Anthony dislocated his left shoulder in the round-seven loss to Collingwood, which meant a full reconstruction and a three-month stint on the sidelines.
The 22-year-old has started bike work, cross-training and leg weights, and will be able to run once he loses his arm sling towards the end of this week.
He said a finals appearance was all that could encourage him to fast-track his rehabilitation.
"If the side's playing well and they're a chance of making finals, I'll do everything I can to get back in there," Anthony said.
"At the moment, if there's a chance of maybe playing in the VFL at the end of the year, I'd probably say no and get ready for next year.
"I've got eight months to get myself as fit as I can. I look at this as the start of my pre-season this week, so my cardio's going to be obviously better than it has been before.
"That's the way I've got to look at it otherwise I'll just get too down on myself and won't go anywhere."
Anthony said club doctor Con Mitropoulos was pleased with the early stages of his recovery, but that he would have a better idea of his progress once he met his surgeon at the end of this month.
Soon after his surgery, Anthony spent 10 days with family and friends in his West Australian hometown of Geraldton.
The visit helped lift his spirits, though he had to relive being cleaned up by Pies forward Travis Cloke in a marking contest.
Anthony planted his elbows as he crashed to the turf, which forced his shoulder from its socket.
"Mum hadn't seen it and I hadn't seen it, so I had a look with her," he said.
"It didn't look too nice when I did it. I think she was a bit shocked and felt a bit worse than what I did. I was in a bit of pain."
Anthony, comfortably in North's best side despite his 17 games, has suffered three serious injuries since his arrival at Arden Street through the 2008 NAB AFL Draft.
He didn't make his debut until round 13 last year because of a foot stress fracture, and missed two months' ball work over the pre-season after severing a finger tendon on a glass lamp.
"I'd said to a few of the boys, 'I don't know what it is with Melbourne or this club, but I've never been injured before'," Anthony said.
"Every footballer has to go through it. You just look at Drewy (Drew Petrie) for instance. He probably won't play again this year [because of a broken foot]. If he does, he'll only get a few late in the year.
"It's incredibly disappointing, but that's probably the con of playing AFL footy."
