A little while ago I received my very own copy of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People With Diabetes. It was written by Dr. Steven Covey in conjunction with the American Association of Diabetes Educators. Starting with the AADE’s 7 self-care behaviors, Dr. Covey adapts his “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” to diabetes care.

The AADE7

• Healthy Eating
• Being Active
• Monitoring
• Taking Medication
• Problem Solving
• Healthy Coping
• Reducing Risks

One of the less obvious points on that list is problem solving. The AADE says that a person with diabetes needs to keep problem solving skills sharp in order to react to high or low blood glucose levels or sickness when you need to make informed decisions about food, activity and medication. I’d say this also applies to healthy coping. Making decisions about diabetes care can just be HARD. It’s easy to want to give up, to play the denial game, avoid testing, and rationalize eating things you know you shouldn’t. All of which places us at risk, of course.

A brief summary of Dr. Covey’s Habits for Diabetes…

1. Be proactive: choosing your actions and taking responsibility for them. Reframe things – I choose to eat healthfully versus I have to eat healthfully.
2. Begin with the end in mind: Create a vision for your life based on what’s most important to you. Imagine a successful life with diabetes and make choices/set goals based on what is most important to you.
3. Put first things first: prioritize your tasks based on what is truly important. Which of the AADE7 would make big differences in your life? Choose the behavior that you think is the hardest or most frightening and make it your first priority.
4. Think win-win: share your goals and fears with the important people in your life including your family and your diabetes care team. Let them help you problem solve, motivate you, and keep you to your commitments. Win-win is about “creating a positive energy of cooperation.”
5. Seek first to understand, then to be understood: Listen to others first – your doctor and cde help you to learn the practical skills you need. Family members and employers need to be listened to, especially if you want them to change some of their behaviors. Then make yourself understood.
6. Synergize: (!?!?!) “Synergy happens when two or more people work together to find a better solution than either could alone.” Working with the important people in your life to help you make progress as a diabetes self-manager. “Always synergize with the goal of progress — not perfection!”
7. Sharpen the saw: (what?) “A man is busy sawing down a tree. He tells you he’s been sawing away for five hours. You notice that the saw blade looks dull and suggest he sharpen it. ‘I can’t,’ he says. ‘I’m too busy sawing.’” Errrr…okay. “Sharpening the saw is about keeping all parts of yourself sharp: physical, mental, social and spiritual.”

The last two are a little hard for me to totally “get” but the ideas behind them are worth exploring more. I seem to give up on my goals so easily which is clearly not “highly effective.”

You can order your own copy so you can read it in detail at the link above.