When you’re freshly sober, transitioning back into daily life while starting new habits and instilling new values can be incredibly difficult.
First, you suffer through withdrawal and learn to manage triggers and cravings. Then, you’re thrown back into the normal rhythm of life newly sober after spending years as an addict.
All you can do is make sure your new lifestyle sticks, but that’s far from easy. To guide you through the rocky terrain of recovery, here are 7 steps to improve your chances of sober success.
- Remember that slow and steady wins the race.
Once you’ve finally got your old habits out of the bloodstream, it’s easy to feel invincible. It’s common for former addicts to charge head-first back into the real world only to fall on their face shortly after. Instead, try to instill mindfulness into your every action and thoughts. Take things slowly as they come. Being re-immersed into a world where you’re independent will take time, but it’s worth the investment. It’s your recovery.
- Right the wrongs for a fresh start
During addiction, people often act in ways that hurt the ones who love them the most. If you’re recently sober, consider the past and revisit any old wounds that you may have inflicted. Righting these wrongs and seeking forgiveness can do a lot for the heart and mind, and will give you a boost towards a truly fresh start.
- Re-establish relationships
Relationships can get muddy when there’s addiction involved. Stepping back into life as a sober individual means you’ve got to reset them in order to understand the new expectations and roles within past relationships. This will keep other from expecting too much from you, while also keeping you accountable for your new lifestyle.
- Find new friends — sober ones
Having a community of sober support around you can be so beneficial to a recovering addict. Spending time in the same relationships that led you to addiction will only cause more harm, so it’s important to cut ties with those whom no longer serve you and your new goals. Instead, replace these relationships with people that will help you flourish.
- Replace bad habits with good ones
Receiving treatment during recovery can be a great idea for those who thrive on structure and immersive therapy. Sober living facilities, like New Life House provides are different than rehabilitation centers. They provide around-the-clock care for recovering addicts without being clinical. They break bad habits and slowly reintroduce new, healthy ones.
If you choose to work on transitioning on your own, make sure you have constructive things to fill your time with to serve as replacement habits for your old ones. These will help fill the void that other substances filled beforehand.
- Incorporate a healthy lifestyle
Living a “healthy” lifestyle might feel foreign to you after coming back from addiction. By incorporating things like an adequate sleep schedule, meals full of protein, fruits, and vegetables, ample water intake, and regular exercise like yoga or pilates, you’ll reduce the strain on your body during the transition and keep yourself as well-conditioned as it can be.
- Figure out some new goals
Now that you’ve got a solid grasp on a sober lifestyle, it’s time to move forward. The new you should have some new goals to match — if you don’t have any yet, sit down and think about the life you want to have 1 year, 5 years, and 10 years down the road. Transform those qualities into attainable goals and create a plan of how you’re going to reach them.
Find the support you need to help you get there, and don’t lose sight of these goals as you keep progressing.