The purpose of this article is to provide practical tips and actionable strategies to help individuals in addiction recovery stay motivated and overcome challenges. Providing encouragement to being seeking recovery is what will sustain them throughout the drug and alcohol rehabilitation process and throughout https://ecosoberhouse.com/ that person’s lifetime of sobriety. As time progresses, an individual’s inspiration may change, but the ability to utilize that motivation to their advantage will remain the same. Having somebody close who shares in their determination to positive thinking can significantly improve the recovery process.
How Attitude Affects Your Health
However, research suggests that while 12-step groups are effective, people often don’t continue their involvement at beneficial levels over the long term. However, the recovery motivation word is often used in different ways in different contexts. Many 12-step programs suggest that sobriety means total abstinence—never using the substance ever again.
- You must forego short-term relief for long-term gains—and that requires determination, strength, and commitment.
- Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Goal Achievement Exercises for free.
- In the control condition, participants were administered a sham training where they both pushed and pulled alcohol-related pictures or received no training at all (with no differences between these control conditions).
- In many cases of substance use disorders, the abuse prolongs because of an inability to see a problem and to accept responsibility for any bad actions that come from this disorder.
Find Balance in Your Life
This could include practicing gratitude and affirmations, doing mindfulness activities or meditating. It’s also important for individuals to be around supportive, positive people who can lift them up. Additionally, values can help individuals develop healthy coping strategies and alternative behaviors that support their recovery. For example, an individual who values physical health may choose to exercise or engage in other wellness activities when faced with a craving or trigger, thereby reinforcing their commitment to their values and supporting their overall recovery process. Understanding and identifying our values across these various categories can help create a comprehensive and balanced foundation for making decisions and taking action in the pursuit of a meaningful life. As individuals in addiction recovery reconnect with their values, they can find a renewed sense of purpose and motivation that supports their journey towards healing and growth.
Remember to Celebrate the Milestones, Big or Small
By embracing the importance of values in the recovery process, individuals can create a solid foundation for lasting change, empowering them to build a life that is true to their beliefs and priorities. They represent a major public health concern that affects both individuals and society. Chronic diseases, such as cancer and HIV/AIDS, as well as drunk driving, child abuse, violence and crime, homelessness, and school- and work-related problems are all related to or impacted by substance abuse.
- That is why keeping in conscious contact with your values is a lifelong practice, but is especially valuable to engage in now.
- But sometimes, the calendar reminds us of an extra special day to honor certain people in our lives.
- It is entirely self-determined, but unlike intrinsic motivation, it does not have to involve activities that are enjoyable or interesting.
- By taking the leap into recovery, you have already made the hardest move.
- It’s not just your drinking buddies and drug dealers who can get you into trouble—sometimes those who are closest to you can contribute to a relapse.
Vallerand and colleagues (2003) called this way of pursuing an activity “obsessive passion” and investigated it in different domains. For instance, obsessively passionate cyclists continued to bike outdoors during the cold, snowy winter season in Québec. They reported that they could not live without biking, could not control their desire to do it, could not imagine their life without it, and experienced seriously negative emotions when the activity was blocked. Similarly, obsessively passionate dancers reported a loss of control in their involvement in dancing, expressed in a strong need to dance, and experienced difficulty in missing a performance even when injured and in pain (Rip, Fortin, & Vallerand, 2006). Whether it’s what you read or watch, the people you talk to, or your own self-talk, try to stay positive with uplifting news, people who encourage you, and thinking that’s going to help you meet your recovery goals.
Establish a Strong Support System
In this paradigm, participants were subliminally presented with the word “cocaine” (vs. neutral words). This procedure was intended to manipulate the accessibility of the goal of drug obtainment by inducing a drug craving. The primes were immediately followed by sex trade words (and other words irrelevant to sex exchange). Using a joystick, participants were asked to “move” away from rather than toward the sex trade words.
- It has been seen that people in addiction recovery have, in the past, been able to accomplish long-term sobriety with the help of a positive-thinking partner.
- It sparks the search for treatment, creating healthier options, and forming new coping mechanisms.
- By talking about obstacles, people can get guidance and support to overcome them.
- Of course, not every trigger can be avoided but coping with your life being different can help you build a new life filled with less painful reminders from the past.
- You may also experience what is commonly called sobriety fatigue, which refers to the overall exhaustion that may occur as a result of the emotional and physical stress of staying sober.
- Our next section attempts to explore these principles and their relevance to addiction in greater depth, from a conceptual perspective based on the recent advancements into motivated behavior and self-regulation.
