We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. – Will Durant
We prefer to focus on New Year’s “Solutions” (rather than resolutions) as we mentioned in our last blog. It’s said that nearly 1 in 4 quit their attempts at their New Year’s resolutions within the first week, and a majority quit before the end of January. So out with “resolutions”, and in with “solutions” for us. Check out our last blog to learn a couple of our personal 2023 New Year’s solutions!
Another personal New Year’s solution for us in 2023 to try to bring focus on the positive in our lives and do more of what’s working for us (principles of a solution-focused approach to life). A tool we’re using is quick daily journaling. As two people who don’t typically write journals, this has been an enlightening endeavor and adventure in the new year! The resource we are currently using is The Five Minute Journal pictured above (we are in no way receiving sponsorship/support). We want to share it with you as we are finding it helpful and thought you and those you see in practice might find it helpful too.
The journal incorporates solution-focused principles including:
- Gratitude
- Daily affirmations
- Highlights and learnings of the day (so that one can build upon those)
We’ll share more on these as tools in future posts – tools that can help one create the life they want (whether they choose to journal or not). And we’ll share some of our personal learnings and highlights along the way.
This journaling experience is a positive practice to begin and end each day. And truly it’s taking us 5 minutes or less. Admittedly, the first few days, Tami found fitting this new routine in a bit challenging, but kept reminding herself 1% effort beats 0% and to just write what she could. (Maybe she couldn’t identify 3 highlights of the day, but she could identify 2, so go with that). A few weeks in, we now find ourselves thinking throughout the day what we want to capture in the journal at day’s end!
Our discoveries our first couple of weeks in with our 5-minute journal experience:
- It has brought consistency and accountability.
- It’s providing a snapshot, if you will, each day of our positive experiences
- It’s helping us create a better day, particularly in regard to what we have control over
- We’re finding its a commitment we can stick with
Do you think this approach can help your clients move forward with their diabetes goals? Let us know if you choose to start implementing The Five Minute Journal approach in your personal life or in your practice and how it’s helping you stay focused on the positive this year. Stay tuned to future blog posts as we “practice what we preach” and share our insights with 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.
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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.
