Getting sober after addiction is scary, hard, and even sometimes painful. Anyone who is able to enter recovery deserves praise and support. Like many things, however, sobriety can be harder to keep than it is to achieve. At Safe Harbor Recovery Center in Portsmouth, Virginia, we want to give our clients the tools they need to build lives rooted in long-term recovery.
Taking a Closer Look at Your Recovery
Each person’s recovery journey is different from anyone else’s. To learn what is unique about your recovery, ask yourself:
- What made you want to get sober?
- What made it possible for you to get sober?
- How are you staying sober?
- Who are your biggest supporters?
- Who holds you accountable?
- What do you like about your life now?
- What is your greatest achievement?
- What do you miss about your life before recovery?
- What did you get in exchange?
- What would you like to change?
- What do you hope will be different in a year?
- What can you do to make that more likely?
Developing Your Sober Support System
If your reflections caused you to realize that your support system could use some work, that is a great place to start. Friends, family, a therapist, your sponsor, other members of support groups, teammates, members of your spiritual community, and people who share your hobbies are just a few places where you can meet people who will build you up, challenge you, and help you be accountable. The people you surround yourself with will shape the direction of your future in ways you might never consider, so choose carefully.
Set Clear Goals
Using the answers above, what can you do to solidify your recovery and get yourself even closer to the life you want to be living? What goals can you set that are SMART:
- Specific: Clear steps detailing exactly what you need to do
- Measurable: States how you will know that the goal was completed
- Achievable: Realistic and within your ability in the time available
- Relevant: Will have a meaningful impact on your life or future
- Time-Bound: Has an end date
An example of a SMART goal related to recovery might be attending two recovery meetings or events every week through the end of the year. This would be meaningful for a person who feels that recovery meetings are an important part of their sobriety and helps them to expand their sober support system. It is also wise, when setting a goal, to think about what barriers could make it challenging to complete the goal. How would you ensure you still achieved this goal if there was bad weather, you were tired from work, you had car problems, or you were invited to a family gathering? Could you attend a virtual meeting, take a bus, or call a friend to drive you?
Protecting Your Investment in Yourself
Once you find a goal that you are committed to achieving, you may find it helpful to talk to other people about what you’re doing, not just so they can cheer you on, but also so they understand if you have to set a boundary with them to protect your progress. If your goal is to be in bed by 10 pm every night because it supports your sobriety to prioritize your sleep, that might mean leaving a friend’s holiday party before it is over. A friend who values your recovery should understand that reasoning.
You may also find it helpful to cut out things that don’t actually push you toward your goals. No is a complete sentence. You can say not to clutter in your home, commitments of your time, an unsupportive person’s access to you, and other things that aren’t supporting your recovery.
Streamlining and automating whatever you can will also save you time and energy that you can pour into your goals:
- Keep a running shopping list on your phone or the fridge door
- Set aside time on the weekend to meal prep for the coming week
- Set up reminders and alerts on your phone
- Automate bills for recurring payments
- Store things together with items you will need at the same time
At Safe Harbor Recovery Center, we help people who are recovering from addiction to rebuild lives that are structured around their goals. It’s a privilege to watch someone who entered our program after struggling with addiction learn to grow and thrive on their new path.