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The US healthcare system makes it difficult, expensive, and often impossible for people with T1D to access the care, education, and support they need to live. Around the Circle: Living Well with T1D brings together voices from across the type 1 diabetes community to share real stories, expert insight, and practical support for living well with T1D.
Hosted by the team at Blue Circle Health, a U.S.-based program transforming type 1 care, this podcast helps people go from just surviving to truly living well with type 1 diabetes.
Learn more at BlueCircleHealth.org
Did you know that the second Friday
in January is known as Quitter's Day?
So many people abandoned their
goals that particular Friday that
it has earned a name and by the
end of January that number doubles.
And I, I'm not ashamed to say yeah,
that that tracks guilty as charged.
My name is Scott Johnson.
I've lived with Type one diabetes
for 45 years, and today on around
the circle, we're gonna learn how we
can avoid those common pitfalls and
set ourselves up for success with
a tried and true system that's been
around almost as long as my diabetes.
I am here with Carrie Matuzsan. Carrie is
a case manager at Blue Circle Health
and is among the best in the world
at guiding us towards realistic goal
setting using the smart goals system.
Carrie, welcome.
Thanks for talking with me today.
Thanks for having me, Scott.
Now.
Before we start talking about goal
setting, can you tell us a little
bit about your T 1D story and
your role at Blue Circle Health?
Sure.
I'll start with the role first.
Uh, so I'm the case manager
at Blue Circle Health.
I'm gonna have help out with people.
Um, anything that's going on that
gets in the way of being able to
focus fully on diabetes, 'cause
there's a lot to life beyond diabetes.
Um, and then I've had diabetes
myself for 22 years now.
Um, I was diagnosed at a super fun age of
12, just a month before my 13th birthday.
Um, so, uh, it was a lot of, a lot
of emotions going on when it came
to diabetes and that diagnosis, so
I feel like that that just kind of
fueled me throughout the diabetes
journey and wanting to help others.
Tell me a little bit more about that.
How did you initially get involved
in, in diabetes Professionally?
Yeah.
I kinda started out, um,
completely accidentally, uh,
when I was first diagnosed.
I feel like I. The emotional
part really drove it.
Um, I remember being in the hospital
a diagnosis, and I had a doctor come
in and just immediately side and
said, oh, the waterworks are starting.
And you know that, that saying that
like, you, it doesn't matter what
you say, it's just how people feel.
I feel like unless you're in a traumatic
area and then you remember all the words.
So it kind of stuck with me throughout
the time and I didn't know what I wanted
to do when I was a teenager with my
future, but I knew it had to do with
making people feel better when they
had some sort of medical diagnosis.
I didn't want it to be diabetes, but.
It's kind of started that way and then it
just kind of fell into it as I went along.
Well, I think that we are lucky
to have you working in diabetes.
You're definitely a gift to the field
and, and help a lot of, a lot of people.
Is it challenging for you to work in
diabetes and live, live with diabetes?
That's a lot, isn't it?
How do you, how do you deal with that?
You would think it would be to
do 24 7 managing diabetes and
talking to other people about it.
It has just made it a little bit easier
because I don't have to hide it at
any point, like whatever's happening.
Other people know that that's fine and
it's been normalized in my workplace.
Um, and then just talking with people.
It's not so much that I'm giving
them knowledge, it's just more just
bouncing back and forth in order to
make sure that everybody is getting not
the care and support that they need.
So it's, it's actually kinda a
breath of fresh air to go to work.
I love that.
Oh, that's great.
You mentioned part of your role at Blue
Circle Health is helping people with the,
some of the things that, that sometimes
get in the way of thinking about diabetes.
Can you tell us a little
bit more about that?
What are some examples of
things that get people's way?
Oh, lots of things.
I, I feel like kind of, if you put it down
into one word, it's gonna be finances.
Uh, but for a lot of people,
diabetes is just really expensive.
We just know across the board
everything is very expensive
and it really shouldn't be.
It's kind of hard to understand.
All the things that should
make the price go down.
So a lot of my role has been gathering
coupons and understanding insurance
and understanding the programs that are
available that a lot of people aren't told
about, to make sure that diabetes is more
affordable for, not even just insulin,
but all the supplies that they're using.
Um, and then beyond that, we're looking
at how to make sure that, uh, food prices
are affordable and making sure that people
are getting the food that they need.
To support their bodies through diabetes,
that they're covered with housing, that
they have a job, um, and that anything
else that's going on, whether that's
legal or just getting around with
transportation, um, that, and healthcare,
everything that they need just to be
able to support life so that they have a
bit of brain space to focus on diabetes.
Oh, thank you for doing that.
I know it's, um.
You know, we can never not think about
our diabetes, but I, I can also relate
to sometimes when I've got, um, bigger
problems that I'm dealing with it, it kind
of falls to the back burner sometimes.
So thank you for, uh, all your work
and, and helping people stay safe as
they navigate some of those hard times.
Um, let's dig into goal
setting here right now.
Is it just me or is sticking
with our goals really hard?
Well, definitely not just you.
I think it is for everybody
probably because it's not a topic
that we've ever learned in school.
We're always just told to do better
and we're not told how to do better.
Yeah, that makes sense.
You know what, what makes this
such a hard thing for us in, is
it how we're setting the goals?
Are we unrealistic?
What, what are we.
What are doing?
What are we doing wrong and why
are so many of us falling into
the same pitfalls year after year?
Yeah, I think it's, I. I really think
it's 'cause we don't know how to do it
and we're always focused on the outcome
and not so much the process of it.
Like we, we wanna win, we wanna
get to our goal, we want to just
do the thing that we wanna do.
And the process of it is the
part that is not as much fun to
think about or even to plan out.
Um, so if we don't have practice in
doing the different steps to get to that
outcome, that we want that big leap from
where we are now to where we wanna be.
Is much easier to fall flat
than it is to do the tiny leap
that it takes to get there.
Yeah.
And it can be, I think, tricky to sort of
take a step back and, and just acknowledge
that things are not going the way we
intended and, and to re kind of reevaluate
and, and readjust, but we'll, we'll dig
into that a little bit more in a moment.
What about type one diabetes?
Type one diabetes to me, often feels like.
A perfect trap when it comes
to setting unrealistic goals.
Oh, exactly.
It's it when you want that outcome
and with diabetes, oftentimes that
outcome comes, maybe it's just at the
doctor's appointment, so maybe you're
looking at a six month or a year
timeframe and we're told, do better get
your blood sugars lower, eat better.
Uh, you know, get an A1C below seven.
All of those are the outcomes, and if
we're missing the education and the
steps it takes to get to those outcomes,
it's a lot easier, um, to fall flat
with that and not make the goal or feel
discouraged along the way, looking at how
big that timeframe is, um, especially with
diabetes, like we're, we're thinking about
that 24 7, so we have all of this data.
It's hard to see that outcome, even
if we're on the way to getting there.
And we're also given many,
many opportunities every single
day to really judge ourselves.
And oftentimes we judge
ourselves harshly, right?
If I wake up and I, I eat breakfast and
I take my insulin, um, I'm, I'm good.
I'm critical of myself.
I'm thinking, man, I messed that up.
Uh, what can we do about
some of, some of this?
Is there a a better way to,
to think about what we're.
What we're shooting for in our goals?
Oh, definitely, definitely.
I think with, with diabetes specifically,
um, I always think of, of my history
with Dexcom, it, it was so easy
before Dexcom to check your finger
and if it was a good number, like
I've had a good day, I got my 105 and.
You know, you don't have to
think about the entire day
because the numbers aren't there.
As soon as you get to the Dexcom
one, you feel safer with knowing
the number, but two, you see all of
the numbers when you didn't before.
Um, so that, that's overwhelming
and it's very easy to see
the bad in what's happening.
Um, but when Dexcom came out with.
Showing you what was your best day.
If you're like, Hey, January 15th
was your best day, uh, when you have
no idea what happened on January
15th, but you know that you're
like, Hey, this was the good day.
And it's kind of putting that ahead of
all of the bad when your brain really
wants to just think of the not so
good on how it gets to your outcome.
So highlighting for yourself what those
goods were, maybe writing down those
wins along the way can help when your
brain only wants to focus on the bed.
Yeah, that's very helpful.
All right, let's take a quick
break and then we're gonna dive
into some smart goal setting.
We'll be back in a second.
One of our favorite things is
sharing stories from people who've
participated in the program.
And I have one here from Madison in Ohio.
Hi, my name's Madison and
I've been living with type one
diabetes since December of 2024.
The biggest challenges I face living
with Type one diabetes is the lack
of education given to adult diagnosed
type ones and the emotional impact.
Having a life-changing diagnosis
thrown at you suddenly is difficult
enough without the added pressure
of having to educate yourself.
I went from being terrified of
needles to having to inject insulin
four plus times a day overnight.
I joined Blue Circle Health because I felt
that my endocrinologist did not have the
time to answer all the questions I had.
I wanted to talk to someone
who specialized in the mental
aspect of a type one diagnosis.
Most of the education I had access
to was geared toward type twos and
children and caregivers, and I did
not want to overwhelm myself even
more with misinformation online.
I also felt that the three months
between endocrinologist appointments
was hard when trying to nail down
understand my insulin and trends.
What drew me in the most to Blue Circle
Health was the fact that all aspects
were looked at when it comes to type
one, mental, physical, and social.
Without Blue Circle Health, I wouldn't
have made the progress I have.
Every person I interacted with
helped me grow and learn how
to adapt to my new normal.
I was able to ask the
questions as they arose.
Instead of waiting for my next
endocrinologist appointment, I was able
to speak with Catherine and get over
some of the fears and mental hurdles
that were holding me back from living.
Living a normal life.
Julian was fantastic at making me feel
less alone as a type one and helped
me make steps towards getting a pump.
Rita gave me the education
I'd been looking for.
The best part is how
individualized the program is.
Having one-on-one sessions made me
feel a little less afraid to ask the
questions I had and allowed me to
get the personalized help I needed.
Madison, thank you so much for
sharing your story with us.
You know, I'd like to give a quick
shout out to one of the many amazing
organizations helping people with T 1D.
And this is not an ad,
there's no sponsorship.
In fact, they don't even
know I'm doing this.
I'm just showing some love.
And this episode I want to
spotlight, uh, a great resource
for a realistic goal setting.
And it's the time and range coalition.
The Time and Range Coalition is a
program from Diatribe that focuses
on how you can use time and range
in your diabetes management.
There's a bunch of information there
and guides for those of you who maybe
are just getting started with time and
range all the way to those who might
be using time and range every day.
There's also a rich repository of
research documents as well as a
toolkit for healthcare professionals.
You can learn more@timeinrange.org.
All right, welcome back.
So, Carrie, we know some
of the common pitfalls.
Um, we know that we're not alone in this.
We know that diabetes is a perfect trap.
Talk to me about what
we can do about this.
How can we approach our goals
in a different, and, and
dare I say, a smarter way?
Yes, definitely a smart way.
Um, so just being cheeky, but smart
is a structure that we can use that.
One of those things that we're never
taught, but it sounds like something
that is very easy to break down,
to kinda to give people a structure
and make goal setting a bit easier.
So SMART is an acronym, um, that can,
as we break it down, I think it's
a great structure in order to help
people to break up their big goals.
So it's not such a big leap to whatever,
A1C or whatever distance you wanna run,
whatever goal it is that you're setting.
Breaking down that big leap into
smaller ones so you can make it easier
and see the progress along the way.
Yeah.
Let's go ahead and, and,
and go through that.
Like, let's take, we've got time.
Teach us.
Mm-hmm.
Teach us how we can leverage smart
goals and, um, and be better about, uh,
using them to hopefully achieve some
of the goals that we're working on.
Okay.
Yeah, I can, I can talk about what SMART
stands for and then if you're open to it,
maybe we can think of what kind of goal
you might have, or even if you make one
up, uh, that we could smartify so that
something that you can get an idea at, at
the end of the podcast on what you wanna
do in order to make sure that you can
get started on the goal without feeling
like it could easily become a failure.
So smart.
Uh, we look at the s first.
S stands for specific.
That means that it's, we're breaking
down what we wanna be able to focus on.
Make it something that's concrete.
It's very easy to set a goal of, I
wanna be healthier, but if you have
no idea what healthier means, you're
not gonna know when you get there.
So specific is gonna help out with that.
As is the MM stands for Measurable.
That means that we have a way to measure
how successful we are with this goal.
Again, we don't know what healthier
means, so we can break it down into
something very specific and measurable.
By measurable, that means that we're
gonna be able to say yes or no.
I achieve the goal at the end of the time.
Uh, next is a, you can have it
stand for attainable, achievable,
whatever kind of a word that you want.
That means that something that you can do.
Um, that's really important.
When I talk with people, they'll
tell me what their goal is, we'll
start to smartify it, and then I say
at the end, is this something that
you think you can actually achieve?
If it's not, it's not really worth it.
If they're not there to make me
happy or anybody else happy, but
if, if you can't do the goal, it's
not gonna be successful and there's
no point in even trying with it.
Uh, so r is a super easy one.
It's relevant.
It means that the goal is something
that is relevant to the bigger
goal that you're looking for.
Um, so that one can also help out
to weed out some of those goals that
you might be thinking about if it's
not relevant to that outcome goal.
Can we, can we pause there
for, for just a second?
I wanna dig in on the
relevant topic for a minute.
So, let's say if I'm, um, if I am
working on improving my time and range,
or lowering my, my blood sugar, um,
averages or something along those lines,
um, if I pick a goal that is, uh, you
know, I want to keep my house clean.
Like that's, it's, it
feels too disconnected.
It doesn't, it doesn't apply
to really that bigger picture.
Is that kind of where
that relevancy comes in?
Yes, exactly.
Uh, if it's, if it's along the
path, if it doesn't feel along the
path, you know, maybe cleaning your
house clean is important to you,
maybe for a different outcome goal.
We don't want you to focus on this
one goal, and then at the end of it,
be like, great, I, I achieved this
goal and I measured it and I did it.
But then we look at the outcome goal of
time and range, and you're like, I didn't
get anywhere with time and range, and
you, you didn't get anywhere with time
and range because the goal that you were
going for was with a different outcome.
Yeah.
I love that.
I love that the way you said it,
it's, it's along the path, right?
Or not along the path and mm-hmm.
Um, it's, it's, that helps me kind of
make some more sense of that in my mind.
Okay, great.
I didn't mean to interrupt you.
That was the R for Relevant.
What's the t.
D you were relevant right there.
It was totally fine.
So, T stands for time bound.
It means that you're setting a
goal that you're gonna check in on.
Um, if we, if we think about some of
these goals, like say, say you wanna
change your time and range, great.
What is that timeframe
that you're looking at?
And you know, time and range is a
little bit easier since it's already
creating a time bound version itself.
But if you're looking at bigger,
one of just, I wanna reduce
my A1C, I wanna be healthier.
Like what is the timeframe that
you're gonna check in on as opposed
to being just a goal that's open-ended
and I might kind of drift away from.
Your awareness and you forget about it.
So then when you do remember
it, you're like, yeah, I didn't
get anywhere with this goal.
I'm a failure.
Um, but instead the time bound is
gonna give you a timeframe that you're
gonna actually pay attention to it.
And at the end, check
in and see, did I do it?
Am I ready for a new goal or do I
need to keep going on with this goal?
Yeah, that's great.
So let's go through, let's go
through a few examples and.
I have a couple of examples we can work
through, but before we go there, one
of our colleagues, Sherry, she, uh,
we worked with her on some smart goals
earlier in the year, and she actually
recently just achieved her goal.
So let's, can we talk through what
her process was in her journey and
then we'll, we'll work through a
couple of examples from me too.
Okay, perfect.
Yes.
I'm so proud of Sherry and she was, she
was open enough to share her goal with us.
Uh, last January actually
was when she started it.
Um, and she wanted to, she wanted
to set a goal for Thanksgiving for
a Turkey trot, which is amazing.
And I think it's actually a
pretty common goal for people,
especially doing that Turkey trot.
The thing with it is it was,
it was a huge timeframe.
She started in January four, November,
and I think a lot of people do
that, especially with the end of
the year coming up and thinking
about New Year's resolutions.
This is a perfect time to talk about it
as people are looking at giant timeframes
like that, and it's very easy to go to
the gym in early January and be like,
I'm gonna run my 10 miles in November.
This will be easy.
Just start running and they
get tired, they get hurt, they
get discouraged along the way.
So with Sherry, and she was open enough
to do this with us as she set a smart
goal for the month of January, um, and.
I believe she said it at the end of
like, this is really tiny of a goal.
Like looking at what she set, which
was alternating, walking and running
for a mile, I believe was her January
goal, and it was just such a small chunk
compared to if she was only focusing
on the goal or outcome goal of 10
miles, walking and running one mile.
Seems so far from that.
Um, but, but we pushed through
it and focused on that and she
felt that she could do this
little chunk and we, we really.
Zeroed in on this was the thing to
achieve and measure at the end of
January on if she did it and she did it.
'cause of course she did.
She was able to achieve this goal
she set in the timeframe of a month.
Um, and that came up perfectly
to a time to reevaluate the goal.
So we made it a little bit bigger,
um, and looked at a longer timeframe.
We were very specific on which days she
was working out on, so that she could
stick to that a little bit easier rather
than just be like, I'm gonna go run.
This month that she picked, which
days she was gonna go to the gym.
She also had a backup plan.
Um, I think being in the New York
area, snow was coming around.
So she had a backup plan for when
weather was not very nice to her
and it was gonna throw off her plan.
Uh, so we'd, we'd dug into that 'cause.
When things don't go well in the
plan, that can throw you off.
So we came up with contingency plans for
it, um, and we followed her all the way.
And then she, um, went through
these small goals along the
way to continue to build on it.
And by the time November came around,
Thanksgiving came around, she successfully
ran her Turkey trot with the 10 miles
and we all celebrated as a company.
Absolutely we're, we're very
happy and proud of, uh, of Sherry.
And again, um, as you mentioned Carrie,
uh, grateful that she allowed us to kind
of shine a light on her goal setting, uh,
uh, example so that we could, um, help
teach that, uh, in one of the, actually
several of the webinars that we did.
Um, so let's, let's go
through an example of.
That I've got that we can
demonstrate the smart process.
So, um, I'm gonna say kind
of a big, sort of ambiguous
goal, and you're gonna help me.
Smartify it to make it a little more, uh,
systematic and, and feel more achievable.
So I'm not getting the sleep that I
need and it's, it's affecting my blood
sugars and productivity and everything.
So I want to get, uh, eight hours of
sleep, um, on a, on a more regular basis,
but I don't really know what that means.
So let's start with that as
the big goal and work through
the smart system together.
Okay.
Yeah, that, that's a great bigger goal
to have and it sounds very relevant
to pretty much every adult around.
And I love that you, even how you talked
about it, you said why it was important.
There's a lot of times
where we pick something.
Like, I, I wanna get more sleep.
And that's the goal, but
there's not that why behind it.
So there's not really
that drive to get it done.
So when it gets hard,
it's easier to drop it.
But you have that why of, of it helps your
blood sugar and all of the other things
that go into sleep that you had just said.
Those are really important that when you
do hit a hard spot, it's not if it's gonna
be when, when you hit that hard spot.
Knowing why you're going for
this goal can make it a lot
easier to continue on forward.
So is that, is that kind of the
first step is to identify my why?
Like why do I feel this
is important and mm-hmm.
You also have a system for
finding your why, right?
Tell us a little more about that.
I do, it doesn't fit into the SMART
acronym, but the Y is definitely a
great starting point, um, in figuring
out why you're doing something.
Um, and I, like, I was, there is
a, a bigger idea of just finding
your Y in just life in general.
Um.
I thought that was a bit too abstract
when I learned about it, so I kind
of brought it down to a level that I
would understand and I created in my
mind what I call the toddler approach,
which is if you imagine an itty bitty
little toddler who is in their why phase
and just asking you why all the time
that it doesn't matter what answer you
give, they're gonna say why after it.
So just imagine a little toddler,
so I'm gonna do it to you.
So you wanna get some sleep.
Why?
Um, because I, I, I hear that
that's what I need to do.
Why?
Because I'm, I'm feeling
tired during my workday.
I'm snacking too much.
And, and, um, I just, I think that
this is one thing I can, that I can do.
Oh, you know what I'm gonna say next?
So this would go on until you Yeah.
You know when the wise are gonna stop.
Um, so.
Well, we can end it.
I'll just ask you one more why, but why?
Well, I think that it is, um,
it's negatively affecting my
blood sugar management and,
and how I feel during the day.
So I find myself snacking a lot more.
I'm craving more carbohydrates than I
usually would and, um, I just, I'm not
feeling as healthy as I usually would.
So, um, and I wanna feel better.
I could ask you why, but this, this
is your personal toddler so you
can stop them whenever you need to.
But that is so much different of a
statement than, I wanna get better sleep.
'cause it sounded so disconnected when
you said, I wanna get better sleep.
As opposed to what you connected
to what really truly affected
you in your daily life and.
I know your values, so the
know, the affecting your work,
affecting your blood sugar, that
those are very important to you.
So when you can connect a goal to your
values, oftentimes it's by following
this, the toddler approach of the whys.
Um, then that can help you to come
up with a reason, and that becomes
the north star for your goal.
That when you get lost in it, you
can say, oh, I am doing this because
I want my blood sugars to be better.
'cause I wanna do my best at work.
I wanna feel the best that I can.
Okay, so.
A
good, we found at
North Star, we, we know
kinda why this is important.
We've, we've used the toddler approach
to ask why, to peel away some of
the, um, sort of fluffy first layer
answers to really get to the core
of why this is important to us.
What comes next?
Then we can jump into the smart part.
So, you know, you know that you wanna
get better sleep and you know why.
So then we're looking at a huge, possibly
a huge gap between where you are and where
you wanna be, and that a lot of people
stop there because it seems too big.
So that's where we break it down
and take a look at what feels,
let's just start with achievable.
So what feels achievable for you?
Now looking at where you're starting from,
what small step do you wanna take forward?
Um, one small step that I wanna take
forward is not using my smartphone as
I'm laying in bed, winding down my day.
I think that that is, um, an easy action
that I can do that, that will, will pay
big dev dividends in this, in this effort.
Okay, that's perfect.
That sounds very relevant.
'cause we know all the, all the
research that goes into how much the
smartphone can affect our sleep hygiene.
So you've already hit the r um,
you've hit, uh, the specific already
and that is very specific to your
goal and that to your focusing
just on your smartphone usage.
Um, next we're gonna look at measurable.
So if you think about where
you are right now, um, and
looking at what those steps are.
What is a way that you think you could
measure if you're moving forward?
Well, I'm, I'm worried that it will be too
hard for me to just go cold Turkey, so.
Mm-hmm.
What if I set myself a,
a pathway goal of, um, I.
Not using my smartphone four out of
seven nights of the week if I can.
If I can resist the temptations of
my smartphone as I'm falling asleep
four out seven nights of the week, I
feel like that will be a really, I'll
feel like I'm making progress there.
Okay, perfect.
Honestly, you could have said
anything in there because the next
part that comes up is the achievable.
It doesn't matter what you just said.
'cause I would ask you, does that
feel achievable for you right now?
It, it does feel achievable.
It feels a little bit scary also.
Like I, I'm used to unwinding
with my smartphone at the end of
the day and watching tiktoks and
Instagram and whatever, um mm-hmm.
And so it feels a little bit
scary, but it does feel achievable.
Yes.
Okay.
Yeah.
That's, that's a really good thing
to think about on, you know, if.
Sure it can feel scary.
That's fine.
It depends on what you're gonna
do with that scary feeling.
If it's scary to a point that you don't
wanna do it, it's very easy to set
the goal and then fail at it and stop.
But you would've thought about if
it's achievable, if he, even if
he said it didn't feel achievable,
then we can make the goal smaller.
If four nights seemed way too scary
and they're like, I'm, I'm gonna give
up on this because it's too hard.
Can we bring it down to three
nights, to two nights to one night?
To just half an hour or less.
It doesn't matter how small it
is, as long as it's moving you
forward and it's something that
you believe you can achieve.
Um, and there's no one
to judge you for that.
It doesn't matter as long
as you're moving forward.
Um, and that I think is the hardest
part for people to get through,
that there's such a feeling of
external judgment on anything that
we do, but really there's no one.
Watching you in this.
So whatever you feel like you
can do, that's gonna be the goal.
And then, yeah, that feels better.
I feel better about that.
Thank you for saying that.
No problem.
I didn't make you say how much you're
already on your smartphone, but
that's something you should think
about and figuring out what the goals
are or how small the goal should be.
And the last one's gonna be time bound.
Um, so if your goal is to completely
eliminate the phone and you're
looking at just reducing it by four
days, you wanna see how long that
four, or think of a time for how long
those four days should go before.
Um, you know, 'cause if you go a
year with four days, you're still
gonna feel like a failure because
you're not all the way done.
Um, so what kind of timeframe do
you think that you would remember
it and that you'd wanna reevaluate?
I think I'm gonna, I wanna start this,
um, as we record this, today is a
Thursday and I need some time for my
brain to kind of get ready to change.
So I wanna, I wanna start on Monday of the
coming week and I wanna go for three weeks
just trying it to see how it goes, and
then take a step back and, and reevaluate.
Okay, that's perfect.
And you were very honest with yourself.
You easily could have told me that
you were gonna start today and I
wouldn't know the difference, but
you were honest with yourself in
choosing a start date of Monday.
Um, so that's even more specific.
You have a very measurable of
the four days, less the week.
Um, at the end of the week you
can say yes or no, I did this.
And you can measure that three
times across the three week period.
Uh, and then it's three weeks from now.
Congratulations, uh, you, you
did it no matter what happened.
And then you can take a look at what
actually happened if you achieved it.
Fantastic.
Do you wanna increase it?
Was it too hard?
Do you wanna decrease it?
Or was it perfect?
But I think I need more time.
You can extend that timeframe
and just repeat the goal.
Um, is it still continuing
to move you forward?
If I've identified some barriers
that are getting in the way of, of me
meeting the, the goals, it's not about.
Beating myself up for kind of
succumbing to these barriers.
It, it happens to everybody.
Right?
Exactly.
It's more about what can I learn from
dealing with those barriers that I can
then adjust and, and incorporate into
my smart goal setting to move forward.
Right?
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, if you're, the barrier is something
that happens around you to you, rarely
is it the inside out, like there
shouldn't be shame that it's not that,
that you as a person cannot do the goal
if you physically can't do the goal.
We gotta adjust the goal.
There's nothing that's about anybody
that's stopping them from doing the goal.
So being really honest on
what those barriers are.
Uh, so there's often a way around
them and that can be built into
the goal if, um, you know, if.
If your kids are calling you at three
in the morning, six days a week, that's.
That's not your fault that the goal
is not working, but that can be built
into the next goal as something that
is taking the onus off of you and
allowing for that to not be part of
that measurable part of the goal.
So, Carrie, we've covered a lot today
and I know it's really challenging
to, um, to teach the whole smart goal
system in such a short, uh, podcast
episode, but if you had to pick a
few practical takeaways from our
conversation today, what would those be?
I think that it is a very.
Um, scientific approach where
there's not as much judgment to it.
So one, picking a why is gonna help
to figure out why you're doing a
goal and why it's important to you.
Going through the smart, even if it's
outta order, then the fancy word of
smart, like we just did, we can bounce
around and figure it out as we go.
Doesn't have to go S-M-A-R-T.
Uh, but going through those, uh, and
then reevaluating with no judgment,
um, really being kind to yourself.
Even if it means removing yourself,
pretend it's somebody else's goal.
How would you speak to a friend if
they were having a goal like this?
One of the biggest downfalls is yourself.
Just being mean to yourself.
Being your own bully is often the
downfall for a lot of these goals.
So removing judgment and figuring
out how practically you can
move forward will help you.
I love that.
Yeah.
I think it's very important, um, to
be kind to ourselves as we reevaluate.
And I love your suggestion about
thinking about it as if it's a friend's
goals that you're thinking about.
So that's, that's amazing.
Um.
If you, listeners, if you would like
more information on Smart Goals, Carrie
actually presented three webinars,
uh, on the, the Smart Goals system.
And those are all available on our
website, blue Circle health.org/events
and on our YouTube channel as well.
So if, if, if this was not enough
for you and you would like some
more, we've got plenty more for you.
Um, Carrie.
One thing that I like to ask every
guest that comes on the show, even
after all these years you've lived
with with diabetes, what is one thing
that still surprises you about T 1D?
That's a good question.
I think it's the resiliency.
Just resiliency.
One of the body, like we have an organ
that is not working to the best of its
ability, which for many organs doesn't
go well, but we, the body keeps going
even with a little bit of outside
health or a little bit of outside help.
And then the people are very resilient.
Like we are working to replace an
entire hormone that our body is not
doing on top of living a full life.
And we continue to go and we adapt.
Just that resiliency, both the, the
body lets us function and then our
brain lets us to continue on forward.
Always amazes me.
Ah, that's amazing.
You're right.
I hadn't, hadn't thought about that.
Thank you.
Well, Carrie, thank you again
so much for talking with us
today teaching us smart goals.
Uh, I really appreciate it.
Thank you for having me, Scott.
If this episode resonated with you,
share it with someone you would
love to see really nail their New
Year's resolutions this time around.
And then be sure to tune in for our next
episode where we're talking with a special
guest about how Type one diabetes takes so
much and how the system gives so little.
I hope you'll join us.
Until then, keep living well with T 1D.