Six Tips for Life Free of Addiction

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The world can be a tough place to live in, especially when someone is struggling with the demons that often accompany addiction. Those who get out of treatment will often face the temptation to use or simply go back to the ways they used to deal with life. Triggers can seem to be everywhere, even when people don’t directly offer or tempt a recovering addict with drugs.

How then can someone new in recovery, stave off temptation and continue to move forward without tripping up and relapsing?

There are a few things that can help keep a newly sober individual from falling back into drug addiction.

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1) Never Stop Setting Goals

Set out what goals you want to achieve. From things as big as getting a new place and car to as small as going to the gym once a week. Setting goals and achieving them is a really good way to keep your moral high. Make sure to set smaller, easier to achieve goals alongside your big goals. It helps if you write them out so you can keep track of them.

2) Keep Away from Stressful Situations

This might seem impossible to achieve since most people do not usually go through life seeking out stressful situations. One of the biggest factors in relapse is high levels of stress. Therefore, it is important to avoid stressful situations when possible. Also steer clear of people who you argue with a lot. If you can’t do that, keep your communication with them as non-confrontational as possible.

3) Cut Bad Influences out of Your Life

It’s a pretty good rule of thumb that if someone you know is not supportive of your decisions to improve your life, you should not hang around them. This is extremely important when it comes to recovering from addiction. Anyone who is going to invite you out drinking when you are working on steering clear of any substance use, shouldn’t be in your circle of friends.

4) Engage Your Thinking Mind

Idleness often results in boredom and boredom is never good for someone focusing on sobriety. You will find that it is helpful to focus on other things than your past abuse and failures. Places you can visit and where even classes can be taken include libraries, recreation centers, and the internet. Learning a new hobby or language or getting another skill will help you to focus on positive things to assist with your staying sober as well as help you to be more valuable in the work force.

5) Reward Yourself

When you overcome something or achieve a huge goal, reward yourself. There are plenty of fun activities you can do while maintaining your sobriety. Bowling, movies, going on a hike are just a few ideas. Make sure to reward yourself for doing a good job.

6) Reach Out When Things Get Rough

You will have bad days in life. We all do. If you ever feel like you are at risk of relapsing because things have not been going well, speak up. Ask for help getting through the rough patch so your sobriety remains intact. There are many support groups and counselors out there who can help you.

If you do relapse, get help before you drag your life back to where it was at its worst.

If you or anyone you know needs help finding addiction treatment, you can call us.

AUTHOR

Aaron

Aaron has been writing drug education articles and documenting the success of the Narconon program for over two years.

NARCONON NEW LIFE RETREAT

DRUG EDUCATION AND REHABILITATION