Setting Goals For The New Year: Part 1 – Decide where you want to be in one year

You hold the power to create the future you want for yourself. 

Do you believe that? It’s the truth! And, this four part series is designed to help you decide where you want to be in one year and create a detailed plan to help you succeed.

During this series, you will be led through a series of steps to help you decide where you want to be in one year, set your long term goal and understand why it is important to you, dice that goal into shorter term goals, and find ways to celebrate each small success along the way.

You hold the power to unlock your future and create the new reality you want to see in your life. You may feel like this is crazy mumbo-jumbo or that you are not able to change things. However, you are the only person who is able to change your future and affect your future self.

The impact of that change can affect everyone around you!

Many people feel like focusing on their own needs, wants, or desires is very selfish. You may feel like it is not okay to take the time you need to reach your goals. But, I ask you to think about this question another way – how would it impact those around you if you were able to achieve those goals?

How would your spouse feel if you were able to go hiking pain free? How would your kids feel if you weren’t tired and run down all the time? How would your grandchildren feel if you were able to pick them up and cuddle them?

As a society, we often feel like taking time to focus on ourselves is selfish and wrong. I am asking you to consider the impact that these healthy decisions can have on those around you. You showing up in the world as the best version of yourself on a daily basis effects every single person you come into contact with. So, why not spend some time on yourself and creating the person you want to be in this life?

The first step in this process is for you to decide where you want to be in one year. 

This will become your long term goal. Don’t worry if it feels too big right now. All the steps you need will be created later on. For right now, focus on that one goal that would help you to show up in this world as the best version of yourself.

Decide why that particular goal is important to you. It’s easy to throw out goals but it’s important to really, deeply understand why that goal is important to you and how it will change your life. Perhaps your goal is eliminating your low back pain. Ask yourself why that goal is important to you? What would you be able to do in life if you did not have low back pain?

Create the picture in your mind so you can see yourself one year from now. See yourself living pain free and returning to all the things you love doing without constant low back pain. Envision how happy your family and friends are to see you pain free and living life on your terms.

Now it’s time to write it down.

Write a letter to yourself to be opened by YOU in one year. Spend some time thinking about how you will feel and how those around you will feel about the new things you are able to do. Write down what activities you are now able to enjoy. And write down how you feel about yourself and your life now that you have met that goal. Congratulate yourself on meeting your goal and the perseverance that it required to get to where you are now.

If writing an entire letter sounds too hard then write out some bullet points. Make sure that you include not just where you want to be but how those around you are affected. Write down all the things you are able to do now. Include how you feel about yourself now that you have accomplished your goal. And, make sure you congratulate yourself on achieving this goal.

It is important to be able to see yourself finishing this goal. 

You need to envision the victory and what it will mean to you. This will help keep you focused through the journey.

At Physical Therapy for everyBODY, we have created the “PT Action Plan”. This document is given to you after your initial assessment and includes your diagnosis, a list of the problems, your goals, and the plan to get there. This document creates the road map that we will use by clearly stating where we are starting (diagnosis), the orthopedic issues (problems) that are hurdles to be overcome in order to meet your stated goals, and how frequently we need to see you to reach your goals in the fastest time possible.

This Action Plan is given to you to take home so that you can keep a clear focus on the path we are on to reaching your goals. If you are interested in learning more about our Action Plan and how we customize that plan to each person we see, then we encourage you to sign up to Talk to a PT. We can get on the phone and learn more about your pain or problem to help you decide if we are the best choice to help you in your journey.