Self-Care Recovery Journey (Reflective Essay)

Running Head: REFLECTIVE ESSAY 1
Self-Care Recovery Journey
(Reflective Essay)
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Running Head: REFLECTIVE ESSAY 2
Table of Contents
1. Introduction: 3
2. My Smart Goal 3
3. Feelings at the beginning: 5
4. Barriers to achieving the goal: 5
5. Recovery: 6
5.1 Identifying my support network 7
5.2 My support network: 7
5.3 Journey Progress: 8
6. Similarity with a mental illness experience: 8
References: 10
Appendix: Self-Care Plan 12
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Running Head: REFLECTIVE ESSAY 3
1. Introduction:
In order to achieve something, there has to be a goal; that goal is what the individuals are trying
to make. For the candidates, right now for them their life and health is their goal. Therefore, they
needed a self-care plan. I am very much concerned about my health now, more than previous. I
needed this plan to take care of my health because I had been suffering from excessive caffeine
and sugar intake. It had been more of a habit for me. I was drinking 5 to 6 cans of Pepsi every
day. Therefore, I needed to set a goal and slowly work towards my target with the help of my
family and other available resources. Excessive caffeine and sugar are harmful to health, and it is
much essential to get rid of such caffeine and sugar consumption habit (Purdon, 2017).
Therefore, this was an individual goal to reduce the Pepsi intake.
2. My Smart Goal
For identifying the purpose, I used the SMART objectives:
The goal was to minimize the Pepsi intake and to achieve this; I had incorporated a SMART goal
for myself as described below:
● Specific: One must have the proper focus and dedication towards its goal. The clear idea
of what he or she is focusing on achieving should be adequately planned. In my case, it
was to reduce the daily caffeine and sugar intake. For wanting to stay healthy and now
that I understand that I needed to keep a regular check on my excessive drinking of Pepsi.
I was committed to his specific goal.
● Measurable: A goal without a measurable outcome is like a sports competition without a
scoreboard (Beattie, Hardy & Woodman, 2015). Therefore, I needed a measure to reduce
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Running Head: REFLECTIVE ESSAY 4
the daily Pepsi intake. To measure if I was actually reaching the goal, I followed the
following simple strategy. By following this, I had gradually reduced the Pepsi intake.
Week Water Intake Pepsi Intake
Week 1 1 5
Week 2 2 4
Week 3 3 3
Week 4 4 2
Week 5 5 1
Table 1: Strategy for reducing sugar and caffeine intake
(Source: Developed by author)
● Achievable: Goals can be achieved by aiming high. One needs to start from the low. In
one effort, the goal cannot be achieved. This is why; I had chosen to reduce the intake of
Pepsi gradually. It was not easy, but as I understood the need, I could be able to achieve
my target.
● Realistic: Goals must be realistic to achieve. As I made a strategy to be healthy and
reduce Pepsi intake to just 1 can a day in 5 weeks, it was quite a realistic goal. This is
how a normal person lives; they do not need to drink Pepsi to survive, so as to reduce the
number of Pepsi and started drinking more water, I was one step closer to my goal.
● Timely: SMART goals are time-bound, and I was following a SMART goal. This is why,
I had set a timeframe for itself as I had to set up a plan to reduce the Pepsi intake
gradually. This 5 weeks plan kept me within a routine and with the help of people around,
I could be able to change the habits.
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