x

2. Specific
 Are your goals specific? Don’t have general
goals like “ I don’t want to be tired all the
time”. Instead choose a specific goal that
describes how you want to be, not how you
do not want to be. For example , “I want to
be able to go back to work full-time” or “ I
want to go out to lunch with my family”, or “ I
want to do the grocery shopping”, or “I want
to play golf with my friends” or “I want to
have fun with my children” NOT “I don’t want
to sit around on the couch all day

3. Measurable
 Are your goals measurable? How will you
know if you have achieved your goal or if
you are making progress on your goal?
Put a number on what you would like to
achieve. For example: “ I would like to go
back to work 3 days a week”, “ I would
like to play 5 holes of golf”. by including
measurements we can look back to see
progress.

4. Achievable
 Are your goals achievable and within your control?
 For example, to have a goal that “my cancer will never
come back” i s not something within your control and whilst
it may never come back, that will not have been achieved
by cognitive therapy. Goals focusing on “never being tired”
or “having lots of energy all the time” are likely to be
unachievable as these aspirations are not possible for
anyone.
 Also to have the goal “I want to sleep 8 hours straight
through the night” if you have never been a good sleeper is
unlikely to be achievable. Similarly to have goals about
being able to read a book from cover to cover or to become
a successful sportsperson if you have never enjoyed reading
or sport are unlikely to be “achievable”! Be careful too
about setting goals that are dependent on other people.
 For example, while you can set the goal to star socialising
or dating again, to have the goal that no one will stare at
scars or that you will get engaged is dependent on other
people and is not under your control. A more achievable
goal might be “I will start socialising and will not leave a
place just because I think someone is staring at me”

5. Realistic
 Are your goals realistic? If goals are not realistic at the start you
are likely to fail no matter how hard you try. Break down bigger
goals into small tasks. For example, if you want to run the mini-
marathon or start playing soccer or to walk 3 miles daily, start
with small steps. A gentle walk building up slowly to bigger more
challenging goals may be realistic. It might be useful to divide
some goals into short, medium and longer-term aims. Remember
that your body has been through a lot. For some people it will not
be possible to return to 100% of your previous levels of energy
(at least not immediately). Some of the goals you set may fall
short of your previous activities but that does not mean that they
will not significantly improve your quality of life- so don’t be so
hard on yourself. Better start with the small things and work up.

6. Timed appropriately
 Set a realistic time frame for
you want to be regarding your
fatigue and related issues.
Breaking this into steps may
be useful. Where do you want
to be in 2 months, 3 months,
and 6months? Remember that
it takes time to recover both
psychologically and physically.
Be kind to yourself. Better to
exceed your expectation than
to put yourself under too much
pressure to achieve your goals