on a 10-day road trip with my husband & this sunset view of Lake Michigan
Disco-themed Picnic with the Pops with friends – rocking our Disco accessories here!
Farm fresh eggs from my son and daughter-in-law’s Prairie Bluebell Egger chickens
3 highlights Deb is expressing gratitude for from 2023:
Celebrating the wedding of my oldest son Michael and Elizabeth
Combining a work trip to Germany with some fun traveling with my daughter, Diana.
Celebrating an early 90th birthday with my mom!
We welcome anyone interested in our approach to Subscribe to our blog and we’ll email you when a new post is published!
If you are a health care professional and interested in learning more about our solution-focused practice and approach, when you subscribe to our blog, we’ll send you in return a FREE resource of 10 Solution-Focused Questions to start a solution-focused discussion with your clients.
Follow us on Twitter @AFreshPOVforYou
Deb is employed by Dexcom, but her words and opinions in this blog are her own.
Tami is employed by the University of Kentucky HealthCare Barnstable Brown Diabetes Center, but her words and opinions in this blog are her own.
Memories from a magical trip we took to Scotland and Inveraray Castle
“The magic in new beginnings is truly the most powerful of them all.”
~ Josiyah Martin
There’s some “magic” at the beginning of a new year! Looking ahead with anticipation to possibilities, opportunities and a fresh vision for the future. And that’s what we’re all about here at A Fresh POV! A new year creates opportunities for renewal and growth. We believe in using the start of the year to focus on strengths and create New Year’s “solutions” (as opposed to resolutions). This popular blog we wrote in 2020 shared that one way to identify solutions is to focus on things that have gone well in the past, and pinpoint how you can do more of that (rather than trying to change).
Along those lines, Adam Grant, author and professor of psychology at the Wharton School of Business, shared in a recent interview, “You already have the knowledge you need to improve your life.”He discussed that instead of being passive, we need to step outside our comfort zone and challenge ourselves. Wow! A great affirmation of the work we’ve been sharing in relation to a solution-focused paradigm.
If you’ve followed our blog, you’re aware that in a solution-focused approach, there are many basic tools and skills that can be incorporated to support the development of strengths and progress forward. We encourage people living with diabetes, diabetes care and education specialists, and other clinicians to try out these skills that lead to recognizing and celebrating individual strengths. If you are a clinician, additionally embracing the role as a “Think Partner” who walks alongside their client as they grow and learn is key.
Join us in this new year as we go back to the basics and revisit some of these tools and skills, as well as share a variety of new tools. We’ll work through the development of strengths together. We believe that in all we do we need to have a sense of purpose, and that purpose will lead to happiness. Our personal goals must be meaningful to us and we hope sharing these goals may benefit others along the way.
So… aswe launch into 2023 we’re further taking our own advice! We’ve been reflecting on our strengths and what has gone well for us in the past. Here are our first steps in the new year as we focus on solutions. (Who doesn’t like a solution after all?)
Deb’s New Year’s solution. Hey, this is Deb writing! My New Year’s solution is focused on sleep and developing a healthy bedtime routine. Rest and sleep are way more powerful in healing the mind and body than we give it credit for. I tend to be a night owl – the evening just seems to “happen” and is not planned. I’ve reflected that in periods in the past where I had a more routine bedtime, I would awake at about the same time each morning and feel more energized. So, my goal in 2023 is to be more intentional each evening. I’m taking small steps to develop new healthy habits. The first step was to use the “sleep schedule” in Apple Health to set a bedtime and a “reminder” an hour before. So far, stopping all screens and focusing on relaxing, reading, and other quiet and peaceful activities has created a much better routine. I am now noticing that I wake before my alarm and have more energy.
Tami’s New Year’s solution. And hey, this is Tami writing! A few weeks ago I ran across a message that really struck me: 1% effort always beats 0% effort. That made me stop and think. In reflection, I have found success in the past in taking small steps toward a goal (when big steps seem overwhelming). A recent example, in preparation for holiday guests. After a full day at work, the very thought of readying the house for guests felt quite overwhelming and not something I could do. However, I found that I COULD tackle one room each day. That builds on one of our tenets in solution-focused practice which is to do more of what works. That strategy worked for me. (And the house was festive and welcoming when guests arrived!) So in reflecting on renewal in the new year…I’m choosing to embrace and build on this principle that’s worked for me before. 1% effort always beats 0% effort. I intend to quit talking myself into what I can’t fit in, and do what I CAN do, with the energy and focus I DO have. Early thinking…I CAN acknowledge 3 things I’m grateful for each day. I CAN use my elliptical for 5 or 10 minutes, when longer doesn’t seem possible at the time. You get my focus. Little wins pave the way for bigger wins. I’m looking forward to seeing what this 1% effort yields!
You won’t want to miss out on our personal journey over this next year as we focus on developing our own strengths, building some new healthy habits, and sharing how we’re evolving in the process! And, we are hoping to imprint some magical moments in 2023 and wish the same for you!
If you are a health care professional and interested in learning more about our solution-focused practice and approach, when you subscribe to our blog, we’ll send you in return a FREE resource of 10 Solution-Focused Questions to start a solution-focused discussion with your clients.
Follow us on Twitter @AFreshPOVforYou
Deb is employed by Dexcom, but her words and opinions in this blog are her own.
Tami is employed by the University of Kentucky HealthCare Barnstable Brown DIabetes Center, but her words and opinions in this blog are her own.
Taking a memory into 2022 of a beautiful sunset on Hilton Head Island, SC
What the New Year brings to you will depend a great deal on what you bring to the New Year. – Vern McClellan
WHO ARE WE?
In this new year, if you are new to our blog, we are solution-focused diabetes care and education specialists. We are passionate about doing diabetes care and education differently. Too much of life is spent focusing on problems. Instead, we believe in turning attention to possibilities, opportunities, and a fresh vision for the future. We see the benefit in stepping alongside our clients as “think partners” to focus on what’s important to them, what’s already going well, and build upon that to reach their goals so that they may live life to the fullest. We invite you to join us in doing the same if this is a new paradigm for you. We are advocates for person-centered, strengths-based language, and believe that self-compassion is essential when living with a chronic condition.
OUR MISSION
As we welcome the new year, our Mission continues to be that We guide healthcare professionals in taking a solution-focused approach to practice to enable clients with diabetes to embrace possibilities, opportunities, and a fresh vision for the future.
Our interest and passion around taking a solution-focused approach to practice (and life), means acknowledging what has gone well, acknowledging how that success was achieved, then identifying how to do more of that and build upon that moving forward.
8 TIPS TO TAKE INTO 2022 WITH YOU:
With the start of the new year we’ve been doing alot of reflection. We’ve pondered what has gone well for us, how we were able to achieve that, and how we can build on that. Today we’re sharing 8 tips that we’re taking into 2022 with us and we challenge you to do the same as well as share with your clients:
Make yourself a priority once in a while. It’s not selfish. It’s necessary. Skimping on personal needs can be harmful to our overall well-being. When we don’t put ourselves first and take care of ourselves, certain mental and physical risks can develop and lead down an unhealthy path.
Smile often and laugh more. Finding humor and laughter in the everyday world is a key opportunity to reduce stress. It can also decrease anxiety, fear, and help people cope with challenging situations. Personally, we often feel rejuvenated and ready to face the world again after a good belly laugh or a few silly moments. Suddenly the weight of the world is lifted off our shoulders. Learn more in our blog here.
Learn something new. Many studies show that learning new skills is a way to improve your life. Learning something new can even tie in with #1 above. It may be an “excuse” you need for some “me time”. An appointment with yourself – so to speak – and a break from work or family. Our big “learning something new” in the new year is learning how to host a podcast! Stay tuned, more to come on that!
Take a daily gratitude walk. As you walk, reflect on and express gratitude for what you are thankful for in the day. It can help you feel less stressed and focus on the good. Find other tips to get started with daily gratitude practice in oru blog here.
Talk positive to yourself, instead of listening to yourself. Rather than listening to your mind’s fears, doubts, and complaints, speak to yourself with words of affirmation and encouragement. Learn more about the power of self-acceptance and helping cultivate it in others in our blog here, and positive affirmations here.
Focus on “get to” rather than “have to” each day. It’s not about what we have to do. It’s about what we get to do. It’s easy to act as if we don’t have a choice, but in reality we DO have a choice on a great many things in life. We can choose our attitude, our actions, and how we view life.
Remember your “WHY”. Remember WHY you do what you do. When we forget the WHY, it’s easy to get burnt out.
Look for ways to serve and care. Referring back to #2, smiling is an easy way to show you care and takes nothing but a little effort. Maybe it’s helping someone achieve their goals or shovel their walk (this is top of mind for Tami as we write with 6-inches of snow outside her window). Think about it, if we do one act of kindness each day of the year, that can change 365 lives!
We were hoping to add “Travel whenever possible” to this list since we both were avid travelers before the pandemic. But not this year with yet another Covid-19 surge. So we’ll save that one for next year (fingers crossed)!
WHAT’S TO COME?
Throughout 2021 we launched a series of posts related to applying a solution-focused approach to diabetes technology. What will we write about in 2022? To start off, we will be sharing practical tips to transform primary care visits by incorporating solution-focused tactics to support diabetes management.
We hope that 2022 will be kinder to all of us and that together we can learn how to help people with diabetes live their best life!
We welcome anyone interested in our approach to Subscribe to our blog and we’ll email you when a new post is published!
If you are a health care professional and interested in learning more about our solution-focused practice and approach, when you subscribe to our blog, we’ll send you in return a FREE resource of 10 Solution-Focused Questions to start a solution-focused discussion with your clients.
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @AFreshPOVforYou
Deb is employed by Dexcom, but her words and opinions in this blog are her own.
Tami is employed by the University of Kentucky HealthCare Barnstable Brown DIabetes Center, but her words and opinions in this blog are her own.
