Goal setting can help you focus on the things that are most important to you
Living with a lifelong condition like sickle cell disease can sometimes feel overwhelming1 – no one knows that better than you. It takes strength to face the challenges and keep persevering, especially when dealing with frequent or ongoing pain.
Keeping up a daily routine takes time and effort, and many people living with an ongoing condition find it challenging to stay motivated.1,2 If you can relate to that, you might like to try goal setting.
Goal setting means you set out what you want to achieve – your target – and keep track of your progress towards it.
As simple as it sounds, setting goals can be a powerful technique to help you feel more in control of your life and focus on what’s most important to you. It can also help you ensure that you take little steps towards your target over time.
When living with pain, it can be tempting to overdo things when you feel well and do very little when not.3,4 For instance, you might take a two-hour walk on a good day and not leave your home at all on a bad one.
That may feel right in the moment. However, being overly active may exhaust your body and make symptoms like pain worse. In turn, not doing much at all can be frustrating, and you may find it difficult to pick up your efforts again when you feel better.
You might like to think about setting goals as a way of choosing a destination and then working out a route to get there most effectively.
You can set goals for any part of your life – not just for managing your condition.
For instance, you may want to increase your fitness. So, you could set the target to do yoga for 15 minutes three times a week, to be achieved over eight weeks.
You may aim to socialise more. So, you might set a goal of meeting or calling a friend once every two weeks.
You also might like to set goals for treating your symptoms. Maybe you would like to be less reliant on medicines to manage pain. Talk to your healthcare team to discuss how to set goals which may help you to gradually reduce, if possible, how much painkiller medication you take.
What goals you choose is up to you but keep talking about them with your healthcare team to ensure they do not disrupt your treatment plan.
Different healthcare professionals may help you to set goals, including a psychologist, if you have one. They will help you to set goals that are important to you and offer the support you may need to achieve them.
SMART: Setting goals you can achieve3
We all have probably tried to set goals at some point in our lives and found that it was easy setting a goal, but much more difficult actually pursuing and achieving it. If you’ve had that experience, you might like to try setting SMART goals. This just means goals that are specific, measurable, achievable within a certain timeframe, relevant to what you want to achieve in the long term, and time-specific.3
Taking the SMART approach to goal setting aims to give you the best chance of achieving your targets. It breaks up the way to your goal into specific steps that you can accomplish every day.3
View our goal setting resource
Specific
MEANS MAKING THE GOALS CLEAR AND UNAMBIGUOUS
SPECIFIC:
I want to cycle twice a week for 20 minutes.
Measurable
THE GOAL AND THE STEPS TOWARD IT SHOULD BE MEASURABLE
MEASURABLE:
I want to cycle twice a week for 20 minutes, and I will do that by increasing my cycling time by 2 minutes every week.
Achievable
THE GOAL SHOULD BE SUCH THAT YOU CAN REALISTICALLY ACHIEVE IT WITHIN A CERTAIN TIMEFRAME
REALISTIC:
I want to cycle twice a week for 20 minutes.
Relevant
THE GOAL SHOULD BE RELEVANT TO WHAT YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE IN THE LONG-TERM
RELEVANT:
I want to increase my fitness, so I want to cycle twice a week for 20 minutes.
Time-bound
MEANS SETTING YOURSELF A DEADLINE FOR WHEN YOU WOULD LIKE TO ACHIEVE THE GOAL
TIME-BOUND:
I want to cycle twice a week for 20 minutes, to be achieved over eight weeks.
So, setting goals may look something like this:
STEP 1: Think about what is important to you.
STEP 2: Think about what specific goal you want to achieve.
STEP 3: Break down the route to your goal into steps that are manageable.
STEP 4: Pursue your plan.
STEP 5: Review and adjust your goal according to your needs.
When thinking about achievable steps, you can’t go too small. The important thing is that you progress toward your goal – it doesn’t matter how quickly.
For instance, in the example above our steps might look like this:
- Get bike out of the basement
- Check if it needs any repairs
- Bring it to the bike shop for repairs (if necessary)
- Cycle for 5 minutes at least once in the first week
- Cycle for 5 minutes twice in the second week
- Increase cycling time by at least two minutes every week until I reach the 20 minutes by week 8
If a goal is related to your treatment, it’s important to discuss it with your healthcare team so they can best support you. They can help you work out what you can achieve given your specific circumstances.
You might also like to involve your healthcare team in other types of goals.
For instance, if you aim to be more active, your healthcare team may have suggestions on how you can slowly increase your fitness without negatively affecting your overall health.
Setting goals can help you manage your life with sickle cell disease and live it the way you want. You might like to share your ideas with the people around you so they can support and celebrate your successes with you. Remember, you got this, you are in control. But also: Your loved ones are there to support you – you are not alone.
Tips and tricks for setting goals
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Keep your targets easy to achieve, especially at first as you get used to setting goals
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Write down your goals and steps, so you can tick them off (very satisfying!)
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Try to avoid making your goal too dependent on things outside your control (e.g., weather, other people)
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Share your goals and progress with other people
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Build in little rewards for when you have taken a step toward your goal (e.g., take a bath or play your favourite song)
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Ensure you review your progress and goals on a regular basis. It’s okay to change your targets if they no longer suit you
For more information, you might like to browse our Resource Hub.
- Top tips for self-management
- Your wellness journal
- Setting goals that work for you
- Getting the most out of your healthcare appointments
