Share this week's goals on: Health.
Goals for the week of 28th September - 4th October.
Do you have any questions about these ‘weekly themed goals? If so, please look here!
This weeks theme is: Health
Let us know your goal(s) and - if relevant, the reasons for your goal(s) and how you plan to achieve them.
Following that, I look forward to potentially seeing how we do together!
Need some inspiration regarding this topic? Feel free to read the content below.
Scientific evidence points to five steps that we can take to improve our mental wellbeing. If you give them a try, you may feel happier, more positive and able to get the most from your life. …
Why is mental wellbeing important? First, we all want to feel good about ourselves and the world around us, and be able to get the most from our lives. There is also evidence that good mental wellbeing is important for our physical health, and that it can help us achieve the goals we set for ourselves. [Source].
If we take responsibility for our own health and well-being, we can improve our health on a daily basis. Certain factors influence our state of wellness, including nutrition, physical activity, stress-coping methods, good relationships, and career success.
Each day we work toward maximizing our level of health and wellness to live long, full, and healthy lives. The pursuit of health, personal growth, and improved quality of life relies on living a balanced life. To achieve balance, we need to care for our mind, body, and spirit. [Source].
Special note: It is World Heart Day on the 29th and also Invisible Illness Awareness Week this week! So this weeks theme is quite fitting.
Stuck on what kind of goals could go with this theme? Here are some goal ideas:
→ to be more physically active
→ to try and implement steps to improve my diet
→ to drink more water every day
→ to work on self-care in order to improve my mental health
→ to seek further support for my (mental/physical) health issues
→ to think of ways to help myself regarding my health issues
→ to start tracking my moods (with MoodPanda, for example)
My goal: to be assertive in my interactions with my doctor
Reason: It's been far too long that I have had to cope with my chronic pain with minimal support from my doctors. I will be getting new blood test results next week, hopefully. They may or may not show something - but whatever the case, I wish to be clear and focused. Too many times has nothing or irrelevant things come up, distracting doctors from the very real and serious issues I face. I aim not to let them be sidelined again. I deserve the best help available to me, and the only way I'll ever have a chance of getting that is if I fight my case as much as I can. So this week will be the start to that. #MyInvisibleFight
Plan: I already prepared for this, booking a double appointment with my doctor. I have already written a list of issues I have and wish for my doctor to look at as a collective. I've been keeping a mental record, and plan to write a physical one of my current difficulties. I've been as concise as I can - highlighting key terms and such, as I realise time constraints. Then hope that, from there, we can build upon something that will finally help me in some way.
It can be uncomfortable to be assertive at times, especially in those situations. However, in order to make sure that I am able to fully open up and express myself about it, I aim to keep in mind the very reason I wish to do that. I deserve the help - that is what my doctor is there for, it is reasonable to ask questions and receive answers I am able to understand, and a moment's discomfort is worth the consequent reassurance of knowing that I am doing my best at seeking help and support for myself.
My Goal: To do a better job at taking my medicine regularly.
I am super bad at remembering to take my medicine. I have a thyroid condition so it's pretty essential that I take my medicine for that every day, with only water, an hour before or after eating.
My mom already created a pretty ingenious plan to get me to remember. She told me that I should put the pill bottle next to or on top of my glasses before I go to sleep because that's the first item I reach for in the mornings! I also think that if i can just remind myself that I will feel loads better if I take it on a daily basis, then that could encourage me. Let's see how I do this week.
I've accomplished some things already:
I ordered my medicalert bracelet. A bit slow on the previous Bravery goal, but it's done.
I organized my medications. Saw this thread, had it on my mind to do and figured I would do it, but didn't post earlier. This was actually a fair bit of work due to the number I have and just how bad I was with empty pill bottles/expired things. etc. Not only is it cleaned up I have a good system to quickly grab all my every night meds, PRN stuff, and being able to see how much I have.
For my goal I still need to accomplish related to this, I want to set up reminders for when I need to order refills. I will do this by the end of the weekend.
My goal: to be assertive in my interactions with my doctor
Day of completion.
So today, I went to my doctor's. My blood test results came up as being perfect as they always are. So instantly, I worried about my doctor mentioning lifestyle changes - as previous ones had. But no! This doctor was still interested in addressing things more directly. They also diagnosed me as having Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
I didn't hold back on any of my questions, my concerns, etc. Not knowing much about this condition, in spite of knowing quite a few people within my lifetime who have it, I was a bit confused about this, you see - as I felt it was the pain that was causing exhaustion and so forth. But it appears that they were listening more closely to myself than I was, and after relaying a few things back to me, I began to understand how that conclusion was reached.
It feels both daunting and exciting, but I am hoping this consequent new prescription will also slowly but surely begin to help! My doctor also OK'd me as being able to exercise (I was previously worried I had particularly damaged my thigh muscle, you see). I really missed my exercise classes a lot, and - upon reading that symptoms tend to worsen during periods of inactivity - I feel perhaps this is why I have been so greatly pained and tired during the last few weeks in particular. So I'm really looking forward to getting back into it and, hopefully, building up my energy levels again!
So now I begin my journey of learning about this condition. It seems that my experiences are actually very typical, which was also interesting to learn. Hmm, and...
Continuing to move forward and happy to say I was able to achieve my goal for this week!
What helped me to achieve this goal: staying focused on my goal, feeling encouraged by keeping in mind the various support of others that I have had lately and my doctor's willingness to try and help. These things all really helped me to maintain a positive and determined spirit.
