Caring for yourself as a caregiver

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I’d love to be able to say to you that there is a instant solution to your problems as a caregiver. But unfortunately there is no easy solution. Change doesn’t suddenly happen overnight. It requires hard work. And mostly work on yourself.

As I said, being more effective as a caregiver requires work on yourself. You need to realise that without change within yourself, you won’t be able to be at your optimum dealing with the challenges of caregiving. Change can be fun of course and that’s what I try to do in my coaching.

Which ever way you look at it, change begins with desire. Desire means motivation to do something, to do something better, to be more effective to make changes that can put you more in control of your situation.

In my many years in practical caregiving and coaching caregivers I have found that the more effective that I am, the more effective I am as a caregiver. Caregivers whom I’ve coached are the more effective after they learn this.

If you look at the image of the process strategy, you will see that change begins with desire and opens the way to learning, feedback and humility. If we want to do something different, we need to learn something new. It’s useless if you continue doing the same thing and get the same poor results.

I believe it’s important to try out new things as a caregiver and see how they work. I’ve found that when you introduce new things as a caregiver with your loved one who you care for you need to discuss it with them and find out if it works for them and you. This is a process of influencing and negotiation where you come to an agreement that is mutually beneficial to you both.

You can’t just expect the other person to change before you’ve had a change in yourself. You can’t expect the other person to react positively to your suggestions. Your first need to discuss the changes you wish to make with them to test the waters so to speak.

Caring for the caregiver is important. It’s what I’ve been doing with practical skills and understanding for the past more than 16 years both at home and coaching other caregivers because I believe it’s important to share your knowledge.

I’ve seen so many caregivers lose heart, become disillusioned, become frustrated and some have actually given up if they can afford to place their loved one in a home. But nowadays that’s not possible with staggering costs of professional care.

If you need assistance, then contact me via this link and we can see whether we can help or not. We don’t promise instant solutions as I said but can help you begin a new journey to become a more effective caregiver.

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