December 18, 2024 • 19 mins
Seniors have just as much to gain from goal setting as anyone else, and in this episode, we promise to shatter the misconception that older adults no longer need goals. Discover how setting and pursuing goals can keep the mind sharp, enhance mental health, and bring joy and excitement to everyday life. We share inspiring stories, like that of a client who rekindled her passion for painting, showing the profound personal growth that can come from even the smallest objectives. From combating loneliness to boosting self-esteem, we're diving into why goal setting is a vital practice at any age.
Join us on this journey of empowerment, where we unravel how goals can provide purpose, stave off boredom, and combat burnout. We emphasize the crucial role of family members and caregivers as supportive allies, helping seniors stay motivated and inspired. With practical tips on writing and prioritizing goals, as well as tapping into local resources, we hope to guide listeners towards a more fulfilling life. Listen in to hear about the rewarding moments when seniors not only reach their goals but also exceed them, leaving limitations in the dust and embracing new possibilities.
Please visit our website for more information: https://www.comfortkeepers.com/offices/florida/davie/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Comfort Keepers Davy podcast,
where we elevate the humanspirit.
Here's your host, ChristyGroulet.
Hello everyone, I'm not youractual host, that's Christy, but
I'm your co-host, Jeremy Wolf,as always here for the party.
Christy, always a pleasure tosee you.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Good to see you too, Jeremy.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Almost Christmas Nice to see you too, jeremy, almost
Christmas Ooh, got the tree inthe background.
(00:48):
Still got to get gifts for thekids, but we got a little bit of
time left because most peoplework hard their whole life to
get to retirement so they don'thave to deal with goal setting
and they could just relax andtravel and whatever it is.
But you got me thinking abouthow important it is for a host
of reasons.
I'll let you get into some ofthat.
But first off, what inspiredyou in the first place to do the
article on goal setting forseniors?
Speaker 2 (01:08):
It's really based on what you just said.
You just listed things that aregoals for people, so I feel
that people should be makinggoals, especially as we get
around to the holidays and thenew year up and coming.
It's just the time where peopledo want to sit down and think
about what do they want thisnext year to look like, and
truly goals can be any time ofthe year.
(01:30):
It's just the time where youand I both know that everybody
is thinking, whether they'rewriting them down or not, what
are we going to do differentlyin the year 2025?
So I thought it was fitting.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Tis the season as they say.
It was fitting Tis the season,as they say.
But why do you think, asidefrom what I just said, why do
you think goals?
They're often overlooked forseniors, again aside from the
fact that you get older.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Yeah, because that really is.
It needs to be debunked thatyou've reached a certain level
in your life, right, You'vemaxed out of all the levels and
you can't go anywhere else.
And now you're not going tohave any goals because you get
to just there's always a newlevel.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Christy Right, you never maxed out.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Everybody should have something to look forward to.
And having a goal keeps yourmind sharp, it gives you
something to look forward to andit just keeps you engaged.
I really want to debunk theentire premise of seniors not
having goals, because, truly,when you don't have a goal, what
are you doing?
Nothing.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Kind of just coasting by, but I wanted to dig in a
little further because we talkedon a previous episode a lot
about mental health and I thinkthis ties into that and you
alluded to it just now when youwere talking about from a mental
aspect.
What are some of the advantages, would you say, for seniors in
setting goals to help with theirmental health, their loneliness
, their self-esteem?
Start there, and then do youmaybe have any examples of some
(02:54):
of your clients who, when youmet them, weren't doing this and
you worked with them and ithelped change their life in a
positive direction?
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Yes, okay, so let me just take it from there.
So seniors who are not settinggoals are typically more
withdrawn, right, we're talkingabout the mental health aspect
of everything.
There's not something thatthey're looking forward to.
A goal usually means thatyou're going to have some kind
of structure in your life.
It also means that more thanmore often than not, you're not
(03:22):
having a goal, where it's setjust by yourself and it does
involve other people, so youhave something that you're
looking forward to.
I know personally that if I havea goal and I am reaching these
little benchmarks as I getcloser and closer to my goal,
that I'm proud of myself.
And so when somebody has a goal, no matter the size, it does
(03:44):
not have to be a large goal.
It could be getting up earlierin the morning to enjoy the
sunrise, it could be somethingso simple.
But when you work towards thegoal, you have a sense of
satisfaction, confidence booster, and everybody, no matter the
age, their age, should be ableto enjoy that.
That's a huge thing.
Age should be able to enjoythat that's a huge thing.
(04:09):
I think that one of the one ofmy most exciting clients that
I've seen this come to truly wassomebody that was very much a
homebody, somebody that did notfeel that since COVID, that they
wanted to leave their home.
They wanted to stay in theirhome, have things delivered.
They didn't like to have peoplein their home.
Here we are Hello, I'm Christieand I I'm gonna be your new
friend.
And when we talk about goalsetting, we push boundaries a
(04:30):
little bit.
We push them for the greatergood.
And this individual used tohave a huge passion for painting
, used to love painting whenthey were younger, but they
worked a corporate job theirentire life.
They retired and then they justthey never got back into a
paint studio.
They don't have a paint studio.
So we got them set up with alocal group that meets at a
community center, and now thisperson, who started off just
(04:53):
going once a month to a paintingclass with her caregiver, fell
in love with it, so much thatnow she's instructing it.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
That's wonderful.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
The worst like exciting story, but my point is
that when you have a goal andit's to get out of your home
that was her goal.
That was her goal is to haveconfidence to leave her home.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Blossoms into so many wonderful things.
Yeah, we could have been doinganything and opportunity
presented itself.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
She fell in love with something again, and now she's
sharing that love with so manymore people.
It became something so muchmore.
People who want to have acertain amount of steps in a day
that's a goal.
Somebody who wants to eathealthier that's a goal.
Somebody who wants to justmaintain regular doctor's
appointments that's taking pridein their health that is a goal.
Don't cancel the appointment.
(05:41):
So it doesn't have to besomething where I'm now going to
have this Picasso piece of artthat I want to share with the
world.
It doesn't have to be that itcan be something.
It has to be something thatyou're going to take pride in
and that you're going to puttime into, because it makes you
feel better at the end of theday.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Absolutely.
That's a beautiful story.
Thank you for sharing so manyof us live our lives without
tapping into our true potentialand what brings us joy and, like
you just mentioned it, creatingthese routines, these habits
and setting goals and justincremental steps when things
sometimes can seem impossible,breaking it down and just
implementing small things everyday, giving yourself credit when
(06:18):
credit's due and not going toohard on yourself but continue to
improve and acknowledge whenyou do well.
These are all the things thatlead to happiness.
For sure you mentioned, youwent through the gamut you
talked about, like personaldevelopment, health, social Of
these different types of goals.
What do you, which of these doyou, find most impactful for
seniors?
If you're talking to a clientthat, again, is not in the habit
(06:40):
of setting goals, are there anythat resonate more than others?
Something simple like do youhave a go-to thing that you
typically do when you meet aclient and you try to talk about
goal setting?
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Oh, that's a loaded question.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
I have lots of loaded questions.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
I know, but it's so upon that person and their
physical ability.
There's a lot of things that gointo that, but what I would say
is is, if a person isphysically capable, I think one
of the best goals is just to getsomebody to be up and more
active in their own care.
So let's talk about walking.
Let's talk about getting out ofour love seat and watching our
(07:13):
shows on repeat.
Let's talk about walking aroundthe neighborhood or going in
and seeing something thatthey've never seen before a
local park.
To go and sit there and not sitin the living room.
I think that the momentsomebody can leave the comforts
of their home and be in natureis so important.
There is something about justbeing surrounded by nature that
(07:36):
just does something foreverybody's soul, and I know
that's a little deep, but it'sso true.
So getting somebody out oftheir home would be my first
goal.
If somebody is not capable ofleaving their home, then that's
fine.
I think that at that point wewould be looking at what is it
that we are capable of doing,because that's the one thing
that we never want to havehappen is based on somebody's
physical limitations, for themto be limited mentally,
(07:59):
emotionally, in any capacitywhatsoever.
Perhaps if somebody is bound toa bed or in a chair that they
are in, that perhaps we can movethat device, we can move that
to a different setting.
Maybe our goal is that we areworking on other parts of the
body for strength.
Maybe our goal is to makesomething that maybe wasn't as
(08:23):
movable more movable.
Now I'm thinking of someonejust came to my mind, somebody
that we wanted to be able to dosomething, but she had a really
hard time with her hands, and soour caregivers got really
creative with truly fabricatingtheir own little utensils to be
able to help this lady crochet,but she couldn't handle just a
normal crochet hook.
(08:43):
So anyway, my point in sayingthis is that you can get as
creative as you want, but trulylook at it from the standpoint
of what is in the best interestof this individual.
What is going to bring them joyand elevate their spirit?
What are they going to lookforward to doing?
Because the moment it feelslike a task, you're going to
lose all interest in it.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Yeah, 100%, and this is your passion, what you do at
Comfort Keepers.
But I'm curious at what stagein the relationship and
obviously it's different fordifferent clients but I'd
imagine that you don't just goin on your first day meeting
with somebody like, all right,let's talk about goals, because
that's something you hear thatwhat do you mean?
Goals?
Do you slowly introduce that toclients?
(09:24):
Walk us through what that lookslike when you're working with
seniors, as far as how you bringthese topics to light and get
them actually motivated to do it, because it's one thing to talk
about it, as we know, it'sanother thing altogether to
start implementing these thingsin your day-to-day life.
How do you go about thatprocess, christy?
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Okay, jeremy, I go about it by saying hey, I'm
Christy, I'm signing you up forservices today.
I want you to take part in yourown care planning and I want to
know what your goals are.
So actually, we do From thevery beginning we start talking
about.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
You set the stage right.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
We set the stage.
Yes, because it's so important.
I don't want to be somebodythat is telling somebody what
their goals for themselvesshould be.
We want them to have an activerole in everything that they're
receiving, the care that they'rereceiving in their home, and
you know what?
There are so many people whoare so surprised by even being
asked the question what are yourgoals?
(10:18):
Because they don't think aboutit.
What do you mean?
I should have goals?
Well, let's just talk about it.
And this is another reason whywe do this and we explain this
entire process in the comfort ofsomeone's home when we're
talking about it, because it's avery personal journey for each
person, individual who's goingto be coming alongside and
(10:40):
coming into your home to helpyou.
We want them to have aninterest in the goals that you
have for yourself, because howawesome would it be if your goal
is to get back into art,pottery, something along that
artistic line that I havesomebody who's also passionate
about those things.
You're going to be that muchmore excited about that goal.
(11:02):
Or you want to eat healthier?
Then I'm going to find somebodythat is a great cook, that
knows the different types ofdiet and not just bland.
Here we go.
We've got something boring toeat.
So all of these all come backto what's in the best interest
of the person that we're workingwith.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
Yeah, we've talked about this before.
You guys really do a phenomenaljob of doing just that really
learning about the client andtailoring a solution to meet
their needs, which is incredible.
What are some of the commonchallenges or barriers that
seniors typically face whentrying to achieve their goals,
(11:40):
and how can caregivers from yourexperience talking to family
members that are giving careoutside the help of a company
like yours?
What can they do to overcomethem?
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Some of the challenges might just even be
logistic.
If they're wanting to be moreactive in where they live, they
don't have the ability to dothat in their home.
They want to get to place A, bor C and they don't have the
ability to do that in their home.
They want to get to place a, bor c and they don't have the
ability to get there.
That could be just a logisticchallenge, and so having a
caregiver whether us or a familymember really become a partner
(12:11):
in helping them achieve theirgoal because there's nothing
more devastating than reallybeing excited to want to try
something for their best tobetter them and then they can't
get there or they can't get towhatever it is that they're
doing.
I also think, too, we findourselves in these seasons of
we're really excited, we getburnout or we get bored.
(12:32):
I think about that.
Maybe I'm projecting, but I'mjust thinking that when we have
a goal.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Sometimes you mean.
You mean you're a human beingyeah yeah, welcome to the party
thank you.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
We get bored with the goals that we have in place and
so sometimes we need to spiceit up a little bit.
Sometimes, what we've beendoing and what we're doing
everything right and we'regetting our goal, maybe we've
already hit our goal.
I think that's another thing.
What if our goal is to eatbetter?
We've been eating better for awhole month and now we're like
over it.
Okay, our caregiver, familymember or not coming alongside
(13:05):
and saying how can we do thisexact same thing, but let's
change it a little bit,sometimes adding a new little
element.
Or hey, you've succeeded andyou've learned how to play
pickleball.
Why don't we go learn how toplay this?
I'm just saying there's so manydifferent things that we can do
.
It's just proactively thinking.
Let's talk about that now.
(13:28):
Let's start talking about it.
Are we wanting to then get intosome other physical activity?
Are you wanting to do wateraerobics at that point, or vice
versa?
Whatever it is, that's all apart of how we lay the
foundation.
It's not just going to be fromthe beginning Okay, what are
your goals?
And we will never talk aboutthem again.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
That is not how we roll.
It's an ever evolving process.
Yes, it, yes.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
And it's based on the season that somebody's in or
maybe they're not as excitedabout what they thought that
they'd be super excited about.
Let's not get discouraged.
Let's just pivot.
Let's pivot and do somethingdifferent.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
So in the article you talked about finding joy in the
journey right, and you alludedto this earlier for yourself.
In terms of when you achievethese small milestones, you get
like a little rush of dopamine.
It feels journey right, and youalluded to this earlier for
yourself.
In terms of when you achievethese small milestones, you get
like a little rush of dopamine.
It feels good, right, the feelgood.
Chemicals come in.
So how does small everydaygoals contribute to a richer,
more fulfilling life for seniorsand clients?
Speaker 2 (14:25):
you've seen Having purpose, a senior feeling like
they have purpose even now,right.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
Yeah, cause it could be difficult.
When you get older, you feellike, oh, my time's getting
close to being done, I've donewhat I do and you can get
depressed without having purpose.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Yeah, yes, that's exactly it.
So being able to celebrate whatit is that you're doing now,
today, in the here and now, it'shuge for your mental health,
but ultimately that tricklesdown into every other aspect of
your life.
So that's what leads to a morefulfilling life for the rest of
your life, no matter what you'redoing.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
Love it.
What's the biggest lessonfamilies or caregivers can take
away from this?
Speaker 2 (15:09):
the idea of goal setting for seniors take away
from this the idea of goalsetting for seniors.
Don't limit them.
Don't tell them no, truly.
First of all, they won't accept.
No, I'll just be honest aboutthat.
There's a whole generationalthing there.
But don't limit people.
If they have a goal, then helpthem part.
Be their biggest cheerleader,their biggest advocate, to help
them make and reach that goal,because they should.
(15:31):
They deserve to be able to worktoward whatever that is, how
small or how big and don't bethe limiting factor in their
life, letting them know thatthey're already defeated before
they've even started.
Don't do that.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Love it.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
I'm pretty passionate about that.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
Yes, you are All right.
Some final thoughts here beforewe wrap up.
I'll hit you with two morequestions I have for you, if a
senior or a family memberlistening to this today wanted
to start this process right.
Forget about comfort keepersright, they're not working with
you, it's just the seniorlistening to it or the family
member.
What's the first piece ofadvice that you'd give them?
Speaker 2 (16:08):
I feel like the first piece of advice for goal
setting would be to write downsomething.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Write, down what are out of your head that you have
onto the paper.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Yep, exactly that's the first step.
You got to visualize, you gotto see it come to life.
Right, there's a wholepsychology behind that but once
you have it written down, thenwhy don't you prioritize what
those goals are?
It's great to have multiplegoals, but what's the most
important?
Don't want to feel inundated bytaking on too much all at once,
(16:36):
because this goal might takelonger than you expect, and
that's okay.
That's where you're going togive yourself grace.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
Look if it's anything worthwhile, though it's going
to take time.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Yeah, absolutely.
If you master it overnight,then let's make a new list.
Anyway after you've got yourlist and you know what you're
going to do, I think my nextthing would be look at your
resources.
Look at what's already outthere in your neighborhood or
nearby that you're not aware of,and that's where I Google.
Google is my best friend whenit comes to looking up what's
(17:08):
near me that can help me makereach this goal, or what other
resources are there.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
Last question, then we'll wrap this up For you,
christy what's the mostrewarding part for helping your
clients and seniors achievetheir goals through the work you
do at Comfort Keepers?
Speaker 2 (17:26):
I don't know if you know this about me, but I'm a
very excitable person.
I'm very excited for people.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Oh really, you don't say, I really do.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
There is nothing.
There is nothing more rewardingthan going from a person who is
so anxious or worried aboutmeeting a milestone and then
seeing them completely blow itout of the water, out of the
park.
There is nothing more excitingthan being able to turn right
back around and say I believedin you from the very beginning.
(17:56):
I knew you could do it.
There is such a greatsatisfaction, almost feeling
like I've reached the goalmyself.
That is how everybody on myentire team feels how passionate
we are and making sure that,whatever this goal is, it may
seem like something very simpleto one of us, but it's not our
goal, it's their goal.
(18:16):
We live for the excitement ofreaching goals.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
Love it.
I think that's a perfect placeto end, Christy, unless you had
anything else to add, but Ithink you covered it all inside
and out.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Yes, yes.
I just hope that people feelinspired really to go out and do
it, just do the thing.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
Yeah, absolutely All right, everyone.
Thank you so much for tuning in, as always.
If you like this content,please subscribe, leave some
comments.
Let us know what resonated withyou, what maybe didn't.
If you have any other topicsthat you'd like us to address,
please drop those in thecomments below.
There'll be a link down thereand we will look forward to
(18:58):
seeing everyone again on thenext episode of the Comfort
Keepers Davy podcast.
Everyone, take care and have ablessed day.
Thank you for listening to theComfort Keepers Davy podcast.
For more information, visitcomfortkeeperscom or call
954-947-7954.
Welcome to the Comfort Keepers Davy podcast,
where we elevate the humanspirit.
Here's your host, ChristyGroulet.
Hello everyone, I'm not youractual host, that's Christy, but
I'm your co-host, Jeremy Wolf,as always here for the party.
Christy, always a pleasure tosee you.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Good to see you too, Jeremy.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Almost Christmas Nice to see you too, jeremy, almost
Christmas Ooh, got the tree inthe background.
(00:48):
Still got to get gifts for thekids, but we got a little bit of
time left because most peoplework hard their whole life to
get to retirement so they don'thave to deal with goal setting
and they could just relax andtravel and whatever it is.
But you got me thinking abouthow important it is for a host
of reasons.
I'll let you get into some ofthat.
But first off, what inspiredyou in the first place to do the
article on goal setting forseniors?
Speaker 2 (01:08):
It's really based on what you just said.
You just listed things that aregoals for people, so I feel
that people should be makinggoals, especially as we get
around to the holidays and thenew year up and coming.
It's just the time where peopledo want to sit down and think
about what do they want thisnext year to look like, and
truly goals can be any time ofthe year.
(01:30):
It's just the time where youand I both know that everybody
is thinking, whether they'rewriting them down or not, what
are we going to do differentlyin the year 2025?
So I thought it was fitting.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Tis the season as they say.
It was fitting Tis the season,as they say.
But why do you think, asidefrom what I just said, why do
you think goals?
They're often overlooked forseniors, again aside from the
fact that you get older.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Yeah, because that really is.
It needs to be debunked thatyou've reached a certain level
in your life, right, You'vemaxed out of all the levels and
you can't go anywhere else.
And now you're not going tohave any goals because you get
to just there's always a newlevel.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Christy Right, you never maxed out.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Everybody should have something to look forward to.
And having a goal keeps yourmind sharp, it gives you
something to look forward to andit just keeps you engaged.
I really want to debunk theentire premise of seniors not
having goals, because, truly,when you don't have a goal, what
are you doing?
Nothing.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Kind of just coasting by, but I wanted to dig in a
little further because we talkedon a previous episode a lot
about mental health and I thinkthis ties into that and you
alluded to it just now when youwere talking about from a mental
aspect.
What are some of the advantages, would you say, for seniors in
setting goals to help with theirmental health, their loneliness
, their self-esteem?
Start there, and then do youmaybe have any examples of some
(02:54):
of your clients who, when youmet them, weren't doing this and
you worked with them and ithelped change their life in a
positive direction?
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Yes, okay, so let me just take it from there.
So seniors who are not settinggoals are typically more
withdrawn, right, we're talkingabout the mental health aspect
of everything.
There's not something thatthey're looking forward to.
A goal usually means thatyou're going to have some kind
of structure in your life.
It also means that more thanmore often than not, you're not
(03:22):
having a goal, where it's setjust by yourself and it does
involve other people, so youhave something that you're
looking forward to.
I know personally that if I havea goal and I am reaching these
little benchmarks as I getcloser and closer to my goal,
that I'm proud of myself.
And so when somebody has a goal, no matter the size, it does
(03:44):
not have to be a large goal.
It could be getting up earlierin the morning to enjoy the
sunrise, it could be somethingso simple.
But when you work towards thegoal, you have a sense of
satisfaction, confidence booster, and everybody, no matter the
age, their age, should be ableto enjoy that.
That's a huge thing.
Age should be able to enjoythat that's a huge thing.
(04:09):
I think that one of the one ofmy most exciting clients that
I've seen this come to truly wassomebody that was very much a
homebody, somebody that did notfeel that since COVID, that they
wanted to leave their home.
They wanted to stay in theirhome, have things delivered.
They didn't like to have peoplein their home.
Here we are Hello, I'm Christieand I I'm gonna be your new
friend.
And when we talk about goalsetting, we push boundaries a
(04:30):
little bit.
We push them for the greatergood.
And this individual used tohave a huge passion for painting
, used to love painting whenthey were younger, but they
worked a corporate job theirentire life.
They retired and then they justthey never got back into a
paint studio.
They don't have a paint studio.
So we got them set up with alocal group that meets at a
community center, and now thisperson, who started off just
(04:53):
going once a month to a paintingclass with her caregiver, fell
in love with it, so much thatnow she's instructing it.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
That's wonderful.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
The worst like exciting story, but my point is
that when you have a goal andit's to get out of your home
that was her goal.
That was her goal is to haveconfidence to leave her home.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Blossoms into so many wonderful things.
Yeah, we could have been doinganything and opportunity
presented itself.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
She fell in love with something again, and now she's
sharing that love with so manymore people.
It became something so muchmore.
People who want to have acertain amount of steps in a day
that's a goal.
Somebody who wants to eathealthier that's a goal.
Somebody who wants to justmaintain regular doctor's
appointments that's taking pridein their health that is a goal.
Don't cancel the appointment.
(05:41):
So it doesn't have to besomething where I'm now going to
have this Picasso piece of artthat I want to share with the
world.
It doesn't have to be that itcan be something.
It has to be something thatyou're going to take pride in
and that you're going to puttime into, because it makes you
feel better at the end of theday.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Absolutely.
That's a beautiful story.
Thank you for sharing so manyof us live our lives without
tapping into our true potentialand what brings us joy and, like
you just mentioned it, creatingthese routines, these habits
and setting goals and justincremental steps when things
sometimes can seem impossible,breaking it down and just
implementing small things everyday, giving yourself credit when
(06:18):
credit's due and not going toohard on yourself but continue to
improve and acknowledge whenyou do well.
These are all the things thatlead to happiness.
For sure you mentioned, youwent through the gamut you
talked about, like personaldevelopment, health, social Of
these different types of goals.
What do you, which of these doyou, find most impactful for
seniors?
If you're talking to a clientthat, again, is not in the habit
(06:40):
of setting goals, are there anythat resonate more than others?
Something simple like do youhave a go-to thing that you
typically do when you meet aclient and you try to talk about
goal setting?
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Oh, that's a loaded question.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
I have lots of loaded questions.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
I know, but it's so upon that person and their
physical ability.
There's a lot of things that gointo that, but what I would say
is is, if a person isphysically capable, I think one
of the best goals is just to getsomebody to be up and more
active in their own care.
So let's talk about walking.
Let's talk about getting out ofour love seat and watching our
(07:13):
shows on repeat.
Let's talk about walking aroundthe neighborhood or going in
and seeing something thatthey've never seen before a
local park.
To go and sit there and not sitin the living room.
I think that the momentsomebody can leave the comforts
of their home and be in natureis so important.
There is something about justbeing surrounded by nature that
(07:36):
just does something foreverybody's soul, and I know
that's a little deep, but it'sso true.
So getting somebody out oftheir home would be my first
goal.
If somebody is not capable ofleaving their home, then that's
fine.
I think that at that point wewould be looking at what is it
that we are capable of doing,because that's the one thing
that we never want to havehappen is based on somebody's
physical limitations, for themto be limited mentally,
(07:59):
emotionally, in any capacitywhatsoever.
Perhaps if somebody is bound toa bed or in a chair that they
are in, that perhaps we can movethat device, we can move that
to a different setting.
Maybe our goal is that we areworking on other parts of the
body for strength.
Maybe our goal is to makesomething that maybe wasn't as
(08:23):
movable more movable.
Now I'm thinking of someonejust came to my mind, somebody
that we wanted to be able to dosomething, but she had a really
hard time with her hands, and soour caregivers got really
creative with truly fabricatingtheir own little utensils to be
able to help this lady crochet,but she couldn't handle just a
normal crochet hook.
(08:43):
So anyway, my point in sayingthis is that you can get as
creative as you want, but trulylook at it from the standpoint
of what is in the best interestof this individual.
What is going to bring them joyand elevate their spirit?
What are they going to lookforward to doing?
Because the moment it feelslike a task, you're going to
lose all interest in it.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Yeah, 100%, and this is your passion, what you do at
Comfort Keepers.
But I'm curious at what stagein the relationship and
obviously it's different fordifferent clients but I'd
imagine that you don't just goin on your first day meeting
with somebody like, all right,let's talk about goals, because
that's something you hear thatwhat do you mean?
Goals?
Do you slowly introduce that toclients?
(09:24):
Walk us through what that lookslike when you're working with
seniors, as far as how you bringthese topics to light and get
them actually motivated to do it, because it's one thing to talk
about it, as we know, it'sanother thing altogether to
start implementing these thingsin your day-to-day life.
How do you go about thatprocess, christy?
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Okay, jeremy, I go about it by saying hey, I'm
Christy, I'm signing you up forservices today.
I want you to take part in yourown care planning and I want to
know what your goals are.
So actually, we do From thevery beginning we start talking
about.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
You set the stage right.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
We set the stage.
Yes, because it's so important.
I don't want to be somebodythat is telling somebody what
their goals for themselvesshould be.
We want them to have an activerole in everything that they're
receiving, the care that they'rereceiving in their home, and
you know what?
There are so many people whoare so surprised by even being
asked the question what are yourgoals?
(10:18):
Because they don't think aboutit.
What do you mean?
I should have goals?
Well, let's just talk about it.
And this is another reason whywe do this and we explain this
entire process in the comfort ofsomeone's home when we're
talking about it, because it's avery personal journey for each
person, individual who's goingto be coming alongside and
(10:40):
coming into your home to helpyou.
We want them to have aninterest in the goals that you
have for yourself, because howawesome would it be if your goal
is to get back into art,pottery, something along that
artistic line that I havesomebody who's also passionate
about those things.
You're going to be that muchmore excited about that goal.
(11:02):
Or you want to eat healthier?
Then I'm going to find somebodythat is a great cook, that
knows the different types ofdiet and not just bland.
Here we go.
We've got something boring toeat.
So all of these all come backto what's in the best interest
of the person that we're workingwith.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
Yeah, we've talked about this before.
You guys really do a phenomenaljob of doing just that really
learning about the client andtailoring a solution to meet
their needs, which is incredible.
What are some of the commonchallenges or barriers that
seniors typically face whentrying to achieve their goals,
(11:40):
and how can caregivers from yourexperience talking to family
members that are giving careoutside the help of a company
like yours?
What can they do to overcomethem?
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Some of the challenges might just even be
logistic.
If they're wanting to be moreactive in where they live, they
don't have the ability to dothat in their home.
They want to get to place A, bor C and they don't have the
ability to do that in their home.
They want to get to place a, bor c and they don't have the
ability to get there.
That could be just a logisticchallenge, and so having a
caregiver whether us or a familymember really become a partner
(12:11):
in helping them achieve theirgoal because there's nothing
more devastating than reallybeing excited to want to try
something for their best tobetter them and then they can't
get there or they can't get towhatever it is that they're
doing.
I also think, too, we findourselves in these seasons of
we're really excited, we getburnout or we get bored.
(12:32):
I think about that.
Maybe I'm projecting, but I'mjust thinking that when we have
a goal.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Sometimes you mean.
You mean you're a human beingyeah yeah, welcome to the party
thank you.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
We get bored with the goals that we have in place and
so sometimes we need to spiceit up a little bit.
Sometimes, what we've beendoing and what we're doing
everything right and we'regetting our goal, maybe we've
already hit our goal.
I think that's another thing.
What if our goal is to eatbetter?
We've been eating better for awhole month and now we're like
over it.
Okay, our caregiver, familymember or not coming alongside
(13:05):
and saying how can we do thisexact same thing, but let's
change it a little bit,sometimes adding a new little
element.
Or hey, you've succeeded andyou've learned how to play
pickleball.
Why don't we go learn how toplay this?
I'm just saying there's so manydifferent things that we can do
.
It's just proactively thinking.
Let's talk about that now.
(13:28):
Let's start talking about it.
Are we wanting to then get intosome other physical activity?
Are you wanting to do wateraerobics at that point, or vice
versa?
Whatever it is, that's all apart of how we lay the
foundation.
It's not just going to be fromthe beginning Okay, what are
your goals?
And we will never talk aboutthem again.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
That is not how we roll.
It's an ever evolving process.
Yes, it, yes.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
And it's based on the season that somebody's in or
maybe they're not as excitedabout what they thought that
they'd be super excited about.
Let's not get discouraged.
Let's just pivot.
Let's pivot and do somethingdifferent.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
So in the article you talked about finding joy in the
journey right, and you alludedto this earlier for yourself.
In terms of when you achievethese small milestones, you get
like a little rush of dopamine.
It feels journey right, and youalluded to this earlier for
yourself.
In terms of when you achievethese small milestones, you get
like a little rush of dopamine.
It feels good, right, the feelgood.
Chemicals come in.
So how does small everydaygoals contribute to a richer,
more fulfilling life for seniorsand clients?
Speaker 2 (14:25):
you've seen Having purpose, a senior feeling like
they have purpose even now,right.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
Yeah, cause it could be difficult.
When you get older, you feellike, oh, my time's getting
close to being done, I've donewhat I do and you can get
depressed without having purpose.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Yeah, yes, that's exactly it.
So being able to celebrate whatit is that you're doing now,
today, in the here and now, it'shuge for your mental health,
but ultimately that tricklesdown into every other aspect of
your life.
So that's what leads to a morefulfilling life for the rest of
your life, no matter what you'redoing.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
Love it.
What's the biggest lessonfamilies or caregivers can take
away from this?
Speaker 2 (15:09):
the idea of goal setting for seniors take away
from this the idea of goalsetting for seniors.
Don't limit them.
Don't tell them no, truly.
First of all, they won't accept.
No, I'll just be honest aboutthat.
There's a whole generationalthing there.
But don't limit people.
If they have a goal, then helpthem part.
Be their biggest cheerleader,their biggest advocate, to help
them make and reach that goal,because they should.
(15:31):
They deserve to be able to worktoward whatever that is, how
small or how big and don't bethe limiting factor in their
life, letting them know thatthey're already defeated before
they've even started.
Don't do that.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Love it.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
I'm pretty passionate about that.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
Yes, you are All right.
Some final thoughts here beforewe wrap up.
I'll hit you with two morequestions I have for you, if a
senior or a family memberlistening to this today wanted
to start this process right.
Forget about comfort keepersright, they're not working with
you, it's just the seniorlistening to it or the family
member.
What's the first piece ofadvice that you'd give them?
Speaker 2 (16:08):
I feel like the first piece of advice for goal
setting would be to write downsomething.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Write, down what are out of your head that you have
onto the paper.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Yep, exactly that's the first step.
You got to visualize, you gotto see it come to life.
Right, there's a wholepsychology behind that but once
you have it written down, thenwhy don't you prioritize what
those goals are?
It's great to have multiplegoals, but what's the most
important?
Don't want to feel inundated bytaking on too much all at once,
(16:36):
because this goal might takelonger than you expect, and
that's okay.
That's where you're going togive yourself grace.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
Look if it's anything worthwhile, though it's going
to take time.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Yeah, absolutely.
If you master it overnight,then let's make a new list.
Anyway after you've got yourlist and you know what you're
going to do, I think my nextthing would be look at your
resources.
Look at what's already outthere in your neighborhood or
nearby that you're not aware of,and that's where I Google.
Google is my best friend whenit comes to looking up what's
(17:08):
near me that can help me makereach this goal, or what other
resources are there.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
Last question, then we'll wrap this up For you,
christy what's the mostrewarding part for helping your
clients and seniors achievetheir goals through the work you
do at Comfort Keepers?
Speaker 2 (17:26):
I don't know if you know this about me, but I'm a
very excitable person.
I'm very excited for people.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Oh really, you don't say, I really do.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
There is nothing.
There is nothing more rewardingthan going from a person who is
so anxious or worried aboutmeeting a milestone and then
seeing them completely blow itout of the water, out of the
park.
There is nothing more excitingthan being able to turn right
back around and say I believedin you from the very beginning.
(17:56):
I knew you could do it.
There is such a greatsatisfaction, almost feeling
like I've reached the goalmyself.
That is how everybody on myentire team feels how passionate
we are and making sure that,whatever this goal is, it may
seem like something very simpleto one of us, but it's not our
goal, it's their goal.
(18:16):
We live for the excitement ofreaching goals.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
Love it.
I think that's a perfect placeto end, Christy, unless you had
anything else to add, but Ithink you covered it all inside
and out.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Yes, yes.
I just hope that people feelinspired really to go out and do
it, just do the thing.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
Yeah, absolutely All right, everyone.
Thank you so much for tuning in, as always.
If you like this content,please subscribe, leave some
comments.
Let us know what resonated withyou, what maybe didn't.
If you have any other topicsthat you'd like us to address,
please drop those in thecomments below.
There'll be a link down thereand we will look forward to
(18:58):
seeing everyone again on thenext episode of the Comfort
Keepers Davy podcast.
Everyone, take care and have ablessed day.
Thank you for listening to theComfort Keepers Davy podcast.
For more information, visitcomfortkeeperscom or call
954-947-7954.
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