For those in recovery, keeping progress up is of the utmost importance. Setting goals and meeting them go a long way towards building someone’s self esteem in recovery. Here are five tips for those in recovery on setting New Year’s resolutions to follow.
Maintain your support network.
Part of maintaining a support network is making sure that you attend regular support group meetings. Group meetings, like those that Alcoholics Anonymous hold locally, can help you get in touch with others who may have been in recovery longer or those who might have some level of expertise in remaining sober. Keep family and friends close, especially if they’re providing valuable support to you through encouragement. They can also help you stay accountable to yourself and others by making sure you make the healthiest, best choices along the recovery path, especially if your recovery is fresh. In the new year, if you make sure to continue your practice of keeping up with support groups, your odds of relapsing due to being alone go down.
Exercise to achieve the healthiest you.
Physical activity and exercise have several health benefits for those in recovery. Aside from regulating cortisol, a stress neurotransmitter, more effectively, regular exercise can help you achieve a better state of mind. The primary effects of physical exercise are beneficial to physical fitness. But the secondary effects, such as regulating neurotransmitters and hormones better, are great as well. Imagine the feeling of achievement you’ll get once you see the progress you’ve made over a year’s time of working out!
Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it.
Not being afraid to seek help when you slip or relapse is important. Make sure you have your therapist or a medical professional on call when you need help, no matter if it’s therapeutic or medical in nature. Not only do they want to help you succeed, but those who make use of resources at their disposal that they consistently use have better treatment outcomes over the long term. If you ever need help during the course of a year, you’ll be thankful that you had someone on call to help you maintain your recovery.
Give back to the community through mentorship or volunteering.
Some recovery centers have programs where those who’ve been in recovery for a while and meet certain criteria can coach newly recovered individuals as they set out on their own. Landmark Recovery has a recovery coaching program that does just this. Those who participate as mentors have the benefit of being additionally accountable to themselves in service of their mentorship. Giving back to the community is a spiritually fulfilling way to make an impact amongst those who benefit the most from the things you bring to the table. At the end of the year, when you look back on the ways you’ve given back to the community, you’ll feel a sense of pride at the exponential emotional growth that’s emanated from you outwards.
Celebrate your successes and continue making goals that you can work towards.
Along the way, make sure you stop and smell the roses by celebrating the goals you met throughout your year. Allowing yourself to celebrate these wins can help spur you on to further heights as you seek to stay in recovery for many more years. Your year will feel that much sweeter in hindsight if you resolve to make it your best yet!
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To learn more about how Landmark Recovery can help you achieve the life you desire, give our dedicated admissions specialists a call at 888-448-0302 today. Our therapists and medical professions are a cut above and ready to help you begin your recovery journey. We’re on a mission to save a million lives in the next century.
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