Health Diary & Goal Setting

A health diary, journal or tracking app are useful tools to help you understand how your arthritis is affecting you. These tools can help you set goals and track:

• How your activities or feelings might be affecting your pain or fatigue
• If changes you make are helping

Get started

Download a sample health diary or tracking app to get started.

Set SMART Goals

Using SMART goals will help increase your chances of making permanent lifestyle change. A goal is SMART when it is:

S – specific
M – measurable
A – achievable
R – realistic
T – timely

For example, instead of saying “I will eat better”, a SMART goal could be “I will eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables each day.”

Develop an action plan

There are many small steps in setting a goal. An Action Plan that includes the following information can help you go through each step to help you achieve your goal:

• What do I want to try?
• How many times each week? Which days?
• What time of day? For how long?
• Where?
• Who will I tell about my plan?
• When will I start?

Rate your plan

When you have your plan, ask: “How sure am I that I can do this?” Be honest in your answer.

If you answer:

• 7 to 10 – My plan looks good!
• 1 to 6 – How can I make my plan easier?
• 0 – That’s OK, maybe I need to choose a different plan.

Need to make your plan easier?

• Ask yourself, What makes it hard?
• Think of many solutions
• Pick one or two ideas
• Try it out. If it doesn’t work, try another
• Ask someone for help