What Are Your Outcomes?

What are your outcomes?

I often met people who tell me they want to get healthier or feel better.  When I ask them, how will they know if they are healthier? Or how will they know when they are feeling better?   I am often greeted by a blank stare.  
Sometimes, improvements happen slowly and can then be hard to see or even quantify.  That is why it’s important to have multiple outcomes and measurements to see how you’ve improved.  It’s also why we do regular progress exams at the office, to see if you’re on target to reach your goals.

So whether you want to get healthier, fitter, feel more confident, or speaking up more, decide what you want  your outcome to be.  How will speaking up more be measured?  Will it be when you can say No to someone instead of saying yes?  Perhaps it's talking to the person who’s been bothering your for a while.  

What if your goal was to get over your fear of public speaking.  What could be outcomes along the way?  Maybe you do a talk in front of 3 people or join toastmasters and attend the meetings.  Other goals could be making a speech at a friends wedding or even asking a question in class.  No matter your goal, remember to check in with yourself periodically to see if you are on track towards your goals.  

Here are some questions to ask when you are tracking something

• How well is this working? GIve yourself a score 1-10.  Decide if you are happy with your progress or if any modifications need to be made.  If something is not working at all, is it time to abandon the idea or get additional help.
• What are the efficient patterns here?  If you can figure out what changes are making the biggest difference towards your goals, you can shift your focus there and drop the less efficient habits or behaviours.
• What is not happening?  Is there something missing?  Why are you or are you not getting closer towards your desired outcome?
• What is novel or new?  Change is created when we see the same thing in a new light.  What do you need to see with new eyes?  Whenever I’m deciding to change the office i.e. add new furniture, move plants around, etc, I pretend I am a patient coming into the clinic and put myself in their perspective.  It’s important enough that I get all of our staff to do this.  

Whenever you are about to start something new, ask yourself what your outcomes are.  
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If there is a result that you wish to achieve in care or if you need help coming up with outcomes, let me know the next time you’re in.