78 - Keep Asking Questions, Never Stop
Thanks to all of you who reached out following last week’s newsletter in which I shared some information about a recent health issue. If all goes as planned and you’re reading this on Monday morning shortly after it releases, I’m having some tests done to keep moving forward in this journey. I appreciate all the prayers and good wishes being sent my way.
Keep Asking Questions, Never Stop
TL;DR:
You are an architect in your life. To get the structure you want, you have to be an active architect.
We often accept the word of experts and assume they take care of the details. That’s not the right perspective. Take your own notes, follow up, and advocate for yourself. Keep asking questions. Never stop.
I hope you watched the video at least part way through. My friend R. J. Nestor shares it in his AP Productivity course and I came across it was I was watching the videos from this cohort of the course. It is a reminder of the need for clear communication when we are dealing with both the simple and the complex.
In the Facts of Life Book course and community, I teach 5 mindsets that are the foundation of creating your own Facts of Life Book. They are:
A place for everything and everything in its place.
The only wrong way is to never start.
It’s always a work in progress.
Process over product.
Ask questions. Never stop.
It’s that last one that I want to focus on because it has come up in at least two different arenas in my life this week.
Arena 1: Education
I’m working with a higher education institutional client who is having trouble attracting adult students. I used some old, but still highly effective tools of the trade, to help them identify some opportunities to improve their processes and attract and enroll more adult students. One of those tools is a secret shop.
To make a very long story short and to keep to the point of this article, I finally got to the point where I spoke with an admissions advisor at the institution. Their toolset, appropriately, lets me see the follow ups and notes that the advisor said he would take after our call. From what I can tell, he did one of the three. And, even after reminding him via email and a phone message (24 hours apart), of the additional steps that we discussed that he didn’t document in the follow up notes, I’ve still heard nothing. Since this is a client, I’ve gotten the information I need for my report to the President and Vice President who hired me, but it’s disappointing that the documentation wasn’t accurate to begin with and that it doesn’t appear that most of the steps that were documented got followed. If I were a serious student with this institution, I’d have to stay on top of it, escalate the issue, and try to reach resolution. Instead, perhaps I’ll be doing some process improvement work with the institution to figure out how to resolve these issues through better processes and easier tools for that admissions advisor to use.
Arena 2: Health Care
Since my relocation to Indianapolis in 2007, I’ve been a part of the Community Health Network for my primary care physician (PCP). This year, unfortunately, I’m learning about all of the other parts of the Community Health Network. I love my primary care physician - particularly because I can easily reach she and her team through the My Chart portal. After each visit to a Community Health location (of which I’ve had and am continuing to have plenty right now), you receive an After Visit Summary that SHOULD detail all diagnoses, medications, and conversations you had with the provider.
My two primary docs right now take excellent notes - but they often don’t capture my side of the story. On two separate occasions in the last month alone I’ve asked them to add my notes to the after visit summary to more accurately capture specifics of my condition or reasons I’m seeking care. More importantly, whole steps have been missed on at least three different occasions. These ranged from generally minor [a prescription that didn’t get sent to the pharmacy (even though noted on the document as given to me in paper)] to a whole condition for which I actually received both IV and prescription follow up medicine not being documented in the chart.
I know longer take advocating for myself as a nice to do. It’s a must do. But I know for others speaking up, particularly to people who seem like they are experts, is hard - and may even feel impossible. But, I hope you’ll speak up and remember that we’re all human and we’re all doing our best - even when some days that falls short. If you’re ever in a situation where you don’t think something is right, just remember mindset 5…
Keep Asking Questions, Never Stop!
Some Things You Might Find Interesting
Quarterly Retreat Workbook Now Available: The final quarterly retreat workbook for 2023 planning is now available. It’s free and available in the community. To download, just visit this page. I’ll be adding events and things for community members soon.
USPS Informed Delivery: Mail service at our new home has been weird to say the least. I use Informed Delivery by the United States Postal Service to digitally preview mail and manage packages scheduled to arrive soon, and I thought you might like it! You get an email each day showing scans of the mail that is arriving. I love this service and it’s free. Sign up here: https://usps.com/id-email
OptOutPreScreen.com: While the mail we want isn’t getting here - even some days when a picture of it does come in the informed delivery - we are getting plenty of junk mail. I decided to do a little research on how to stop this from happening and found https://www.optoutprescreen.com/. There is a free option and if it helps keep mail out of the landfill - all the better.
Dolly Parton Documentary Leaving Netflix: Since I’m anticipating being a little out of it following my procedure, we have cruised around and looked at some potential things to watch. While I will likely add some more Ted Lasso to my viewing list (yes - I’m very late to the party on this and The Morning Show), the Dolly Parton Documentary is leaving Netflix on October 6 so I will definitely be watching that while I’m chilling Monday afternoon.
Ways You Can Support Me
Join My Free Community
I am putting free resources into my community on a regular basis. This includes many of webinars, articles and other things you see posted here regularly. Join now for free.
Purchase one of my digital courses and/or products
I offer courses and digital products focused on organization, planning, productivity, technology, and personal development. Check out all of the offerings currently available at the circle link above. I’ll be restructuring how you buy access to my classes as I relaunch the newsletter.
Subscribe to and Share My Newsletter
If someone forwarded this to you or if you’re reading online, hit subscribe so you get every issue delivered right to your inbox every Monday morning at 8 a.m. eastern time.
And, remember to share this with a friend and/or on social media if you read something in here think someone else might find it valuable.
Buy Me A Coffee
You can buy me a virtual coffee if you feel my work has added monetary value to your life in some way. Just visit https://www.buymeacoffee.com/iwannabeme and follow the on screen instructions.
Subscribe to Medium
I publish much of my writing on Medium. To read all of the content there, you need to have a subscription which gives you access to the entire library of Medium content. It’s a great place where I start nearly every day. If you want to subscribe, consider doing so through my referral link: https://iwannabemewhenigrowup.medium.com/membership
Subscribe to Readwise
Readwise is an incredible service that takes all of the highlights you take on Kindle, on various web sites, and in so many other places and stores and organizes them for you. It generates a daily (or more often/less often as you prefer) set of highlights for you to review so that you can better remember what you read. Readwise also syncs with all kinds of apps including Evernote, Notion, Obsidian, Roam Research, Log Seq and more. If you’d like an extended 60 day trial, use my link https://readwise.io/kara
Get cash back at the pump
I’ve been using Upside for well over a year now to get cash back at the pump at occasionally at restaurants and on groceries. With upside, you can also see where gas is cheapest which, especially right now, is handy. To get started using Upside, download the app (links below) and sign up for an account. If you’re so inclined, you can enter my referral code: KARA3995. Then, join me in getting cash back. I’ve earned about $50 in six months through nothing more than a check in when I get gas. I don’t drive much anymore though so I know folks who have earned much more since they fill up their tank far more often than I do.
Get started today by downloading the app and signing up. Don’t forget - referral code KARA3995: Apple or Android
Affiliate Links
I do use affiliate links (a link that you click on and then if you purchase the tool, I may receive a little money or service in return) for products that I use and recommend.