During the early parts of my pain journey I found it difficult to cope with anything but the day in hand.  If I looked to the future it was often with fear and trepidation about living the rest of my life with significant pain.  In many ways I was ‘locked into’ my pain situation, which I have no doubt made both my overall pain experience and my overall well-being much worse. I needed to look beyond my pain and make plans, and set goals, which were important to me.  I needed to go back to living my life again. 

Some of the goals I set myself were long-term, many yet to be achieved, and some very short term.  For example I want to be able to kneel down without triggering severe pain.  Until I couldn’t kneel I hadn’t realised how useful a skill kneeling is!  I have worked extremely hard at this over many years, and I can certainly kneel down more often than I could without triggering the pain I dread so much, but I’m not there yet!  During the early few months following my injury when I was having difficulty walking I would set myself short term goals of being able to walk from one lampost to another.  I have also set goals that are not so obviously related to my pain condition, for example achieving a particular work role, but as my ability to work is inextricably linked with my persistent pain condition, of course it is!

Whenever I set myself a goal I think about, and plan, how I am going to achieve it, and what help I might need in order to do so.  If it is a long term goal then I will try and break it down into small steps. 

It has certainly helped me to look outwards from my pain condition, and look forwards to what I want to achieve in life.  It has provided me with a purpose, and greater control over my condition and life, and has undoubtedly improved the quality of my life – especially when I have achieved my goals!

I hope these resources will help you think about making plans and setting goals, and how best to do so.