Reach Your Goals while Managing Illness

Illness can be devastating. Reaching your goals while managing a chronic illness may seem impossible, however it is possible. With careful planning, understanding, and perseverance you can reach your goals while managing illness * Please consult your doctor before taking action with any suggestions below.

Understand Your Diagnosis

During your doctor visit after you are given a diagnosis, ask questions and request the doctor explain test results to you. Discuss with your doctor your options for treatment, your medications, and any home care. Be pro-active in managing your health issues. Discover more information about your illness on the internet because knowledge is power and there is healing in power.

Know Your Limits

So much more difficult than discussing your options with your doctor is accepting your position and making hard decisions. While remaining active and social, know your limits. Keep yourself safe in order for healing to progress. Adjust your life to fit within your limits. Become an active participant in a support group designed for your challenges. Become an active participant in all you love about life while remaining within your limits. This will help in healing.

A Daily Discipline

Use a form of discipline, such as meditation or yoga, that will help you in your daily walk of self care. Take medicines as prescribed, eat healthy meals, exercise as needed, surround yourself with positive pleasures. Using these steps daily will increase your endorphins making illness easier to manage giving you more energy and purpose to complete your goals.

First Things First

Review your goals to determine which are the most important, which are the easiest to attain, and which(when met) will bring you the most joy. Break down these goals into small tasks. Practice patience as you conquer one task after another resulting in completed goals. As you see progress, endorphins released will create a sense of well being and give you power to press on to complete the next goal. For more help on this, I encourage you to read "First Things First" by Stephen R Covey.

One Task at a Time

We all have the same amount of time in each day. Reaching your goals while managing illness requires special skills in time management and a heaping cup of acceptance. Take time each day to write down a small number of goals you want to complete each day. Could be as simple as "eating a meal" or as complex as "complete today's business tasks". Just remember, complete one task at a time. Multitasking is not important when you are managing an illness.

Reward Yourself

At the end of each day, look back at your accomplishments. Reward yourself with a long soak in the tub or a special cup of hot tea . Warm rewards help relieve any pains you may experience at the days end. By rewarding yourself in this way you are telling yourself to meet your goals tomorrow and you'll be free to enjoy rewards again.

By Tonya Heathco GoalTribe Staff Writer

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