Part of recovering from an addiction is making life changes. Not only should you be finding healthy alternatives to substance use, but you should also consider bettering your overall self and life as part of your addiction recovery journey.
Setting long-term goals is easier said than done. However, below are some of the best ways to set long-term goals as you recover from addiction.
Get in the Right Environment
They say you can’t heal in the same place you got sick in. That’s especially true if the environment is a particularly toxic one. Not only will you be prone to relapsing, but you may never end up wanting to recover when you remain in an unhealthy environment.
In the early stages, the best environment for someone recovering from an addiction is in an in-patient rehab center. After living in a rehab center, one might graduate to living in a halfway house or sober living home before eventually finding a new, permanent environment to live in.
Surround Yourself with the Right People
One of the worst things you can do during addiction recovery is continue associating with people who encourage or enable your addiction. People who belittle and discourage you as you’re recovering are also people that should be cut off from your life.
Instead, make an effort to surround yourself with positive, empathetic, understanding individuals. Their good energy will rub off onto you and make it easier for you to make long-term goals for yourself. And who knows, maybe the positive people you surround yourself with will make goals with you and encourage you along the way!
Decide What Changes You Want and Need
When coming up with long-term goals as you recover from an addiction, sit down and really think about what changes you need and want the most. Don’t just pick a goal because it’s easily obtainable. Pick goals that will benefit you the most and make sober life worth it.
Examples of long-term goals you might wish to make during your addiction recovery journey might include getting out of debt, starting a new job or changing careers, going back to school, getting in physical shape, starting a small business, or volunteering.
Track Your Progress
Nothing will make you prouder of your progress than tracking it. Log every small and big move towards your long-term goal. Make a checklist, keep a journal, do whatever you want to track your progress. Seeing your progress alone will encourage you to keep at it.
To further encourage yourself, consider rewarding yourself the more progress you make. You deserve it for the amount of effort you put into making your goal a reality.
Conclusion
Coming up with long-term goals as you’re recovering from an addiction isn’t always easy. But it isn’t impossible, and it might just be one of the best things you do for yourself. Setting long-term goals starts with getting in a healthy environment, being around the right people, evaluating what changes you need the most, and tracking your progress along the way.