Leading Greats #3

Hello friends,

Thank you again for reading my newsletter - Leading Greats!

This is where I bring reflections from my decades of knowledge and experience in healthcare and leadership incorporating well-being, plus new innovations, and best practices. I hope that you benefit from this information if even in some small way.

It’s Easter Sunday.

I hope you enjoyed a great spring day!

I was in San Francisco with a full unobstructed view of Golden Gate bridge around sunset last evening, enjoy a photograph of that view.

AI innovation in healthcare was noted in the press this past week.

More effort is focused on decreasing the workload of the front-line healthcare workforce with AI. The trend is to reduce redundancy where possible. But also, to assist in timely, safer, and increased quality of patient care with predictive data analytics.

Are there safeguards for Chat GPT-4?

Most everyone is still sorting out their tolerance, needs, and use for ChaptGPT-4. This is true for me though I am interested and hopeful for how it may enhance and simplify parts of my life - if social safety measures are in place.

OpenAI says GPT-4's improved capabilities “lead to new risk surfaces" so it has improved safety by training it to refuse requests for sensitive or “disallowed” information.

It's less likely to answer questions on, for example, how to build a b*mb or buy cheap cigarettes.

Still, OpenAI cautions that while “eliciting bad behavior” from GPT is harder, “doing so is still possible.”

Hopefully OpenAI will get GPT-4 trained up with socially responsible boundaries while empowering it to offer vast benefits to society.

As I have a healthcare background, I am more than curious how and when the true benefits of GPT-4 may show trusted efforts in this industry.

Personal privacy is a mammoth concern in healthcare for patients’ data. I have my eye on what improvements and assurances are coming from GPT-4 on this soon.

Mindfulness

A few too many recent fierce storms and power outages at home in the San Francisco Bay area had me seek internet and power connections in public a few times.

Things do happen for a reason.

This led me to sit down with Cory Muscara in our local coffee shop a few times. Later it seemed on purpose. Though that was not apparent at first.

Cory and I got to know about each other better, and I learned more of his work and impact. Cory is an author, keynote speaker, and well recognized teacher of  mindfulness and meditation.

As a practitioner of these principles Cory holds retreats regularly. He is featured on his you tube channel by his name, among other social media sources.

Feel free to check out many of the free resources Cory posts around mindfulness, and meditation. https://corymuscara.com/

This was surely great to learn what Cory is putting out in the world mindfully.

I practice meditation and I would recommend it hands down for anyone who could appreciate more calm, and focus in their lives. Of note, there are different styles of practice, if interested do a bit of investigation into what possible styles could work for you.

I practice Transcendental Meditation (TM) which does not involve any devices, prescribed posture and it is nonverbal. This works well for me at it is a low maintenance practice that I practice quietly for 15-20 minutes at a time with my eyes closed(the only clue I may be meditating).

The rewards are readily appreciated as the technique is based in Neuroscience and it offers relaxation and improved focus from a session.

BTW, it took over 24 hours to get my power and internet restored in Silicon Valley. It is worth remembering Mother Nature holds much  power than we may think capable at times!

Burnout in healthcare is an ongoing threat to the system.

And it will impact my life and yours if you access the healthcare system any time soon - and for the foreseeable future.

We know about the burnout. Worry is a great aspect of burnout.

Reducing the sense of worry and stress may be just one way to start reducing the burden of burnout.

Please pass any of these resources here along to anyone you feel could benefit in increasing self-care and reducing burnout.

Personal Energy

I am happy to share my transition away from a pot plus of coffee per day pre-Covid, to now rarely drinking coffee.

I got more appreciative of the various beverages below, and for reasons of how they impact my energy, plus nutritional gains included.

Here is a comparison of Match tea, Black coffee , Black tea, Yerba mate, and Cacao in terms of caffeine/stimulant content, amount and duration of stimulation, health, and nutritional benefits, plus health concerns:

1.     Caffeine/stimulant content:

2.     Duration of Stimulation:

3.     Health benefits:

4.     Health Concerns:

5.     Nutritional makeup:

Overall, each of these substances has its own unique nutritional benefits, in addition to caffeine content/stimulant, duration of stimulation, health and nutritional benefits, and health concerns.

It’s important to consume them in moderation and as part of a balanced diet.

Enjoy!

I will add that I was fast taken in my Cacao as a coffee replacement.

I could not recognize myself once I was drinking cacao powder in water(only). Unheard of for me.

This is just right for me since getting the consistency right. It is like drinking chocolate without the additional additive, sugar, or clean up.

Food Plan Initiatives

Since I shared my weaning off a pot of Coffee daily - I will also share how I made some wise and appreciative changes to my food intake after Covid-19. 

It all started with three simple guidelines.

NO ADDED: Salt, Sugar, or Processed fats/oils.

If my food contains these components by default, I roll with it. For example, canned food often comes with a sodium source, unless specified otherwise.

If given the choice to request those three components be avoided - I do that. If I am the cook, none of these three get added to my food.

I have kept physically active my whole life basically, so if I ever needed to burn a few extra calories I knew what to do.

By avoiding ADDED Salt, Sugar, and Processed fats/oils(dense calories without fiber), I noticed I was able to cut back on my work outs for weight maintenance.

I still exercise - mostly for mindset and to keep limber. But I rarely exercise for any weight control. I control my weight from my food intake.

I do not diet. I maintain a food plan and certain lifestyle.

I am blessed to enjoy good health, and I feel I have done my part to support it also.

That is all for this edition of Leading Greats!

I hope that you got something of benefit here.

Feel free to reach out to me and connect with any questions, feedback, suggestions, etc. !

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In good health!

Thank you,

Ronnie

Transformational Coach | Healthcare Leader | Advisor

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronniekinseymba/