Life has its way of throwing curveballs, doesn’t it?

Just when you’re feeling like you’ve got everything under control—you know, getting your finances in order, maybe even starting to think about retirement—life comes along and knocks you off your feet.

One thing that can make this kind of life-changing experience especially difficult to handle is when the change is something that affects your health. When you’re diagnosed with a chronic condition like Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), it can feel like your whole world has been turned upside down.

It’s important to remember that managing RA is not impossible. In fact, there are many things that you can do to help manage your symptoms and live as close to normal life as possible while still being aware of what your body needs at any given moment. It’s also important to remember that no matter how much knowledge or information you have about RA, there will always be unknowns—and these unknowns might cause some fear or uncertainty when it comes time for doctors’ appointments or other medical procedures.

While this may seem daunting at first, having a plan in place will help keep the unknowns at bay—and allow you to focus on what matters most: living your best life possible with RA!

1. Be Super Specific

The way you set goals will determine how much success you’ll have in reaching them. In order to achieve something, it’s important to understand how to be specific in setting goals. SMART goal setting is a great way to do this and can help you manage RA effectively.

SMART stands for: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound. When setting your goals for managing RA with exercise, try using these criteria:

Specific: Your goal should specify exactly what needs to be achieved (for example: “I will walk one mile on my treadmill each day”). The more precise your goal is about exactly what needs achieving — the better chance you’ll have of attaining it!

Measurable: You need measurable metrics so that you know when you’ve reached success (for example “I will use my Fitbit activity tracker every day”). This helps make sure that over time we’re able to track how we are improving or changing our habits!

Achievable: Your goal should push yourself just a little bit outside of your comfort zone but not too far beyond what feels comfortable (ease into things slowly). Also remember that while it might seem overwhelming at first glance — nothing truly worthwhile ever comes easy — so don’t get discouraged right away if things do turn out differently than expected! Remember though; these days are always temporary setbacks… Think about how far along we’ve gotten already since starting our journey towards managing rheumatoid arthritis — wouldn’t want anything less than perfection now would we?

2. Be Realistic

When you’re setting goals, it’s important to be realistic about what you can achieve. You don’t want to set yourself up for failure by creating a goal that is impossible to reach or out of your control. For example, if one of your goals is “I will win the lottery,” this may not be achievable because the outcome depends on random chance, not just on your hard work and dedication! On the other hand, if one of your goals is “I will take more steps each day than I did yesterday,” then this type of goal is much more achievable because it depends only on what YOU do each day.

Another reason why setting realistic goals is so important: If you don’t meet them, it’s easy for frustration and disappointment to creep in and make things even worse (which we’ll talk about later). But when you do meet them—even if they were small wins—you can feel proud about yourself instead!

3. Get Ready to Commit

You need to be willing to commit.

Committing is hard and often uncomfortable, but it’s also an essential part of achieving any goal—especially a long-term one like managing rheumatoid arthritis. When you commit to something, you’re telling yourself that this thing matters more than anything else does in life at that moment. You’re making a promise to yourself and others about what you will do and how much effort you’ll put into doing it. That can be scary! But committing is also empowering because it gives us ownership over our lives, which helps us feel like we have power over our own destinies instead of feeling helpless against forces outside ourselves like disease or luckiness or even God’s will (or lack thereof).

Once we’ve committed ourselves fully towards achieving a goal, there’s no turning back—and that’s exactly what makes commitment so powerful: It forces us out of our comfort zones and into places where we must go through some pain before reaching success. The reward for making this journey? A transformative experience where we feel empowered by having overcome obstacles along the way!

4. Stay Open to New Opportunities

If you have rheumatoid arthritis, don’t just wait for something to happen; make it happen.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a condition that causes inflammation in your joints. While there is no cure for rheumatoid arthritis, there are lots of things that can help manage the symptoms and prevent joint damage.

One of the most important things you can do for yourself if you have RA is to stay open to new opportunities. This means being open to new advancements, new techniques that might come your way, as well as keeping an eye out for research on new treatments or therapies.

It’s also important to investigate whether these opportunities could help you achieve your goals. For example, if you’re looking into getting a knee replacement but are worried about how much time off work it will take or how much it will cost, then maybe consider talking with your doctor about other options first? There may be an alternative treatment that will fit better into your lifestyle and budget while still providing relief from pain and stiffness—and won’t require any extra time off work during recovery!

Finally: talk with professionals who are familiar with rheumatoid arthritis so they can tell you what’s best for YOU!

5. Set Target Dates

Setting a target date for achieving your goals is one way to help you stay motivated, since it helps you break down your goal into smaller, more manageable tasks. Make sure that the target date is reasonable. If you set a goal of running a marathon in six months but haven’t run for years and can barely walk half a mile today—then that time frame probably isn’t realistic.

Keep in mind that setting reasonable goals will not only help you achieve what you set out to do but it will also give yourself hope during setbacks or delays in progress. It’s important not to lose sight of the big picture; keep moving forward towards achieving your rheumatoid arthritis goals!