Recovery from drug and alcohol addiction is a rewarding process that could get overwhelming really fast. Working a recovery program entails many different variables that are all meant to work cohesively together. To gain the right perspective and the right tools will take some patience and effort to understand, especially with how they will benefit your sobriety. As you start to feel better, you will want to keep adding in more things to feel even better, you know, as you did during your addiction. To keep from inundating your recovery, setting realistic goals is of the utmost importance.
Change Your Mentality
If you are the type of person who does everything all at once in hopes to quickly improve how you feel, you are cheating yourself of being able to appreciate what you need to. Rather than get all of these things done right now without being intentional, if you use the one-day-at-a-time mentality, you can get more out of what you are trying to accomplish. Doing one thing at a time with purpose will give you clarity about what you are trying to achieve in your recovery. Ask your sponsor or your therapist for insight into what should be the most significant tasks to tackle first.
Know Your Limits
Human nature is one of greed in believing that the more you have, the more successful you are. The truth is that having quality over quantity in recovery is vital. Learn the essential parts of your program, and then carry them out to give you the best chance to discern how to implement them into your daily life.
Knowing your limit means that you cannot say “yes” to everything, nor can you try to complete everything all at once. You may want to do it all, but applying different aspects of your recovery as the time proves to be fit will do more than burdening yourself with more than you can do.
State Your Truth
You may have a hard time saying “no” to people when they ask you to do something. If you say “yes” to everything without weighing out the pros and the cons, consulting your calendar, or running the decision by your family, you may bite off more than you can chew. Saying “yes” without consideration could mean that you are saying “no” to other important things, including your family.
Plus, if you allow yourself to get overloaded with too many people, places, and things, your recovery could suffer from a lack of direction to the next indicated step. Try to play the tape forward about what the truth holds for you. If you see that you could be heading towards a dangerous outcome, abort your mission and take care of your recovery.
Keep Your Objective
As you navigate your way through sobriety, keep your eye on the prize. Anything that can take away from your primary purpose of remaining sober can be detrimental to your life. Your ongoing goals will have to be determined based on if they will lead you to a relapse. The aspiration you are striving for should go with your recovery or enhance your recovery as you complete it. Whatever goes outside of the realm of recovery should be analyzed to see if the goal is realistic or unreasonable.
Stay Your Course
Once you decide that your realistic expectations are a go, you need to set out a plan of action to keep you on track. Chronologically numbering your goals and deciphering what you should be doing next can keep you operative in what you are trying to attain. Taking your goals out of order could affect how well your goals will develop, so the best thing you can do is stay the course and trust the process.
Giving up because you believe that the goals you set are too difficult should not be an option. Instead, go back to the drawing board and lessen your load. Reconfiguring your plan does not make you weak. Reassessing shows great strength and courage on your mission to complete what you set out to do.
Do Not Get Distracted
To stay on course, you have to work your recovery program daily and ask for spiritual guidance. When you feel like you are diverting from what your plan of action entails, this is when you should pick up your tools. Call someone who can help you stay on task through encouragement and inspiration.
Take a moment to breathe out the negativity and breathe in the positivity. Go for a walk to get some fresh air and a new perspective. There will be times when you will feel dismayed with what you are doing, but remember your addiction is out to get you, and your recovery is there to save you.
Setting realistic expectations will be instrumental in remaining sober. Doing too much too soon can water down the aspects of your recovery and make you focus on the wrong things. Doing the next indicated step in recovery is vital instead of wasting your time on something that will not benefit your recovery. Spreading yourself thin happens, although you can make big things happen by setting realistic expectations.
Valiant Living can aid you in setting realistic expectations to start your journey in addiction recovery. Through evidence-based therapy options and the endless adventure of Colorado, Valiant fosters connection, encouraging clients to get connected to themselves, their peers, their families, and their higher power. Call us today for more information: 303-536-5463
