View From 30,000 Feet

30,000 ft viewpoint during my trip to the conference

Recently I attended a conference discussing how to better implement and integrate behavioral healthcare into primary care which I thought may be applicable to our everyday lives - I know this must sound fascinating to you but I encourage you to continue reading. One thing repeatedly mentioned was that at the beginning of the integration process there must be some sort of needs assessment in order to attain the view from 30,000 feet. In the moment I only related this concept to my future practice as a psychologist however after following @dailyoverview on instagram, I began to think how can we perform this needs assessment in our own life and gain the view from 30,000 feet. I think this is very relevant as we are often trying to build and fly the plane of our life at the same time and some guided direction of what our needs are may be beneficial.

Some of @dailyoverview posts

This is pertinent this time of year when everyone begins coming up with our coveted new year's resolutions; it makes sense to come up with ways to transform yourself during the ending of one sequence and the beginning of another (#NewYearNewMe). In preparation for this I am going to write a several blog posts about determining your needs, making relevant, attainable, value-driven goals, creating an action plan for those goals, and enacting and maintaining that plan. All of this starts with getting a better perspective and figuring out what we need.

So how can we get the 30,000 ft. viewpoint as well as perform our own needs assessment?

A "need" is a discrepancy between a present state and a desired state. For example, you need to achieve and maintain a  healthier BMI and as a result you need to drop 20 lbs. You need a GPA of 3.0 to maintain your scholarship however you have a 2.8, thus you need to make up for this deficit of 0.2.
A "needs assessment" is a systematic approach which focuses on determination of one's needs, prioritizing those needs, generating solutions to meet those needs, and committing to action to improve those needs (adapted from the U.S. Department of Education, 1995).


In order to do this you must first gather and analyze data from your life. I would start by evaluating your life in several different areas including, but limited to, the ones mentioned in any of these figures.







Ask yourself in whichever areas of your life you have selected:

(1) Am I satisfied in this area of my life?

• If "yes" move to next area, if "no" move to the next question.

(2) Where do I want to be in this area of my life?

• Evaluate your answer to this question carefully. If where you want to be in this area of your life requires divine intervention, calling in some big favors, and signing away your first-born child, most likely is not that realistic.

(3) If you don't fulfill this area of need in your life what will happen?

• This is the what will happen if you don't change question. If the answer to this question is serious (i.e., death), you may want to begin working on this need.

(4) What will your life look like if this need is fulfilled?

• This is the how will your life be different question.

(5) Generate other relevant questions to continue your needs assessment.

This is a good starting point however you should tailor this to your own life. The next post will discuss prioritizing your needs and developing achievable goals to meet your needs.