100 Tips for Building a Strong Recovery
By┬аThe Hope Team
The DoтАЩs and DonтАЩts of Recovery
Giving up alcohol or drugs puts you on the road to a better future, but you have to keep on taking positive action in order to progress. Here are a 100 tips to help you build a strong sobriety following addiction:
- Be grateful for your recovery, this increases the likelihood you will remain clean and sober
- Look at each new day as a fresh start
- Get up before your addiction does, bright and early
- Drink a glass of water when you get up
- Aim for progress тАУ not perfection: the only thing you are expected to do is try your best.
- Be willing and eventually it will happen.
- Do something positive daily: this can be like planting positive karma seeds that will blossom.
- Live in the present moment, donтАЩt waste too much energy thinking about the past or future.
- Use tools like mindfulness so you are not controlled by your thoughts and emotions
- Avoid the tendency to isolate specially when your mood is low.
- Learn to listen to your intuition or higher self тАУ this leads to happiness and fulfilment.
- Stretch yourself and leave your comfort zone: this develops you.
- Reduce the time you spend around negative people.
- Think of failure as part of a process тАУ the only real failureis not trying.

- Develop self-compassion so you can be your own best friend.
- Replace the negative self talk with positive and inspiring thoughts тАУ тАШI can do thisтАЩ.
- Learn to self-soothe rather than beating yourself up when you make mistakes.
- Get the support you need from fellowship groups of any kind.
- Reduce expectations on others тАУ nobody is perfect.
- Try to be understanding rather than to be understood.
- Blog about recovery: this can strengthen your sobriety and help others.
- Happiness is not about what you can get тАУ its appreciating what you have.
- Aim to be the first to apologise in an argument.
- Write a daily journal.
- Treat difficult times as periods of growth тАУ keep in mind the words of AA founder Bill Wilson,┬атАЬno personal calamity is so crushing that something true and great canтАЩt be made of itтАЭ.
- Have a plan for dealing with relapse triggers hunger,anger, loneliness, and tiredness тАУ HALT
- Learn about the relapse process so you can be aware of warning signs in your behaviour.
- Practice healthy morning routines: yoga or meditation, and get the day off to a good start.
- Understand the importance of nutrition: A balanced diet is the key to a strong sobriety тАУ avoid comfort eating.
- Get some exercise every day even if it is only a 20 minute walk.
- Avoid rigid thinking, seeing things as black or white: This limits your opportunities in life.
- Get involved in some type of volunteer service тАУ this will supercharge your sobriety.
- Do service at a fellowship meeting.
- If you make a mistake, own up to it quickly.
- DonтАЩt waste your time blaming other people for your mistakes тАУ instead just think about how you could have done things differently.
- If someone hurts you, use it as an opportunity to practice compassion.
- DonтАЩt expect any special treatment from life just because you have given up alcohol or drugs.
- DonтАЩt insist that your way is the only right way to recover from addiction тАУ as Bill Wilson once explained┬атАЬthe roads to recovery are manyтАЭ.
- Always be willing to change your beliefs or opinions if it could mean improving your life.
- Lighten up and have fun тАУ donтАЩt take yourself so seriously.
- Realise that admitting to your limitations, or gaps in knowledge, is a strength and not a weakness.
- Try not to judge other people too harshly тАУ most of us are just trying our best with the cards we have been dealt.
- Value human relationships above all else.
- DonтАЩt worry about what other people think of you because you can never actually know what they think.
- Let go of the idea of ever being able to drink or use drugs again in the future тАУ so long as you hold this door open,sobriety will always be a bit of a struggle
- DonтАЩt romance the drink or drug тАУ combat these thoughts that glamorise substance abuse by remembering how bad it was.
- Try praying sometimes even if you donтАЩt believe in God тАУit can be a great comfort.
- Repeat positive affirmations to yourself to achieve your goals.
- Have a mantra to help keep you focussed.
- Create a mission statement reflecting your meaning and purpose in life.
- Understand the most important thing you can do to make the world a better place is to be a better person.
- Self fulfilling prophecy: expect good things to happen in the future, this will keep you motivated to do the necessary work to cause these good things to happen.
- The best way to overcome worry and anxiety is to take action.
- Accept compliments because these can boost your motivation.
- DonтАЩt rely on other people for validation тАУ believe in yourself.
- Write letters to yourself in the future (one year, five years, ten years, and twenty years) as this can help you clarify your goals тАУ the website┬аfutureme.org┬аis perfect for this.
- The occasional тАШbad dayтАЩ is normal, but if things are persistently bad, it usually means you need to change something.
- DonтАЩt feel ashamed of your years of addiction because it got you to where you are today.
- . Understand that often the best you can do to help another person is to fully listen to what they have to say.
- Avoid saying negative things about other people тАУ it makes you look bad, and it there is no real benefit to this type of gossip.
- It is good to have goals in recovery but understand the most amazing things in your future are going to be completely unexpected.
- DonтАЩt spend all of your life waiting to happy тАУ remember the warning of John Lennon┬атАЬlife is what happens to you while youтАЩre busy making other plansтАЭ.
- Understand that you can only experience love to the extent that you are willing to open your heart тАУ if you donтАЩt riskbeing hurt, it is hard to experience real love.
- Try to recapture the sense of awe about the world that you experienced as a child.
- Accept that there may not be clear answers to the bigquestions in life, but you can learn to enjoy the mystery of it all.
- Lighten your load in life by learning to forgive тАУ if you want other people to forgive your past mistakes, you need to be willing to do the same for them.
- See the word as a magical place тАУ the fact that we are here at all is┬аalready amazing.
- Develop your spiritual life тАУ this doesnтАЩt mean you have to become religious, just walking in nature can be spiritual.
- Accept that things are going to hardly ever turn out exactly as you planned, but this doesnтАЩt have to be a bad thingтАУ in fact, what the universe gives you may often be much better than what you originally wanted.
- DonтАЩt spend more than a couple of hours a day watching TV.
- Delay any decision to relapse by at least one day and use this time to seek advice and support тАУ if 24 hours passes, and you are still thinking of relapse, delay for another day.
- Understand how good nutrition and exercise can help manage symptoms of depression.
- Know that the only way to stay on track in life is to be willing to admit it when you get lost.
- Always be quick to forgive yourself after you mess up, but donтАЩt waste time making excuses or trying to justify bad behaviour тАУ your job is to learn and grow.
- Enjoy a balance of hobbies, interests, and activities in sobriety, so you donтАЩt become too obsessed with one of them.
- Try to have at least one regular physical activity in your life, so you are not always stuck inside your thoughts.
- Try to read one book every month тАУ this will expand your universe.
- DonтАЩt resist your feelings because this is what causes most of your pain тАУ if you are feeling sad donтАЩt make things worse by feeling guilty about being sad.
- Make large goals more manageable by breaking them down into smaller goals тАУ use rewards for achieving each stage as a way to keep you motivated.
- It is recommended you avoid making more major changes to your life in the first year of recovery (e.g. moving house or starting a new romantic relationship).
- If you are unemployed stay positive and keep looking for work тАУ persistence pays off.
- Understand that what is often needed is that you change your perspective on a situation rather than trying to change the situation.
- Remember the serenity prayer тАУ┬атАЬGod grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.тАЭ
- Build up a network of sober friends тАУ if you are in a fellowship group, collect phone numbers and email addresses.
- Try to always say тАШyesтАЩ to new experiences and opportunities.
- Remember that so long as you are clean and sober, you are doing something right.
- Always be willing to ask for help when you need it because this is the key to success.
- DonтАЩt pray for an easier life тАУ pray for more effective tools for coping with difficulties.
- Learn to rejoice in the achievements of other people.
- Understand that you learn far more from listening than you ever will be talking.
- Devote at least 20 minutes each day to relaxation.
- If you are starting to feel fed up with fellowship meetings,try going to different groups
- DonтАЩt bother with excuses for why you canтАЩt do somethingтАУ only focus on solutions.
- Never take your recovery for granted because it puts you at higher risk of relapse.
- Learn to delay gratification тАУ the best rewards in life oftenrequire a bit of sacrifice initially.
- Develop positive habits because then doing the right things becomes effortless.
- Develop a beginnerтАЩs mind so that you are always able to learn new things.
- Understands that most of your limitations are put there┬аby you.
- If you are able to let go a little in life, your life will improve a little тАУ if you are able to let go a lot, your life will improve a lot.
- Never stop trying to achieve your dreams тАУ donтАЩt give up before the miracle happens.
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