Tips for Setting Recovery Goals Following a Spinal Cord Injury

After an SCI, your spinal cord injury recovery center will help you to set goals. This is an essential element in staying motivated when recovering from a severe injury. The full extent of your recovery may depend to some degree on the amount of determination and perseverance that you show. Choosing the right spinal cord injury recovery center is also essential. 

Let’s take a closer look at things to think about when you are trying to set recovery goals. These goals will emphasize the importance of seeing real results, no matter how small, to keep you motivated and positive about how you are doing. 

5 Considerations When Setting SCI Recovery Goals 

Let’s start by looking at some critical tips for setting your goals. Then we can breakdown some timeframes for short-term and long-term goals. We are going to discuss five considerations when setting SCI recovery goals, along with your spinal cord injury recovery center. 

#1 Set Specific Goals 

The first general tip is to keep things specific. Once you have had time to discuss the extent of your injuries and a prognosis for recovery, then you have to set specific goals. They don’t have to be monumental goals. However, they should address particular parts of the body, muscles, etc. that you want to reach objectives in regard to. 

#2 Set Measurable Goals

Spinal cord injury recovery is a game of inches. If you don’t have a way to define your progress, you may not see it and become despondent. Make sure that you can see yourself reaching the next marker so that you know there is still progress being made and the potential for more development in the future. The longer your recovery continues, the more critical it will become to be able to measure your results.

#3 Set Achievable Goals 

Reaching goals is how you keep yourself motivated. Starting with the goal you hope to reach at the end can demotivate you, especially if you choose something that is unlikely or not even possible. You may desire to be able to walk again, even though the doctors have told you that it is impossible. If you set walking as your only goal, you’re going to miss all the little miracles along the way that could keep you motivated long enough to actually reach your ultimate goal or get you as close as possible. 

#4 Make Your Goals Based on Results 

If your goals are all based on making the next muscle move, you may end up disappointed. If your goals are all based on being able to accomplish things that help you to maintain or increase your measure of independence, you may find creative new ways to accomplish as much as possible for yourself. 

#5 Put a Date on Your Goals

You can work toward your goals indefinitely, but categorizing your goals into short, middle, and long-term will help you to track your progress and create an internal timer that moves you to work harder toward the next target. A goal without a date attached to it is just wishful thinking. Just remember suggestion three when you are putting dates to your goals. Let the team around you help you to understand what a reasonable timeframe is for accomplishing your goals. 

Dividing Your Recovery Goals into Timeframes 

When you are dealing with spinal cord injury recovery, the timeframes on your goals will be different than when recovering for any other type of injury. With most injuries, you are dealing with weeks and at the most months. When recovering from a spinal cord injury, you have to add years into the mix.

• Short-Term Goals – You may not feel like you accomplish much in the first month of your recovery, but if you follow the suggestions noted above, you can see real, measurable results that inspire you to keep going and tracking your progress. 
• Middle-Term Goals – Depending on the extent of your injuries, middle-term goals can extend anywhere from several months to several years. Really, as long as you are continuing to see improvement, you can still consider yourself in recovery. 
• Long-Term Goals – Long-term goals are not even always physical but may have to do with maintaining or becoming more independent. Learning to drive again with the help of an assistance device, being able to make transfers to and from your wheelchair smoothly, retraining your body to walk with natural gait – your long-term goals are going to take months or even years and will be related to the extent of your injuries and your response to the recovery attempts. 

Help from Southern Florida’s Premier Spinal Cord Injury Recovery Center

With the help of advanced technology like the Lokomat, iAM ABLE is positioning ourselves as southern Florida’s premier spinal cord injury recovery center. We are continually looking for new ways to help spinal cord injury patients to thrive. You can learn more in the inspiring book: 7 Unbelievably Important Steps to Take to Thrive after Paralysis. 

This eBook exists to help patients like you to learn how to confront the challenges that you are facing head-on so that you can be successful at not only being a spinal cord injury survivor but also learning how you can thrive, maximize your independence, and take control of your quality of life. We hope this unique book helps you to learn how to take care of you so that you can have the motivation you need during the recovery process and beyond!

Grab our free e-book 7 Unbelievably Important Steps to Take to THRIVE after Paralysis by clicking the image below.