Turn Resolutions into Real Change?

At the start of every year, the same question seems to surface everywhere: have you stuck to your New Year’s resolutions yet?

For some people, resolutions feel motivating and hopeful. For many others, they become quietly discouraging by February. In clinical practice, particularly when working with people living with ongoing pain, I see how rigid resolutions can unintentionally add pressure to bodies that are already under strain.

This is not a failure of willpower. It is often a misunderstanding of how pain, habits and coping strategies develop.

The Problem With Resolutions

Traditional resolutions tend to focus on restriction.
Stop taking painkillers.
Drink less alcohol.
Exercise more.
Push through discomfort.

While these intentions are understandable, they often place demands on behaviour without addressing why that behaviour exists in the first place. When pain flares, stress increases or life becomes busy, the resolution feels impossible to maintain. This can lead to frustration, guilt and a sense of having failed.

From a clinical perspective, behaviour is rarely random. Most habits form as coping strategies. They serve a purpose, particularly when the body or nervous system is under pressure. Removing a coping strategy without understanding its role often leaves people stuck in the same cycle.

Why Goals Create More Lasting Change

A goal invites curiosity rather than judgement.
Instead of asking what must I stop doing? it asks what am I trying to feel or function better at?

Goals allow flexibility. They adapt to flare ups, busy periods and recovery phases. They focus on progress rather than perfection. Most importantly, they acknowledge that pain and behaviour are connected, not separate problems.

In clinical care, we do not begin by telling someone what to remove from their life. We begin by understanding what their body has been compensating for.

Start With the “Why”

Consider some of the most common coping strategies seen in practice.

Pain medication is often used not because someone wants to rely on it, but because pain is interfering with sleep, work or movement. Rather than focusing solely on reducing medication, the more useful question is why the pain persists. Contributing factors might include unresolved injury, restricted movement, prolonged desk work, poor posture or lack of recovery time. Addressing these drivers can naturally reduce reliance on medication over time.

Alcohol is frequently used as a way to switch off, manage stress or cope with discomfort. In these cases, the behaviour itself is not the core issue. Exploring nervous system overload, muscular tension, sleep disruption and realistic stress management often changes the need for that coping mechanism altogether.

Avoiding exercise is rarely about motivation. Pain, fear of flare ups, fatigue or uncertainty about what is safe can all make movement feel threatening rather than supportive. Here, the goal becomes restoring confidence in movement, building consistency rather than intensity, and integrating activity into daily life in a way that feels achievable.

Project Managing Your Health

One of the most effective ways to approach change is to treat your health as a project rather than a promise.

This means breaking things down into manageable parts.

• What is your body currently struggling with?

• What aggravates symptoms at home or at work?

• What habits are helping in the short term but limiting recovery in the long term?

• What small, realistic changes would reduce strain rather than add pressure?

From a clinical perspective, this may include hands-on treatment, targeted exercises, improving desk or work setup, pacing daily activity, or addressing movement patterns that overload certain areas of the body.

These changes may seem modest, but they are sustainable. Over time, they support better function, reduced pain and greater confidence in your body.

When Coping Becomes the Resolution

Many people arrive at the start of a new year realizing that a coping strategy they once relied on has become the very thing they are trying to stop. That awareness matters.

If your resolution is to stop something that once helped you cope with pain, stress or fatigue, it may be a sign that your body needs support rather than stricter rules.

Coping strategies are not failures. They are adaptations. With the right understanding and professional guidance, it is often possible to reduce reliance on them naturally by addressing the underlying causes.

Let’s Try To Do Things Differently

If you recognize yourself in this, the next step does not have to be another restriction or target to meet.

Instead of asking yourself to stop, consider allowing yourself to understand what your body has been managing on your behalf. With thoughtful clinical input, practical strategies and realistic goals, change becomes something that develops gradually rather than something you have to force.

At The Waterside Practice, we work with people every day who are ready to move beyond simply coping. Our approach focuses on understanding pain, improving function and supporting long term wellbeing in a way that fits real life.

If your resolution has highlighted that something needs to change, this may be the right time to explore it with professional support rather than willpower alone.