Dear CareOne Family,
New Year’s is a time to look forward to what the coming year will bring, fully of optimism and hope about the unknown opportunities that will present themselves. It is also a time when we make promises to improve. As Alberto and I thought about that concept, we realized that organizations can make resolutions too. So with that in mind, we wanted to share our thoughts on what CareOne’s organizational resolutions should be for 2021. We have adapted these to our organization from an article in The Times by a wonderful thinker, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, who we unfortunately lost in 2020.
Our thoughts revolve around treating each other well. We spend much time together at work and like any family, we need to care for each other. Our hope is that we can take these resolutions to heart, implement them in our organization and be better for each other. The healthier our organization, the better and more compassionate care we can provide.
1. Give thanks. Once a day take quiet time to feel gratitude for our co-workers and what we have, not impatience for what we don’t have.
2. Praise. Catch someone doing something right and say so. Most people, most of the time, are unappreciated. Being recognized, thanked and congratulated by someone else is one of the most empowering things that can happen to us. So don’t wait for someone to do it for you: do it for someone else. You will make their day, and that will help to make yours.
3. Discover meaning in our work. We are blessed to be taking care of others. Take time out, once in a while, to ask: “Why am I here? What do I hope to achieve? How best can I use my gifts to care for others? What would I wish to be said about me when I am no longer here?” Finding meaning in our work is essential to a fulfilled life – and how can you find it if you never look?
4. Live our values. Most organizations believe in high ideals, but act on them only sporadically. The best thing to do is to establish habits that get us to enact those ideals daily. This is called ritual, and it is what we hope Care One can achieve. Make doing the right thing every day a ritual.
5. Forgive. This is the emotional equivalent of losing excess weight. Life is too short to bear a grudge or seek revenge. Forgiving someone is good for them but even better for you. The bad has happened. It won’t be made better by your dwelling on it. Use it as a teaching moment for your co-worker. Move on.
6. Keep learning. We are surrounded by seniors who are a treasure to our society. One such lady, who was celebrating her 105th birthday, full of energy and fun, was asked “What’s the secret?” “Never be afraid to learn something new,” she said. It makes you realize that if you are willing to learn, you can be 105 and still young. If you are not, you can be 25 and already old.
7. Learn to listen. Often in conversation we spend half our time thinking of what we want to say next instead of paying attention to what the other person is saying. Listening is one of the greatest gifts we can give to someone else. It means that we are open to them, that we take them seriously and that we accept graciously their gift of words.
8. Transform suffering. We do our best, but not every clinical outcome can be the best. When things don’t go well, use the experience to sensitize you to the pain of others. Be compassionate. The greatest people – people who survived tragedy and became stronger as a result – did not ask “Why did this happen to me?” Instead, they asked “What does this now allow me to do that I could not have done before?” They refused to become victims of circumstance. They learned from these experiences and became, instead, agents of hope.
Our organization is too full of blessings to ignore them. Live, give, forgive, celebrate, and praise: these are still the best ways to make our company a place where miracles happen, thereby turning work itself into a blessing.
Happy New Year,
Lizzy and Alberto