Baby steps: How do you measure your recovery progress?

Great new topic, @hevykevy. Baby steps are really important to notice and celebrate. I look forward to hearing about the things @icydecember, Brady, @kimfeist and @luckylizardlady notice that indicate progress in their recovery.

@hevykevy and @mikemangan, besides recognizing new benchmarks, do you write them down and then set a new goal?

I don't really set goals, although eating a hamburger surely was one. Now that I am retired, I don't have to be as smart as I used to be and I have a lot less deadlines and more time to do things. Pressure to get things done is usually not a good thing.
I do use the To-Do list that is now part of Windows 10. and I rely heavily on Outlook Calendar to make sure I don't miss appointments and forget to do important jobs. It's great to be able to mark them as finished.
Mostly, I go about doing the things I need or want to do, but I am very in tune to improvement in my capabilities.
One thing I still struggle with is setting out to do or get one thing, seeing something else, doing that and forgetting what I set out to do. Many tell me that this is normal for my age, but I know what I was like before the event.

I will be working on something, set a tool down, and 10 seconds later can't find it. I eventually do, because I refuse to give up.
Being able to laugh at yourself is huge. If we stress out about little things we will destroy ourselves. I've always been one to find humor in any situation(when appropriate). It is a great release of pressure or tension.

Just a side note...Watched the movie "What About Bob?" again, because my 91 year old Mother-in-law who moved in with my wife and I two months ago had never seen it. I did not realize that the term "baby steps" originated with that movie or at least became famous then.
For you younger ones in the group who have never seen it, DO!! Those of you who have, watch it again. Laughing is great therapy.

Don't overthink 'mistakes'. I've been making my breakfasts for years, A few weeks ago, I dropped an egg on the kitchen floor. I can't remember ever dropping an egg before. I've also been having more than usual issues with keeping on task and remembering what I went into a room for. I started thinking that, maybe the accident had accelerated my aging process, that I would be a senile, old man in just a few short years.
Then about a week ago, I was getting my vitamins from a cabinet and bumped a bottle of aspirin that someone had left in the way. It fell from the shelf, but I caught it within 16". Even I was impressed with my reflexes. A few days later I was visiting with a friend and he was trying to tell some one else what model car he had. I was able to tell him before he could remember.
We have good times and not-so-good times. Currently I am working to sell a parcel of land and have had to deal with some issues with the local Land Services Department. This has put a lot of pressure on my poor little brain, but I'm confident that things are still improving.
The Lesson: Don't let little 'mistakes' crush your determination to continue to improve.

In my introduction, I mentioned that my injury was chainsaw related and that I had purchased a replacement. But it took me a long time to go out and use it. Well I finally got it cleaned up, tuned up, and sharp and took it out to cut up some windfalls. It felt good. But last weekend a friend was cutting and splitting firewood and I invited myself to help. It felt SO GOOD!!! I'm still more safety conscious than ever, but I am back in the swing! I am so looking forward to more years of cutting, splitting and stacking firewood, for myself and my friends. One more mental hurdle overcome. I also enjoy watching and feeling a real fire in my fireplace.

Congrats, @hevykevy on getting back on the horse - so to speak, and being able to use a chainsaw again. What measures are you taking to be more safety wise?

@dprins got a similar feel good, back in the swing feeling when he was able to rake leaves. How do you feel about shoveling the snow, Daniel?

My benchmarks have been slowly getting better, pointed out by my PT nurses. I walk a little more straight, but still wander off course. I used to have a lot of fun with word puzzles,but that's harder now. My speech therapist gave me some word problems, and some I could do, and others I just can't. I try to focus more on what I can do. The ringing in my ears has gone, but I've had an overall hearing loss due to my injury. I still can't smell. I really miss being able to smell. I was very brave and walked on some ice (slowly), and that sort of bothered me, because I fell on ice to get my TBI. And my handwriting was very neat and clear before, and now I'm scrawling and writing at angles.

Small steps are literally what has kept me going. It's going on 15 months since my injury and I still daily have to remind myself of my progress to continue on.

The first time driving with my wipers on I had to stop several times and rest. As I sat on the side of the road illegally parked crying for no reason not being able to communicate my words clearly, unable to see clearly and wanting to throw up.

Slowly as time has passed this got easier. I can't remember how the progress happened, but now I can drive with wipers on. This is still hard and makes me dizzy but I recovery within a couple hours.

I walked in Aldi made it down the first aisle, turned around and went back home to bed. I now can make it in Costco for 30 minutes. I am dizzy by the time I leave, but feel better soon after leaving.

I remind my self of these things and many more daily to encourage myself that I will get my mental health back to a functioning place with continued hard work and time.

As I read through my writing before posting, I realize my words are not coming to paper as I want. I right now am not able to communicate my words as I would like, but I had a lot of tests this week that set me back. I understand the testing has put me back and at other times I write more clear. So that is another example of small steps to remind myself to keep on keeping on, because I do have days of better clarity

I do wear chaps now, and if I am felling or trimming overhead, I wear a hard hat. That said, neither would have helped with my incident. I got hit in the chin. Some of my 'friends' have suggested a full suit of bubble wrap, but this is my first and only 'major' injury. For a person who does all the things I do, I have gone through life with a lot of accomplishments and very little damage.