There are dozens of printables dedicated to mental health. It might seem hard to see what fits best for you. And honestly, there is no cookie cutter plan. We are all unique. We know ourselves best.
So how do we create a plan that benefits us? First off, be honest with yourself. What do you want to achieve? What struggles do you have to deal with? What triggers you? That’s why being honest is important, although we can look for others for ideas, we have to make our own plan that is specific for us. Come up with ideas. Do you want to start therapy? Do you think medication might help? Do you know if you need to get diagnosed?
Once you’ve written ideas down, pick those that are urgent. For insurance reasons, receiving a diagnosis might be a priority. Set SMART goals on how to achieve them. Make it SPECIFIC. For example, I want to schedule an appointment with a psychiatrist within this week. Make it MEASURABLE. For example, I want to take a thirty minute break three times this week. Make it ATTAINABLE. You cannot say you want to be able to feel happy everyday starting tomorrow. That will only bring us down. But you can say, I want to say one thing I like about a day for a month. That’s more attainable. Make it RELEVANT. You cannot make a goal that doesn’t interest you. Perhaps, you dealt with a trauma, you won’t set a goal that relates to Bipolar if you don’t have any symptoms for it. You might want to better set goals to manage the reactions you have to triggers in regard to trauma. Lastly, make it time-based. If we don’t add a time, these goals can get postponed. Be reasonable though. Don’t set yourself up for failure.
What I’ve told people is consider your goals like a ladder. You can’t jump to the 10th story of building. That’s unattainable. However, you can use the stairs to get their. That’s why you need mini-steps, small steps to help you achieve your goals.
For example, perhaps you want to manage your moods better. How can you achieve this?
- First, you can set up an appointment with a therapist this week.
- Next, find resources on managing moods tomorrow. And print them out. Find at least three exercises that can help you out.
- Try to keep log of each time your mood is affected for the next three weeks everyday.
- Each day, practice an exercise for ten minutes for the next month. Check each day on how you feel.
- Download an app that helps with moods on Thursday and start using it.
- Talk to your best friend on Friday at 6:00pm to vent. Do this for the next three months.
See how it seems more manageable. By breaking things into tasks it becomes less daunting that just saying I want to manage my mood better.
Comment below what goals you have. I might be able to make them attainable.
Thanks.
-J
life;better 