Knox's Blog

We’ve been collecting blog name suggestions from all of you the last couple of weeks, and I am impressed with how many great names were given – we’ve had more than 150 entries!!! Next week, I will be selecting the top five names from all of the many suggestions you supplied, and then round two of our contest begins, where I’ll ask you to vote on your favorite of the top five. Remember, the person who submitted the winning name will receive a $50 gift card to a local restaurant.

I am delighted at how many of you have taken part in naming this blog – this illustrates to me that my blog is really “our” blog. You have through the weekend for last minute name suggestions!

Also, take a look at my Team Up! post, and take a guess at my weigh-in weight – the right answer will win a free Inova membership to a fitness center near you.

Did you make any new year’s resolutions this year? If so, how are they coming along?   As for me, each year – with mixed results – I make new year’s goals to eat better, exercise more and lose weight.  To make sure I meet my goals this year, I decided to join forces with three of my colleagues to form an Inova “Team Up” weight management team.  I’m looking for ways I can move toward “the me I want to be,” and health and fitness are two of the  first things I want tackle.

At Inova, we continually look for ways to better care for our patients and our co-workers. When we find an opportunity for growth, we know we need to tackle behavioral changes that prevent us from offering world-class health care.  Change, either personal or professional, often makes people nervous and insecure, and that often leads to cynicism and resentment.

The “Team Up” model of attacking change can help.  Inova’s Team Up” model gradually modifies habits by:  working closely with others, being connected, communicating more, encouraging each other’s successes, and supporting each other through our mistakes.  However, as we all know, there are some things that can really hurt the ability of teams to work together. I often hear that cynical inner voice that says,  “You have had that last 10 pounds forever; you’re never going to lose that weight, just give up.”  Or, the seductive voice of pessimism that creeps in when, after a week of diligent exercise and healthy eating, the scale remains the same, “You see?  Not even one pound!  Why should I even try?”  These little voices and disappointments can lead to retreat back to old habits and back into our “comfort” zone.

My hope is that this blog will be a way for the Inova family to “Team Up,” encourage one another and demonstrate just how connected we can be.  This blog is also a place for us to identify and challenge ourselves to overcome those negative behaviors that prevent us from being the best we can be.

Well, I will continue to work to return to my old svelte self (Right!). By the way, I have a ways to go.  Just for fun, take a guess at what my last “team-up” weigh-in number was.  Check out this holiday video that features me over the holiday season to help you guess: http://bcove.me/ytagbnt1

The first person that can guess my last “Team Up” weigh-in weight will win a free Inova membership to a fitness center near you.  Have fun, eat right and guess my (over) weight!

Knox

P.S. We’ll be tallying together your blog name suggestions next week, and will be ready to announce the top candidates – thanks for all the great ideas!

I want to thank everyone for such a great response to my first blog posting. I am happy that so many of you have read and provided great suggestions, right out of the gate.  This has been a great first experience! You are helping me feel more comfortable outside of my “comfort zone.”

Close to 100 blog names have already been suggested. Remember, you have another week to suggest new names for my blog (by commenting below). Once I get all the names together, I’ll narrow down the choices to my top five – and then everyone will be able to vote for their favorite. So please – keep those names coming!

I wrote to you before the holidays about how we’ll all be coping with lots of change in the New Year, so I guess there is no avoiding the first change I need to make – and that is getting with modern times and starting a blog!!

A number of people have told me recently that they enjoy my Inova family letters, but they would like to hear from me more often and in “smaller portions”!  At the same time, I have been unhappy that my letters don’t allow me to “listen” to all of you and receive your thinking and ideas on a subject I might write about.

Soooooo, I talked to our communications folks and they suggested I start a blog.  For those of you not familiar with what a “blog” is, it is simply a place online where I can write to you more frequently, on more topics.  And, most of all, a blog allows me to receive your reactions and thoughts.  Blogging is not exactly in my “comfort zone,” but, hey, I guess I’ve got to take some of my own advice and step out and try something new. Especially, if it makes for a healthier relationship for us Inova  employees  and, hopefully, in the end, helps us all do a better job of taking care of our patients.  As my daughter says, “Just suck it up, Dad and get with the new technology.”

One of the first things I want to do is find a new name for this blog, and so today I am announcing the official “Name This Blog” contest. Here’s how it works: I am asking you, the readers, to submit your ideas for a name for my blog.

For the next two weeks, we’ll be reviewing the names you provide in the comment section below (be sure to add your name, so we can recognize you). We’ll pick the top three names and we’ll have a second vote on which name is the best.

The winner of the contest will win a $50 gift card to a local restaurant. Be creative, have fun and submit your favorite name below.

I look forward to using this blog to start new conversations with all of you!