Life After Leg Amputation – A New Year, A New You

For someone with a leg amputation, one of the first things to do when making a “New Year’s Resolution” to modify something about yourself or your life, is to reflect and see how you did last year.

In a nutshell, did you have a goal last year?  And was it achieved to any degree?

If you did have a goal, was it written down somewhere?

Writing your goal down demonstrates a commitment to it and means that you are more likely to achieve that goal.  In The Amputee Coach Book, I recommend that you write your goal down in a certain way.  It starts with a date (when you want your goal to be achieved by), followed by the outcome (what you want to have achieved) and then the benefit (how the achievement of your goal has affected you).  In this way you are thinking about the process of achieving your goal.  Thus changing it from a mere wish to something you really want to achieve.

Remember the quote from Antoine de Saint Exupery(1900-1944), “A goal without a plan is just a wish.”  Perhaps if you didn’t achieve your goal last year, you  may not have committed to it meaningfully by putting it in black and white. So to make sure you are not wishing your time away, have your goal noted down in the space reserved for it in Chapter 5: How to Guarantee Your Success.

If you had a goal did you achieve it?

To answer this question you need to have been able to measure your outcome in some way.

For example, for someone with a leg amputation whose goal may have been “to walk better this year”, it is easier to assess the outcome of that goal by using some form of performance measurement.  Essentially you need to be more specific about your goal other than “better”- you need to be able to quantify it.

Walking better may mean being able to walk further than you can now, so state a distance that would be relevant to you.  You may want to walk faster, so state a time in which want to be able to cover a certain distance.

So see how you did last year:

I had a goal written down using The Amputee Coach guidelines: Y/N

I achieved my goal: Y/N

I was able to measure my achievement: Y/N

Achieving my goal has made me feel……

Finally, if you achieved your goal, make sure you have rewarded yourself!

Until next time… Cathy… The Amputee Coach