Now this is a story all about how
my life got flipped turned upside down
I’d like to take a minute, just sit right there
I’ll tell you how… I became a guy capable of setting health goals I could actually accomplish.

The parties are done, the decorations put away, and we are starting to return to our routines. It’s already mid-January and many of us have created new goals and resolutions for this month, this year, and potentially even this decade.

Setting goals and resolutions can be a struggle. Even more difficult can be finding a way to achieve our goals and resolutions. Luckily, the action of creating appropriate goals is a skill, and like any skill, it means we can learn to be more effective at it.

This blog post will cover my journey with neck pain due to prolonged poor postures while studying, and the SMART goals framework I used to achieve better habits and more comfort while still getting on with the things that were important to me.

The Problem

When I was attending Chiropractic College, I had to read and study a lot. I was young and dumb then, and I thought I was invincible so nothing could hurt me. It wasn’t too long before the hours of sitting and poor postures got the best of me and I began having neck pain pretty much constantly.

When I finally decided to address the neck pain I quickly realized it was going to take more than manipulation and soft-tissue therapy to feel better. Don’t get me wrong, manual therapy and manipulation helped, but I still had to sit down to study every day and I still had lots of reading to do, so the neck pain returned.

The Goal

To achieve the goal of more comfortable studying and reading, I needed to change how I dealt with my neck. I decided to take account of the things I was doing well and the areas I thought maybe needed some work. After going through my list of things I did well and not-so-well, I had a better idea of some changes that could help reduce how stiff and sore I was feeling.

The Good

I compiled a list of a few things in my life that would not need a drastic overhaul:

• I was getting a minimum of 4 days/week of exercise, mostly resistance training

• I was usually getting at least 7 hours of sleep a night

• I was ensuring my diet was relatively healthy

• I was drinking tons of water

After going through my list, I knew that I didn’t need to focus my energy on these areas. These were all healthy behaviours, and chances are they were stopping my neck pain from being any worse.

The Bad

Next, I brainstormed some habits and activities that maybe weren’t helpful:

• I was doing marathon study sessions with minimal breaks

• I did not have a dedicated workspace, so I ended up studying in bed half the time

• I was doing next to zero aerobic exercise

• I was drinking enough coffee to send an elephant to space, and I knew it was making me stressed and anxious

• I didn’t know the first thing about upper back strength, neck or shoulder mobilizations, or things to do when my neck hurt

It quickly became clear why my neck pain kept coming back. When I wasn’t hunched over my laptop on the kitchen table, I was lying in bed twisted into awkward positions trying to study. Never mind my heart rate and sympathetic stress were probably maxed out half of the time as I basically mainlined coffee into my system at all hours of the day. It’s no wonder I felt like my head was going to fall off my body. 

The Obvious Solution

I knew what I needed to do. I would get daily chiropractic treatment, weekly massage, and monthly acupuncture. I would stop every activity that made my neck hurt. No more studying, no more reading, no more coffee…

That obviously couldn’t happen. I needed coffee. I also needed to study to learn new things and pass my tests at Chiropractic College. As well, ain’t nobody got time to go to medical appointments every day, or even every week for that matter. I had to get a bit more creative than simply cutting out the pain-generating activities and trying to slap some symptomatic relief on my grumpy neck.

The Actual Solution

I booked an appointment with my chiropractor who proposed a treatment plan that involved seeing them once a week for 4 weeks for soft-tissue therapy and manipulation and then as needed after that. Some other neck pain reduction tips we discussed included:

• frequently changing postures

• timed study sessions with mandated breaks involving walking and moving

• the importance of diet and hydration,

• regular 20-30 minute bouts of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise

My chiropractor emphasized the importance of self-care with exercises I could perform at my desk and healthy habits including gradually reducing my coffee intake so I didn’t feel like a sweaty, stressed out mess all the time.

I was shown the benefits of exercises tailored to me that included Bruger’s position of relief, cat-cow self-mobilizations, and cervical retraction-protractions. I performed these exercises in the clinic and they helped, however, it wasn’t until I set some goals for taking care of myself at home that I noticed the results were lasting longer and the improvements were more robust.

The Goal Setting

Goal setting used to be difficult for me. It wasn’t until I was shown the SMART Goal Setting framework that I was able to change lofty ideas with no accountability into actionable decisions and choices I could make and maintain consistently. Of course, it helped that I had some motivation to get started on my goals; I didn’t want my neck to hurt anymore. After consistently following the SMART Goal Setting framework, I noticed that my motivation had turned into something more useful, I had developed discipline.

What Are SMART Goals?

Specific

A goal should be something tangible, leaving room for ambiguity is the easiest way to derail a goal. If we can’t clearly define what the goal is, it’s going to be hard to know if we ever accomplish it.

My first goal was to have no neck pain but I quickly realized that it didn’t really leave me a clear path to accomplish anything. I brainstormed a more specific goal, which was to perform the 3 exercises I’d been shown twice a day every day, regardless if my neck was very sore or feeling fine.

Measurable

If we can’t measure a goal, it’s hard to know when we’ve made progress, regressed, or when the day comes that we accomplish our goal. By choosing appropriate metrics to measure a goal, we can track our progress.

I measured my goal by simply putting a small note in my calendar every time I completed the 3 exercises. I could review the past week and see how consistent I was in performing the exercise.

Achievable

This one is tricky. I had a tendency to make big, grandiose goals with a lot of grey areas between the start of the journey and the end. By making goals smaller, and more achievable, we can develop the building blocks that stack up to create big changes.

I knew I couldn’t quit coffee cold-turkey, begin performing aerobic exercise every day and change all of my study habits at once. That seemed impossible. Especially the coffee thing. However, I knew I could take 3 minutes twice a day to do my exercises, so that’s what I did.

Relevant

We’re more likely to stick to a goal when it is relevant to our aspirations, values, and personality. It is totally fine to create a goal that will bring us out of our comfort zone, but we should be able to find the relevance that achieving the goal will have on our lives.

I wanted to make it through school without my head falling off due to neck pain (I’ve since learned that it is impossible for our head to fall off due to neck pain). By getting a handle on how my neck felt, I knew I’d be able to focus more, study harder, and feel better.

Time-Based

Nothing will derail a goal like leaving it open-ended with no end date in mind. If we have followed the preceding 4 steps of SMART goals, then it only makes sense to have a conclusion to our goal! By making the goal time-based, we can monitor our progression and determine if we need to change our strategy, or perhaps change our timeline.

I knew exercise takes time to work. I figured, I’d give the exercise a fair shot and perform them daily for 2 months, at which point I could re-evaluate and either change the exercises, change the frequency, or keep things the same.

After 6 visits with my chiropractor, my symptoms were improving, and once I completed my goal of 2 months of exercise my neck pain was only occasional and easy to manage. I was still studying, still drinking coffee (albeit, a little less than before), and still caught myself studying in bed from time to time, but I felt much better. Creating SMART goals had an immensely positive impact on my health and behaviour. 

To this day, I’ll have occasional flare-ups of neck pain just like everyone else. Thankfully, now I have a repertoire of exercises and strategies I can attempt before needing to see a professional. Now when I go to see my chiropractor, it’s to help speed up the improvement of something I’ve already been working on, or because I could benefit from some self-care since my work as a chiropractor is physically stressful.

As we drift further from New Years Day, I challenge you to try the SMART Goal Setting framework. Take a moment, write down your goal and see if you can fulfil all 5 categories of the SMART system. It will only take a few moments, but it may be the change you need to accomplish your resolutions and remain consistent this year.

About Me

My name is Josh and I am a Doctor of Chiropractic. My mission is to empower people to move comfortably, to achieve and cherish great health, and to live in a way that allows them to enjoy their favourite activities without the fear of injury or fragility for decades to come. I offer chiropractic services in Westboro and Centretown. If you’re interested in discovering how we can work together to help you achieve your best health, book a free consultation and let’s get started!

If you have any questions, comments, or would like to share your goals, please feel free to do so below.