New Year's Goals Ideas for Chronic Pain/Illness

New Year New Goals for Chronic Pain/Illness!

By: J.A., Writer for Hope Instilled

With chronic illness and chronic pain, it is very important to have resolutions or goals for the new year! I know personally how chronic illness can make you feel like you have nothing to look forward to or that things can’t improve, but there are always things to improve upon in your life no matter what storm or situation you feel trapped in.

I would say goals are especially important for being a chronic illness sufferer because they help you to continue to move forward by having something to work toward achieving. Make sure you write your goals down and keep them someplace you can view them often. Also, keep your goals practical. Consider writing down some small goals you can work on to achieve a bigger goal. 

Healthy New Year's Resolutions 

We have some great ideas for chronic illness resolutions, many with links to related blog content. Here are some great ideas to add to your list of resolutions for the new year:

1. Improve Upon Your Mental Health

Struggling with self-esteem, self-love, being more positive? Here is some content that might help:

In-Depth Advice: How to Improve Self-Esteem

Managing Poor Self-Esteem with Chronic Illness

The Importance of Self Love When Chronically Sick

Overcoming 5 Common Chronic Pain Fears

Need professional help? View Different Types of Therapists

2. Find a Greater Purpose

Are you struggling with having a purpose? Or you just want to feel like you have something to contribute to this world?

Maybe this will help: Finding Purpose in Life When Chronically Sick

3. Research and Experiment with New Treatments

If you have been thinking about trying something new, but you’re worried and afraid too, it is time to learn more about your options to make an informed decision!

Here is our comprehensive guide of over 25 alternative treatments with information on what health conditions they help with, benefits, how they work, safety, history, scientific evidence, what to expect, how to find a practitioner, and more.

4. Exercise

Do you want to be a bit more active, but are unsure of your options with chronic pain? We have created content on the best exercises for chronic pain. Just check with your doctor to see if the exercise you pick is okay for your specific illness. 

5. Eat Healthier

In America, we have a lot of chemicals in our foods that are banned in most countries. We have too many fast-food chains, too much processed food, huge food marketing lies, improper education on how to eat healthily, and information on the web is confusing. So here is some information I have compiled that I learned from nutritionists and natural practitioners that have helped many people heal from debilitating chronic illnesses. In addition, I’ve included a blog on some popular food marketing lies.

How to Lessen Your Exposure to Toxins (Part 2: Foods)

The Food Industry Doesn’t Care About Health — Just Profits

6. Reduce Your Toxic Exposures

Toxins play a huge role in chronic illness, and they are actually the reason for most chronic illnesses. Whether you are sick or not, you should always work on reducing your daily toxic exposures. Every year, I personally work on removing more toxins from my life. Among all the root causes of my chronic illness, I actually had heavy amounts of lead and chlorine in my body. A detox will help remove toxins, but you should also reduce your exposure to toxins over time.

Read more on this: Reality of Our Toxic World

View toxins to eliminate: How to Lessen Your Exposure to Toxins (Part 1)

7. Stress Management

If you have been chronically sick for a long time, you may already know that stress can greatly impact chronic pain, and it is of course harmful to your mental health, as well. You don’t want stress to make your pain worse, so you absolutely have to use some stress management tools.

Here are some ideas for stress management:

In-Depth Dive into Better Managing Stress (From someone who has lived with chronic stress & chronic pain)

8. Living a WELLNESS LIFESTYLE

If you know you want to make some healthy changes in the new year, but you are not sure what or where to start, this might help. Here are 9 of the most important health choices to pay attention to Obtaining Wellness: The Most Important Healthy Choices to Pay Attention To

9. Improving Relationships

Many people lose relationships with chronic illness, get stuck in toxic relationships, or just feel inadequate as friends/family members. It is the start of a new year and it is time to feel in control! So figure out how you can improve relationships, or remove yourself from toxic ones.

Here are some things to consider: Maintaining Healthy Relationships While Chronically Sick

10. Finding Support

Whether or not you have a supportive group of friends and family members, it can also be helpful to connect with other chronic pain sufferers. We are slowly growing peer-to-peer support groups specifically for this with our nonprofit Hope Against Pain. Hope Against Pain is an action-based support group designed specifically to address pain. Each member is taken along a path to improvement. 

11. Developing a New Hobby or Interest

Need more joy in your life? Do the days feel a bit dull? Are you unable to work or enjoy certain past hobbies due to your illness? A great goal for the new year might just be finding a new hobby to take your mind off your current struggles.

I hope these suggestions help, and I hope this is a better less painful new year for you!

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