Hiiiii! Welcome back!
Today we’re making a Health Board to help us become better health advocates in the upcoming year.
What is a Health Board? It’s basically writing out our health-related dreams and goals for the year. To improve ourselves, even if only a little. If I can finish this year with a better understanding, improved health, or with more knowledge than how I started this year, because I took the time to educate and take care of myself, I’ll be happy.
With this project, we’ll be making something super simple. If you want to decorate it and go all out, by all means, create this to match your vibe. But all you really need is a piece of paper and some pens.
Recently we made a Creative Board in preparation for the New Year. Of course, as this post is going up just after January 1st, I want to stress that your Health Board doesn’t need to be ready before the New Year starts. In fact, I would encourage you to take your time and really figure out your goals. Advocating for yourself is made up of many little steps. There are so many things you can do in a year to better your health. Don’t stress or rush this process.
We also created a Language Goal List if that’s more your style and/or you have some language goals this year. I hope you’ll check out that post next if you’re looking to grow more fluent in Spanish.
Disclaimer: The information on this blog is based on personal experiences and should not be considered medical advice. The information on this blog is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Please ask your doctor if you have any questions.
If You Could Do Nine Things This Year…
If you could do nine things this year to improve your health, what would those nine things be?
I’m not saying that all nine of these have to be executed, or done perfectly, I only want to ask, what are those nine things, those nine changes that you would make? For you, there may be some things that immediately pop into your head because you’ve known for a while that you should make this change to improve your health, or maybe it will take some thinking. That’s why we’re here to help! I hope to not only encourage you to take steps to change and improve your health but also to give you ideas of what to do.
If you have a chronic pain condition you probably already know how real and a struggle daily life is. Taking care of your health while living day in and day out with pain can be hard. I want to encourage you to take this opportunity to dream big about those nine things, if you could make any change, what would it be?
Now to remove that pressure from your shoulders, remind yourself that your goal is to accomplish just three of those nine things sometime in the next 12 months.
Three things? Wasn’t it nine things a second ago? Well, yes. I want you to get a blank piece of paper and draw a tic-tac-toe board on it. Then think big. Think about something you can put in each of these boxes that will help you build a new habit or try something new. But come the end of the year, remember that tic-tac-toe is not won by putting an X in all nine of the boxes. You only need three in a row. Strive to accomplish at least three of these nine goals.
If you can think of just nine things to do and you write them down to display somewhere, you’re already ahead of the past you. Try thinking of things that will help you to become your own health advocate.
Some ideas for your board could include:
Keep Track Of It
A great first goal could be to track your pain or diet. Tracking your health gives you a baseline for conversations with your doctors, and more importantly for you. This helps you to know if the changes you’re making are working or if things really aren’t. It helps give you direction for the next steps and empowers you to take control of your life.
We put together a Pain Tracker for you if you’d like a simple printable that can help you not only track your pain but also visualize it.
Community
Try joining a community. Find a way to chat with people who understand what you’re going through. You need to be able to connect with other people who understand you and to connect with your friends and family.
Consider implementing game nights or activities to bring your group closer.
Share Your Experience
Along the same lines as the last one, consider sharing your experiences and what you’re going through with others. If you have an invisible chronic pain condition it’s especially important to share so that you can feel heard and understood and so others can learn.
Try sharing in private online communities, and talking to your closest friends. Consider therapy or talking to God about what you’re going through. It’s amazing how simply getting the burdens off your heart and sharing them with someone can really improve your mental health.
Journal
Remember that a Health Board isn’t just for your physical health, your mental health is so important to take care of too. Consider journaling or keeping a list of gratitudes. A simple, small, and daily practice of putting your thoughts on paper could help relieve stress and anxiety.
Exercise
Exercise, or just moving your body in general can be so good for you. Consider joining a class or getting a friend to work out with you for even more enjoyment!
- Join a gym
- Attend 3 workout classes a week – or 6 a month if you feel you need to work your way up
- Take a 10-minute walk daily, 3-5 times per week
- Consider a yoga challenge
YouTube has so many free workout videos, pick something and add it to your board to do consistently this New Year!
Sleep Schedule
If you only do one thing this year, you should try to improve your sleep. Sleep has a huge impact on your health! It affects you mentally and physically and impacts your day to day.
Try to reset your sleep schedule. If you struggle to get a good night’s sleep, like many of us with chronic pain conditions do, consider investing in a quality pillow and exploring new sheets and a mattress if yours aren’t working for you anymore.
You can look into many things to improve your sleep, from putting your phone down at night, to changing when you eat or drink before bed and setting alarms to ensure you’re in bed on time. I hope you take the time to add this one to your Health Board this year and you really improve your quality of sleep.
Diet
There are so many diet-related goals you can make, from eliminating one thing, to completing diet challenges, to simply adding more good foods to your meals, like quality fruits, meat, and veggies.
Diet changes have played a huge part in my health journey. I know I find myself getting a little lazy with my dietary needs around the holidays, so I’ll definitely be putting some kind of dietary goal on my list this year. Even if I only practice this thing for one month it will still make a huge difference because it’s one step in the right direction. Sometimes one step is all it takes to encourage the next step.
Here are some ideas you could also include:
- Make 3 meals at home a week
- Cut out fast food
- Eliminate seed oils
- No sugar for a month
- Eat more meat and vegetables
- Drink your water
- Track your meals
Supplements
Your Health board could also include some supplement goals like:
- Research a new supplement
- Start a new supplement
- Be consistent in taking my supplements
Oral Health
I know, going to the dentist, total ugh. But I’ve actually heard a lot recently about how your oral health impacts your total health.
If all you do is make a goal to start flossing regularly, or you switch to a better toothpaste, do oil pulling a couple times a week, or even try tongue scraping, you may be surprised at how this one simple change makes a difference in your health.
I mean, I also might be surprised…one of these is going on my Health Board this year. I’m curious to see what changes I notice.
Environment Change
Some changes can have a huge impact. Last year my sister completely redid her bedroom and it had an impact not only on her mental health but also helped her to keep a promise to herself to stay on top of cleaning. If you need to implement some kind of environmental change to encourage change in other areas or to help you build new habits, consider doing some redecorating or getting new furniture that will work for you. It’s amazing what a little paint can do to change your daily mood.
You can read the whole story here.
On a similar note, sometimes the only environmental change you need is a good vacation. Consider putting some kind of change on your health board this year. Whether to take a certain number of vacations or spend time outdoors, or to completely redecorate a specific room in your house.
The End Goal
Now that you have your complete list of nine things, I know, it can feel like a lot! Especially when there are only 12 months in the year to complete them in.
To help remove a little bit of that pressure. I want to remind you that this is a game of tic-tac-toe. The goal does not need to be to cross off every box, only to get three in a row.
In a perfect world, you’d be able to do them all, but there’s no pressure to actually do it all. Calm down, everything is okay.
If by the end of the year, you have completed only three or four of these things, you will still have created new habits and accomplished goals.
Good luck!
I hope you found these ideas helpful and that you add them to your list of goals to accomplish this year to improve your health and advocate for yourself. What other ideas do you have for health advocacy goals this year? Let me know in the comments so we can keep the discussion going and hold each other accountable!
You should also check out our other Health Advocacy posts to inspire you for the whole year ahead.
- Your Health: How To Be Your Own Advocate: Part 1
- Health Q&A: How To Be Your Own Advocate: Part 2
- Health Advocacy: Informed Decisions Are The Most Important: Part 3
- A Real-Life Story Of Successful Health Advocacy: Part 4
P.S. If you’re looking for an activity you can do on a bad flare day and from bed or with your long-distance friends, download our free trivia here.
Playing trivia is a great way to still participate in fun activities with your friends and family without ever leaving the comfort of your bed. And it helps you keep your long-distance relationships growing!
Be sure to check out the free Trivia by clicking here!
