Caring for your diabetes is a lot of work every day. It's easy to get tired of having to care for it, or to feel discouraged when things don't go the way that you want them to. You may have days when you just want to give up.
Some people look to their family, friends, or health care team to give them motivation or will power. Though it is true that other people can inspire you and support your efforts, which certainly helps, the best motivation comes from within yourself.
There are some things you can do that will help you to stay motivated:
- Set goals. If you aren't sure where you are going, it’s easy to feel lost. Choose a goal that you want to reach and then smaller steps you can do each day on your way to your goals. If you cannot make a step, don't think of it as a failure. Instead, choose a new step to try.
- Believe in yourself. It has been shown that people who believe that they can do something are more likely to be successful.
- Seek support. The support of others can help you to feel surer of yourself. Your supporters can offer you advice and empathy.
- Change how you think. The way you think about a situation affects both your feelings and how you act. Do you think of diabetes as a burden, a problem or a challenge? You can't make your diabetes go away, but you can choose to think about it differently.
- Use coping strategies. You have probably faced other difficult situations and overcome barriers in your life. How did you overcome or cope with those? Prayer, meditation and talking with a friend, family member or counselor can help.
- And finally, don't give up. If things don't go well one day, start over the next.
Your Diabetes Responsibilities
- Learn all that you can about diabetes and how to care for it, and keep up-to-date
- Set goals and work towards them
- Keep your appointments
- Tell your provider about symptoms, side effects of medicines or any other problems that affect your blood sugar or how you care for yourself
- Check your blood sugar and use the information to make decisions
- Ask questions
- Provide honest information
- Remind your provider about the need for annual tests and procedures
- Have these and other important tests done
