100 Steps For Building A Strong Recovery

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Hope Rehab Center Thailand

45/13 Soi Pha Phum


Tambon Bang Phra
Amphoe Si Racha
Chon Buri
20110 Thailand

100 Tips for Building a Strong


Recovery

Hope Rehab Center Thailand

Email: simon@hoperehabcenterthailand.com - Telephone: 0066 895 291297


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:

1. Be grateful for your recovery, this increases the likelihood


you will remain clean and sober

2. Look at each new day as a fresh start

3. Get up before your addiction does, bright and early

4. Drink a glass of water when you get up

5. Aim for progress - not perfection: the only thing you are
expected to do is try your best

6. Be willing and eventually it will happen

7. Do something positive daily: this can be like planting


positive karma seeds that will blossom

8. Live in the present moment, don’t waste too much energy


thinking about the past or future

9. Use tools like mindfulness so you are not controlled by


your thoughts and emotions

10. Avoid the tendency to isolate specially when your mood is


low

11. Learn to listen to your intuition or higher self: this leads to


happiness and fulfilment
Hope Rehab Center Thailand
45/13 Soi Pha Phum
Tambon Bang Phra
Amphoe Si Racha
Chon Buri
20110 Thailand

12. Stretch yourself and leave your comfort zone: this


develops you

13. Reduce the time you spend around negative people

14. Develop self-compassion so you can be your own best


friend

15. Replace the negative self talk with positive and inspiring
thoughts – ‘I can do this’

16. Learn to self-soothe rather than beating yourself up when


you make mistakes

17. Get the support you need from fellowship groups of any
kind

18. Reduce expectations on others – nobody is perfect

19. Try to be understanding rather than to be understood

20. Blog about recovery: this can strengthen your sobriety


and help others

21. Happiness is not about what you can get – its appreciating
what you have

22. Aim to be the first to apologise in an argument

23. Write a daily journal

24. Think of failure as part of a process – the only real failure


is not trying

25. Treat difficult times as periods of growth – keep in mind


the words of AA founder Bill Wilson, “No personal calamity is so
crushing that something true and great can't be made of it"

Hope Rehab Center Thailand

Email: simon@hoperehabcenterthailand.com - Telephone: 0066 895 291297


26. Have a plan for dealing with relapse triggers hunger,
anger, loneliness, and tiredness - HALT

27. Learn about the relapse process so you can be aware of


warning signs in your behaviour

28. Practice healthy morning routines: yoga or meditation,


and get the day off to a good start

29. Understand the importance of nutrition: A balanced diet is


the key to a strong sobriety – avoid comfort eating

30. Get some exercise every day even if it is only a 20 minute


walk

31. Avoid rigid thinking, seeing things as black or white: This


limits your opportunities in life

32. Get involved in some type of volunteer service - this will


supercharge your sobriety

33. Do service at a fellowship meeting

34. If you make a mistake, own up to it quickly

35. Don’t waste your time blaming other people for your
mistakes – instead just think about how you could have done
things differently

36. If someone hurts you - Prey for them

37. Don’t expect any special treatment from life just because
you have given up alcohol or drugs

38. Don’t insist that your way is the only right way to recover
from addiction – as Bill Wilson once explained “"The roads to
recovery are many"
Hope Rehab Center Thailand
45/13 Soi Pha Phum
Tambon Bang Phra
Amphoe Si Racha
Chon Buri
20110 Thailand

39. Always be willing to change your beliefs or opinions if it


could mean improving your life

40. Lighten up and have fun – don’t take yourself so seriously

41. Realise that admitting to your limitations, or gaps in


knowledge, is a strength and not a weakness

42. Try not to judge other people too harshly – most of us are
just trying our best with the cards we have been dealt

43. Value human relationships above all else

44. Don’t worry about what other people think of you because
you can never actually know what they think

45. Let go of the idea of ever being able to drink or use drugs
again in the future – so long as you hold this door open,
sobriety will always be a bit of a struggle

46. Don’t romance the drink or drug – combat these thoughts


that glamorise substance abuse by remembering how bad it
was

47. Try praying sometimes even if you don’t believe in God –


it can be a great comfort

48. Repeat positive affirmations to yourself to achieve your


goals

49. Have a daily mantra to keep you focussed

50. Create a mission statement reflecting your meaning and


purpose in life

51. Understand the most important thing you can do to make


the world a better place is to be a better person
Hope Rehab Center Thailand

Email: simon@hoperehabcenterthailand.com - Telephone: 0066 895 291297


52. 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

53. The best way to overcome worry and anxiety is to take


action

54. Accept compliments because these can boost your


motivation

55. Don’t rely on other people for validation – believe in


yourself

56. Write letters to yourself in the future (one year, five years,
ten years, and twenty years) as this can help you clarify your
goals – the website www.futureme.org is perfect for this

57. The occasional bad day is normal, but if things are


persistently bad, it usually means you need to change
something

58. Don’t feel ashamed of your years of addiction because it


go you to where you are today

59. Understand that often the best you can do to help another
person is to fully listen to what they have to say

60. Avoid saying negative things about other people – it


makes you look bad, and it there is no real benefit to this type
of gossip

61. It is good to have goals in recovery but understand the


most amazing things in your future are going to be completely
unexpected
Hope Rehab Center Thailand
45/13 Soi Pha Phum
Tambon Bang Phra
Amphoe Si Racha
Chon Buri
20110 Thailand

62. Don’t spend all of your life waiting to happy - remember


the warning of John Lennon “life is what happens to you while
you’re busy making other plans”

63. Understand that you can only experience love to the


extent that you are willing to open your heart – if you don’t risk
being hurt, it is hard to experience real love

64. Try to recapture the sense of awe about the world that
you experienced as a child

65. Accept that there may not be clear answers to the big
questions in life, but you can learn to enjoy the mystery of it all

66. Lighten your load in life by learning to forgive – if you


want other people to forgive your past mistakes, you need to
be willing to do the same for them

67. See the word as a magical place – the fact that we are
here at all is amazing

68. Develop your spiritual life – this doesn’t mean you have to
become religious, just walking in nature can be spiritual

69. Accept that things are going to hardly ever turn out
exactly as you planned, but this doesn’t have to be a bad thing
– in fact, what the universe gives you may often be much
better than what you originally wanted

70. Delay any decision to relapse by at least one day and use
this time to seek advice and support – if 24 hours passes and
you are still thinking of relapse, delay for another day

71. Understand how good nutrition and exercise can help


manage symptoms of depression

Hope Rehab Center Thailand

Email: simon@hoperehabcenterthailand.com - Telephone: 0066 895 291297


72. Know that the only way to stay on track in life is to be
willing to admit it when you get lost

73. Always be quick to forgive yourself after you mess up, but
don’t waste time making excuses or trying to justify bad
behaviour – your job is to learn and grow

74. Enjoy a balance of hobbies/interests/activities in sobriety


so you don’t become too obsessed with one of them

75. Try to have at least one regular physical activity in your


life, so you are not always stuck inside your thoughts

76. Try to read one book every month - this will expand your
universe

77. Don’t resist your feelings because this is what causes


most of your pain – if you are feeling sad don’t make things
worse by feeling guilty about being sad

78. Make large goals more manageable by breaking them


down into smaller goals – use rewards for achieving each stage
as a way to keep you motivated

79. It is recommended you avoid making more major changes


to your life in the first year of recovery e.g. moving house

80. If you are unemployed stay positive and keep looking for
work – persistence pays off

81. Understand that what is often needed is that you change


your perspective on a situation rather than trying to change the
situation

82. Remember the serenity prayer – “God grant me the


serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to
change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.”
Hope Rehab Center Thailand
45/13 Soi Pha Phum
Tambon Bang Phra
Amphoe Si Racha
Chon Buri
20110 Thailand

83. Build up a network of sober friends – if you are in a


fellowship group, collect phone numbers and email addresses

84. Try to always say ‘yes’ to new experiences and


opportunities

85. Remember that so long as you are clean and sober, you
are doing something right

86. Learn to rejoice in the achievements of other people

87. Understand that you learn far more from listening than
you ever will be talking

88. Devote at least 20 minutes each day to relaxation

89. If you are starting to feel fed up with fellowship meetings,


try going to different groups

90. Don’t bother with excuses for why you can’t do something
– only focus on solutions

91. Never take your recovery for granted because it puts you
at higher risk of relapse

92. Learn to delay gratification – the best rewards in life often


require a bit of sacrifice initially

93. Develop positive habits because then doing the right


things becomes effortless

94. Develop a beginner’s mind so that you are always able to


learn new things

95. Understands that most of your limitations are put there by


you

Hope Rehab Center Thailand

Email: simon@hoperehabcenterthailand.com - Telephone: 0066 895 291297


96. Don’t spend more than a couple of hours a day watching
TV

97. If you are able to let go a little in life, your life will
improve a little – if you are able to let go a lot, your life will
improve a lot

98. Never stop trying to achieve your dreams – don’t give up


five before the miracle happens

99. Always be willing to ask for help when you need it


because this is the key to success

100. Don’t pray for an easier life – pray for more effective tools
for coping with difficulties

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