Introduction

In order to become, or remain, financially successful as a self-publisher, you must be able to quickly and effectively get your marketing message to your book-buying audience. Your book’s sell sheet is an excellent tool to do this. It’s a perfect marketing tool for offline AND online marketing – because it’s simple to understand, and gets directly to the point.

And, as The Professor likes to say, it’s “no fuss, no muss, no waste, no bother,” for you or the buyer. (He has a many insightful gems like that. I hear them all the time. He has one for every imaginable situation. But, he’s a very wealthy business genius, so we all listen.)

Here Are The 5 Essential Elements To Optimizing Your Sell Sheet:

Optimization Tip # 1: Keep It Simple

The genius of a sell sheet is that it’s quick and easy to read. It’s supposed to convey the most important and pertinent information about your book in a short, simple, and obvious, format. And, it must be appealing to look at and read while doing all of that. All of the information on the sell sheet must only be concerned with your book. No extraneous information necessary. In other words, don’t oversell or exaggerate.

Ask yourself: “What information is absolutely necessary that will help the buyer make the decision to find out more about my book, or go directly to buying it?” Get to it quickly. You only have about 30 seconds to hold onto the person reading your sell sheet. Use every inch of it very wisely.

Optimization Tip # 2: Differentiate Your Book

You’ve all heard about differentiation a million times before. Differentiate yourself, your message, and your book, from your competition. You know this already. If you didn’t already know how to differentiate yourself, your message, and your book, from your competition, BEFORE you wrote your book, you have much bigger problems that a sell sheet can’t fix.

Your message that you want, or need, to share with your reading audience, and how you write about it, needs to come through on your book’s sell sheet. Look at yourself, your message, and your book, from the perspective of your audience, your readers, your customers. Now show them how you and your book are different, or better, or more insightful, for your book’s subject matter, than your competition is.

Optimization Tip # 3: Build Visual Hierarchy

By “visual hierarchy,” I mean that the reader’s eyes should first be drawn to the most important item on you sell sheet. This item, or text, or photo, will probably be the biggest item on the page. This might be the book’s cover, for example. Or the title of the book near the top. You should get the idea here.

Then their eyes should be drawn to the second most important item on your sell sheet. Maybe this is a word or statement about the book’s subject matter. The text here might be bigger or more colorful than the other text on the page. Then on to the third most important information that you want the reader the see next. And so on.

Typically, these items start at or near the top of the page, which is where most people first look it. And when viewing on a computer screen, almost always from the top down. Your goal is to help the reader navigate your sell sheet in a pleasant, visually appealing, and easy to read format.

Optimization Tip # 4: Back Up Your Claims

The person reading your it will decide if you’re qualified to write this book, and help them with their problems, in a matter of seconds. Again, look at yourself, your book, and your sell sheet, from the perspective of the reader.

And then ask yourself several questions: “Is this person believable? Does this person look and sound like he can help me with my problems? Help me improve my life? Help me find the answers I need?” Does he have believable qualifications that prove he can write about this book’s topic?”

Remember, every word and picture on that sheet can help or hurt your credibility. It’s up to you to convey your claims about your book, and about you, to the reader in such a way that’s believable. Too much embellishment, or boasting, and you will lose them – in a matter of seconds – and they won’t come back.

Optimization Tip # 5: Make The Call-To-Action (CTA) Easy

By “easy,” I mean KEEP IT SIMPLE. Provide several uncomplicated ways for the reader to contact you and get more information about you and your book. This can be your telephone number at your office. It can be an email address directly to you. The absolute minimum that you must have is a link to your book’s website or landing page. It can also be a link to the book’s Amazon page.

If your book is available for sale to book stores, libraries, and universities, you should mention that your book is available through book distributors Ingram, and Baker and Taylor, for example. Keep in mind how your book’s demographic, or readers, buyers, customers, and clients, will most likely want to contact you.

Conclusion

Don’t be afraid to have more than one sell sheet for your book. You can create one that is more directed toward your clients that visit your office, for example. One for the people that read your blog. And, you can create one for libraries and schools. You wrote the book, so you already know who your audience, or audiences, is for your book.

Your book’s sell sheet can help you give your audience the appropriate message that is most likely to resonate with them to the highest degree, and help them to make the decision to buy your book.

Creating a good sell sheet for you book really is “no fuss, no muss, no waste, no bother,” for you or the buyer. (Oh no! Now I’m doing it!)

In the spirit of full disclosure, the idea/phrase of BLT (Believability-Likeability-Trustability) is NOT MINE. I would like to attribute the Originator /Author, but I researched the topic and was unsuccessful in finding the source. I was drawn to this quote/concept and truly believe with every fiber of my sales being that establishing Believability, Likeability & Trustability with prospects and client precedes any and all sales activities.

How about this 60’s quote – “Birds of a Feather Flock Together.” You have probably heard this at some point and time in your life. And it’s so true. People like to be around those that share their likes, beliefs, and trust. This has been true for centuries. So as the latest “Sales Gurus” preach their latest “success mantras & strategies” to achieve sales nirvana, let’s not lose sight of what has and does work in establishing a strong and authentic relationship with a new prospect or customer – establishing BLT!

When I think of BLT it brings me back to a book I read in the early 90’s, – “Contact The First 4 Minutes” written by Leonard & Natalie Zunin. The basic premise of the book is that in four minutes, you will know if the person you are talking to is someone you’re interested in. Their research suggests that it only takes about four minutes to decide and how to make an indelible impression the other person. Contact: The First Four Minutes shows you how to make that impression a positive one and to develop the skills necessary to make you an interesting conversationalist. Some of the skills you will develop are: understand confusing signals, develop the art of the compliment, project your personality while evaluating the potential of strangers and use rejection to reach the next step.

This book in an incredible resource and can help sales rookies and professionals to acquire the skills that are necessary to establishing BLT! I highly recommend the book. The information is as germane today as is was 255 years ago.

Prospects and customers really want to believe, like and trust you the sales professional. If you have their best interests at heart and go the extra mile for them they will help you succeed. So don’t forget to bring some BLT on your next sales call! Your prospects and clients are hungry for one!

Remember, believability, likeability, and trust all start with keeping your customers interests at heart and going the extra mile!

Happy Selling!

Healthcare in the U.S. is broken and only getting worse. Here are just a few examples of why:

-Of the $3 trillion spent on healthcare annually, $1 trillion is wasted;

-Many doctors are providing too much unnecessary treatment;

-Providers are paid for quantity of care vs. quality of care;

-Healthcare costs are through the roof for everyone; and

-Many patients are not aware of their rights and responsibilities within their healthcare.

Many people settle for the care they get from their healthcare providers when they should not. If you ordered a cheeseburger and got a hamburger, wouldn’t you take it back? Do you use that same tactic in your healthcare? Maybe not. You’re not alone, most don’t.

Have you ever had an experience at a doctor or hospital that was uncomfortable or frustrating? Had errors on your bills? Left a doctor’s appointment feeling puzzled? Many experience this every day. I’m here to tell you that you don’t have to deal with poor treatment.

Advocacy is a patient-centered method that can address many of the ills of America’s healthcare delivery, spending waste and inefficiencies.

Being a social worker for 20 years in many areas of healthcare, I’ve seen plenty happen to people who were uninformed or didn’t know what to say, do, or ask. Many times, negative outcomes were preventable.

What is patient advocacy?

This means championing the cause of meeting a patient’s needs and desires during their healthcare journey. This could mean speaking with doctors on a patient’s behalf, facilitating communication between healthcare providers, supporting a patient’s end-of-life wishes, correcting an erroneous bill, helping with insurance claims and so many other things.

Advocates also have focuses such as billing, insurance claims and appeals, specific diseases (cancer, Alzheimer’s, stroke), or getting and keeping good care (like me). There are professionals such as hospital advocates, patient navigators and nurse navigators in healthcare facilities to assist patients with their needs while they are in the hospital.

If you hire a private advocate (one with no corporate/non-profit interests) and pay them directly, their job is to go to the mat for your best interests. If you want to know where the loyalty of any advocate is, find out where their paycheck comes from, and you will have your answer. It’s not always with the patient, unfortunately.

Insurance does not cover advocacy (so private advocates must be paid out-of-pocket), as the government has not regulated our profession. Anyone can say they are an advocate because of this, even my sixth-grader, no matter what their level of experience is. Make sure to check their education, skills and experience before hiring them. Ensure that they are the right fit for your specific needs.

In advocacy, intelligence is not a substitute for experience. Many very sharp people have called on my services because they didn’t know how to handle their healthcare situations, some after making matters worse. They alienated the healthcare providers or they were labeled as “troublemakers.” Communication shuts down between families and providers – which is an awful scenario that does not help the patient’s interests. Advocates can assist you in a situation such as this, and many others depending on their specialty.

Healthcare is a business and you are a consumer. Further, you are responsible for your own healthcare. Patients have to take care of themselves and yield to a provider’s orders, as they are the experts on healthcare. Yet, patients have the right to question any medication, test or procedure proposed to them. Patients must do their part to have good health, as they are the experts on themselves. One cannot drink and smoke heavily and expect a miracle cure for their body after abusing it.

Healthcare spending can decrease once patients learn to use the healthcare system correctly, and a good private advocate can show you how to do that while saving you time, money and frustration.

Not only individuals and families can benefit, but corporations and non-profits can save by enlisting an advocate’s services. It will show their employees (especially those that are caregivers or have chronic illnesses) that there is a more efficient way to experience healthcare treatment, and possibly solve problems which can increase productivity!

The benefits of hiring an advocate can be priceless. Let one assist you in handling the business of healthcare, while you concentrate on the most important role – being a patient.

There are various ways to approach your business. You can take a purely pragmatic approach or you can apply practical spirituality and good business sense to growing your business. Let’s explore the latter as it relates to defining a niche to focus and direct your business efforts. Below are 5 concepts you need to understand. They are:

• Niche – A place, employment, or activity for which a person or thing is best fitted; a small notch or groove.
• Prosperity Niche – The results you create when you focus your intention, attention, talents, passion, and activity in a way that naturally fits who you are and allows you to easily attract a bountiful flow of prosperity into your life.
• Intention – A core decision to act in a certain way; inner resolve to follow a certain path or produce a certain outcome or state of being.
• Attention – State of applying the mind to something; observation, noticing; consideration with a view to action.
• Talents – natural endowments of a person; personal aptitude to perform well with ease.
• Passion – An intense driving feeling or conviction; ardent affection; love; a strong liking or desire for or devotion to some activity.

When you integrate intention, attention, talent, and passion into activity you have a good foundation for opening the flood gates of prosperity into your life. A prosperity niche is about setting up your business to leverage this synergy so that work is play and play pays you abundantly.

Many times people want to market to the general public, they want to cast a wide net, and be all things to all people. This is one way to do it but it can be very effortful and problematic. Creating prosperity is not about struggling and working hard and learning everything by trial and error. Go where you heart feels drawn, serve those you have a natural affinity for, and find products and services that make you feel good at the core. It’s so much easier to market what you believe in, what you love, what you would not want to live without to those you respect, have compassion for, and are truly attracted to.

Everything you do in your business should bring you back to your basic intention and at the core love is the greatest marketing strategy you can employ to grow a thriving and sustainable business.

Internet marketing is key to business growth and revenue increase. However, rather than investing in an expert, a significant number of small businesses in the Gold Coast are handling their digital marketing campaigns by themselves. And nine times out of ten, they’re not getting the results they want.. This is why you need an agency. A Gold Coast online marketing agency helps you strengthen your online presence and attract customers living in and around your locality. How?

•1. Hiring an agency means you’re getting a team of Gold Coast SEO specialists. These specialists bring a wealth of knowledge and experience into devising the most effective digital strategy for you.

• 2. Google’s ranking algorithms are constantly changing. An SEO expert keeps you up to date with these changes and suggests ways to ensure you remain on top of your game.

• 3. SEO Gold Coast agencies specialize in local SEO. They understand the Gold Coast business environment and know how the local market work. You would receive personalized marketing campaigns guaranteed to make your business thrive in the Gold Coast.

• 4. A digital marketing agency saves you a lot of time and energy. You can simply focus on other aspects of your business and let the experts work their magic.

• 5. After growing your online presence to a satisfactory level, you are bound to get lax about your online marketing. But a digital marketing agency keeps you on your toes with constant communication. The team reminds you of things you need to do to keep your digital marketing campaign on track. They help you grow and maintain your online presence.

• 6. Getting backlinks from sites with high DA (Domain Authority) might prove challenging. A digital marketing agency comes to your rescue by helping you build backlinks from credible sources which would, in turn, improve your ranking on Google.

A word of caution here: you must be very careful when picking a digital marketing agency. Some disreputable agencies engage in unethical SEO practices to quickly rank your business. These unsafe methods, usually referred to as black-hat tactics, prove ineffective in the long run. Google may even end up penalizing you. Invest in a company that uses transparent, white-hat SEO tactics only. If your hard-earned online reputation has already been damaged by these unscrupulous agencies, never fear. A reputable SEO Gold Coast company can help you rebuild, slowly but surely. Takeaway: If your Gold Coast business is not performing as well as expected, investing in a reputable online marketing agency is the best bet to turn your business around.

Oahu is encircled like a lei with more scenic miles of sandy beaches than any of the Hawaiian Islands. The island also abounds with water sports, many of which support ecotourism and are inexpensive or free. Yet most tourists spend their entire vacations at Waikiki. And they never know what they are missing.

Some of the best beaches in Hawaii and the United States are found on Oahu. You may have seen some of them on the Travel Channel. At least two of them, Lanikai and Kailua Bay, have earned number one position on Dr. Beach’s list.

Even on a tight budget, you can kayak, snorkel, swim, body board, take a surf lesson, go on a sailing dolphin swim cruise, paddle on a body board to a deserted off shore island, and still have money left for other eco activities. Amazing sunsets on the North Shore and the Leeward side are free of charge, as are front row seats to world class surfing championships.

And with shore waters surrounding the island no colder than most indoors swimming pools, there’s no need to rent a wet suit. Those with disabilities can use, free of charge, one of the many Landeez All-Terrain Wheelchairs provided by the Honolulu Department of Parks.

Before heading off for your fun in the sun, consider a few words of caution. Only enter the waters where there are lifeguards and no signs warning of strong currents or other dangers. Check with the lifeguard about ocean conditions. The City and County of Honolulu has a map of lifeguarded beaches that can be printed from their Website at Hawaii Ocean Safety

Here, you will also find beach safety tips provided by Hawaii lifeguard, such as warnings about climbing around on the rocks near the surf. You should always stay off rocks that are close enough to the water for waves to crash on them and/or that are slippery. And to avoid a painful sun burn, always remember to apply waterproof sunscreen. The cooling trade winds make you feel that you are getting less of those intense tropical sun rays than you are.

Stay safe and go home with lots of happy memories. As always, pay attention to signs and check with lifeguards if you have any questions.

The world of insurance and financial product sales is a large confusing one. First, you have the myriad of different products that already exist. Annuities, Whole Life Insurance, Indexed Annuities, Long-Term Care, Variable Life Insurance, Individual Health Insurance, Accidental Death & Dismemberment, etcetera, etcetera. Each comes with their own text book of explanations, definitions and specific rules. Then you have the tax implications of buying and using these products for yourself. Finally, you know you pay something to the broker that sold them to you, but you’re not entirely sure how much that “something” is.

There are a lot of financial products to be discussed, but since the baby boomers are the largest generation and are nearing retirement, and fixed annuities are often products aimed at retirees, I thought I’d give a quick overview of what they are and how they work. This is not comprehensive; but if you’ve been approached about buying a fixed annuity, or if you’re considering it, please take a minute to read the following. It might just save you a big realization of regret later on.

Fixed Annuities come in a number of different shapes and sizes. There are single premium, installment, joint life, period certain, and a whole host of other types. There are also a bunch of riders and add-ons that you can get too. Just about every major financial or insurance company in the country has its own suite of fixed annuities.

Despite these details, all fixed annuities essentially work the same way. There are four basic components to think of in a fixed annuity: how they are funded, how they work, how they are taxed and how they are cancelled.

How They are Funded

Fixed annuities are normally funded in one large lump-sum payment, but can also be funded in installments over a relatively short period of time. This payment could be old 401k money, a large chunk from your savings account, the balance in your Roth IRA or even the cash value from an old whole life insurance policy via a Section 1035 exchange. There are really no limits on the type or kind of assets that can be used to purchase an annuity, and the broker usually doesn’t care what those assets were previously used for or how they are taxed. They are paid a commission on the sale of the product.

How They Function

The term “annuity” is derived from the idea of annuitization, which is receiving a stream of payments for a defined period of time. They work in the following way. You purchase a fixed annuity with a large lump-sum payment. That money is given directly to an insurance or financial company and you will never have access to that same lump-sum amount of money again. Per a contract with the company, they make small monthly or annual payments back to you for a specified period of time (period certain) or the duration of your life (life only). These payment amounts are usually a specified percentage rate, determined by the company. They may be quoted as a “7% return annuity” but remember this is money that you’ve provided to the company. You pay them 100% of the total of the premium (for example $500,000) and they give you 7% a year ($35,000) for life or the period certain. That means it will take you over 14 years just to get your initial investment back. This doesn’t include the tax consequences which reduces the payout (we will explain this later). You have now gone 14+ years with a maximum return of 0%. Therefore every subsequent payment will have to be taken into consideration relative to the total time passed.

For example, if you buy a single life only immediate annuity with 7% payout for $500,000, and you live for 30 years, during that time you will have received a total of $1,050,000. Half of that was already your money (principal) so you gained an extra $550,000 or 110% return. That sounds great, until you realize it was over the course of 30 years. So your average compound annual return was 2.5%, which is less than the historical rate of inflation. And that’s if you live that long. If you die at any point of the “life only” annuity, the company keeps the money and doesn’t make any additional payments to your heirs. Compare that 2.5% annuity return to the S&P 500 over the last 30 years which yielded 8.56% plus dividends. The same $500,000 investment would have been worth $5,875,773 not including dividends.

How They are Taxed

Most advisors and the vast majority of clients don’t understand that an annuity has its own unique set of rules with regard to the tax treatment of the original premium and the subsequent payments. There are essentially two tax classes for annuities. Non-Qualified and Qualified.

A non-qualified annuity would be purchased using cash derived from the sale of securities in a regular brokerage account, dividend income, interest income or cash in a savings account. Many advisors tout the “tax deferred” nature of annuities but they fail to recognize that the income derived from them is taxed at ordinary income rates, instead of the much more favorable capital gains and qualified dividends rates you could get using an individual brokerage account. Also, annuities receive LIFO (last in first out) tax treatment. This means that your monthly payments will have a portion of them included in your taxable income. Alternatively, you could invest the same amount of money in a brokerage account of high qualified divided paying stocks and pay the qualified dividends tax rate on the income received, all of which would be a return above the initial capital you invested, not just a return of your investment principal like an annuity. On top of all of this, you also subject your assets to the 59½ rule (same as IRA’s) so you receive a 10% tax penalty on any distributions before that age.

A qualified annuity on the other hand is funded with cash from either an IRA, Roth IRA or a rollover of a qualified employer retirement account. Unfortunately, since annuities have their own rules, they don’t take into consideration two very important features of these retirement accounts: Required Minimum Distributions (RMD) for IRA’s or the Five Year Costs Basis Access rule for Roth’s. When you fund a qualified annuity with an IRA, you are still responsible for RMD’s starting after age 70½. This starts as a small percentage the IRS requires you to distribute so you have to pay taxes, but it grows over time. Since your annuity payments are fixed, you might be forced to pay a penalty or make changes to the annuity contract so you can meet your RMD. This will be an expensive issue to overcome. With regard to a Roth IRA, many advisors and clients don’t realize you have complete tax and penalty free access to your cost basis as long as your first Roth IRA was started at least 5 years prior. Normally, if an expense came up, you could pull out all of the money you’ve contributed to your Roth IRA to meet that need. Unfortunately with an annuity, your liquidity and cost basis are locked up and you have no access to them. There are more tax details, but these two are the main issues people run into.

How They are Cancelled

Finally, if you discover you’ve made a mistake in purchasing an annuity… you might be looking at a hefty surrender charge or cancellation fee. These can be anywhere from 8% of the original premium, all the way up to 40% for cancelling a contract. That is a serious price to pay for a fancy financial product.

Ultimately, the allure of annuities is the pipe dream of exchanging stock market risk for guaranteed income payments. In reality though, you’re only exchanging investment risk for inflation risk, and losing tax and liquidity benefits along the way. The next time you hear about the next best annuity, think long and hard before you write a check. You might just be locking up your money and throwing away the key.

At the time of writing, normal politics in the UK is on hold. At least nothing much is happening until the issue of Brexit is resolved – if it is to be resolved. The country is divided sometimes bitterly so. Add to this social division the normal conflict between conservative, liberal and socialist ideologies. Also, with the loss of its Christian heritage the various religious and non-religious ways of thinking is not helping unity in the country.

I feel a widening gap is growing between the rich and an increasing social underclass. As a consequence of all this social division in Britain, any time we each might be faced by someone whose ideas and hopes seem to threaten our way of life. The resulting fear and animosity can create a gulf between people.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TCR)

If we wish to reduce discord, can we learn from the South African experience? The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was a court-like restorative justice body assembled after the end of apartheid. It was empowered to grant amnesty to those who committed abuses during the apartheid era, as long as the crimes were politically motivated, proportionate, and there was full disclosure by the person seeking amnesty. To avoid victor’s justice, no side was exempt from appearing before the Commission.

Research found that the participants perceived the TRC on the whole to bring out some of the truth about the social division and violation of human rights. This was the case to varying degrees, depending on those asked. Some viewed the hearings as not entirely accurate. Some people would lie in order to keep themselves out of trouble while receiving amnesty for their crimes. Getting the right balance between forgiveness and justice proved difficult. Consequently, because of the unaddressed injuries of many sufferers of apartheid, victims’ groups, and lawyers, took various TRC-related matters to South African and US courts in the early 2000’s.

Reducing social division at the local level

Conflict is inevitable. We are each all capable of adding to the flames of discord and disharmony.

“One of the main tasks of theology is to find words that do not divide but unite, that do not create conflict but unity, that do not hurt but heal.” (Henri Nouwen, Dutch Catholic priest)

Which of us hasn’t judged someone or expressed anger when they opposed our ways of thinking? We each might be able to reduce social discord in how we relate with others. How do we embody our views as part of our relationships with people? Can we find ways of resolving disagreement by getting on better with those who want to frustrate us and are working against us. Can we find a better way of communicating? One that takes into account any common ground, any assumptions that might be shared. If we are successful then perhaps others might copy our style of interaction.

Here are some practical tips on how to go about this. They involve:

• Honest self-appraisal
• Not harbouring anger
• Looking for the positive in the opposition.

Reducing social division by honest self-appraisal

Without proper examination of our ideas, we can be unaware of some of the weaknesses of our arguments. In addition, I dare say many of us are a bit blind to our own personal faults. A love of always winning the argument can increase discord. Another is wanting to be in control of what others think.

Reducing social division by not harbouring anger.

Anger with someone need not be a lasting emotion. Bickering and friction escalates when we hang on to anger. When we make it part of ourselves and when we continue to judge or seek retaliation. To turn away from resentful thoughts we need to practise self-restraint.

“Once we begin the work of rejecting hatred and fear – even when we have a reason for feeling that way – we start to experience divine love to a greater and greater degree.” (Morgan Beard, Executive Swedenborg Foundation)

It is a battle within each of us between indulging in furious retaliation and exercising calm rational thought. It is easier to empathise with our opponents who are angrily jumping to conclusions if we were aware of our own tendency to rush to judgment.

Reducing social division by looking for the positive

It is easy to jump to conclusions about what our opponents are saying and misunderstand where they are coming from. However, it is constructive to look for good arguments used by the opposition. It can lead to give and take.

No matter how wrong someone seems, no matter how one might be tempted to write their views off and to think that they don’t have anything useful to say, actually everyone has some ideas that we can respect. They may have a view that is different from our own, however one can still respect their reasons for adopting such an opinion. It may not be the conclusion we make but nevertheless their motive may be good.

Conclusion about reducing social division

Some writers suggest that whether it be between individuals, between alienated local communities and groups, or tackling social division at the national level, the process of reconciliation will fail unless forgiveness, repentance, truth and justice are all present as part of the mix. It doesn’t work to skate over the truth. But how we honestly express our views in a spirit of goodwill is crucial. A very high bar to face.

We can each do our small part to reduce conflict and social division around us. Is there an interest in helping to build a new consensus? Or agree a compromise. Or if all else fails, a willingness to agree to quietly differ?

It will mean pursuing what is right and putting aside self-interest. Then we can better act as a channel for the higher source of harmony and peace.

“Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.” (Martin Luther King, Jr).

Health management is a big topic these days, as the medical costs are sky rocketing people are trying to keep in the best shape to avoid major medical expenses. However, after an age or due to certain issues, some things are unavoidable like high blood sugar levels. People with diabetes are quite common these days and they need to keep control of what they eat and how much glucose they are consuming. If the blood sugar level shoots up, it can cause severe problems like kidney failure, eye damage, nerve damage, stroke, etc. Therefore, it is important to make sure that blood sugar levels are always controlled and below a certain level. And this can be tracked regularly using a glucometer.

What is a glucometer?

Glucometers are small and handy devices that are used to detect the blood sugar levels in the blood. This is done by collecting some blood from the finger by pricking with a small pin availed. Then the blood is applied to the glucometer strip, which has a certain amount of chemicals in it. The chemicals then react with blood and send electrical signals through the sample to detect the sugar levels. Finally, the numerical data on blood sugar levels are shown on the LCD screen of the glucometer.

Features of glucometer

A good glucometer is simple to use and easy to understand. As most of the glucometers are for self-care purposes, the devices are designed with fewer features but effective ones. When it comes to digital glucometers there are simple ones that only combine LCD screen, power source like battery and internal memory. Also in advanced devices, one can find Bluetooth technology and connectivity to smartphone apps. Also in some of the advanced models, there is a voice technology that will tell the exact reading.

Other than all these features, the two most important components of a glucometer is the lancet and strips for testing the blood sugar. Needles are spring-loaded and have varied gauge size (smaller gauge size means larger size of the hole). And the next is the test strip which plays the most crucial role in giving the exact test results. These strips are imbibed with chemicals that help in sugar level detection. These are one-time use strips and you will have to buy them, keeping in mind the number of times the testing is required.

Importance of self-monitoring of glucose levels

Self-monitoring is one of the most important parts of controlling one’s diabetes. It helps not only in keeping a check on the blood sugar levels but also helps in tweaking one’s diabetic regime. This gives you time to take proper medications and treatments and also bring in more self-health awareness to avoid loss of treatment window.

Some of the advantages of using a self-monitoring glucometer are:

• It gives an insight if the medicines are working or not.
• You can learn about the food which is to be controlled and thus manage a good diet.
• It helps in deciding your day and various tasks.
• It makes a patient anxiety-free who keeps worrying about hypoglycemia.

I can almost guarantee that if you’ve taken any sort of health class, no matter if it was voluntary or forced by your high school, you’ve learned all about a balanced diet. You’ve found the importance of figuring out a way to have your cake and eat healthy too.

When it comes to a healthy lifestyle, I find it important to work out once a day and eat healthy throughout the work week. Let’s be honest, the thought of a strict no carb diet is dreadful, and how many times can we actually say it’s something we’ve followed through with? I know for me, the word diet and the thought of a dramatic change are too intimidating to even think about. Instead, I’ve reverted to a lifestyle with a balanced routine.

As for working out, I have given myself the goal of sweating for at least 30 minutes a day. It gives me the “I did something good for myself” feeling with the “OK I can do this” mentality. I chose 30 minutes a day because it’s not only doable but it’s also exciting to think I get to set aside a half hour to be with myself, my music, and not care about what everyone else is doing.

Similar to my workout regimen, I have set a limit to going out only on the weekends, except if there’s a special occasion. Alcohol consumption is tough on the body and paired with the loss of sleep can cause you to eat more and turn into a cycle of unhealthy chaos. I learned the importance of this balance by first cutting out alcohol altogether, only to experience the pendulum swing to the more common side of casual and social alcohol intake. It took me a while to develop an understanding of how my body reacts to certain spirits, and how often I can drink without putting a damper on the next few days.

For me, finding a balance between dining out and eating in has been nothing short of difficult. From my friends asking me if I want to go to dinner or the thought of not wanting to cook, finding moderation here is tough. Throughout college, I found it difficult to say no to going out to eat because it was social and I was exhausted from my day. However, once I began to meal prep, the game changed for the better. I started to give myself limits once again and told myself if I ate in at least three nights a week, I could go out to dinner on the weekends without feeling guilty.

Balance in life is difficult to find, through the hectic demands of work and the little time we have left for ourselves at the end of the day, I have found it important to balance the few parts we have control of.