Important factors in recovery

It is hard to itemize the most important factors in recovery. I say this because everyone is different and must find their own needs and goals for their personal recovery. With that being said, the most important factor for recovery is to evaluate where you are and where you want to be. I love SMART goals and you hear a lot about them. The problem is that many who ask you to develop a SMART goal pressure people to develop a sentence format for the SMART goal. Eliminating this requirement makes setting SMART goals and monitoring results a little easier. Instead of going for the sentence format, try this table:

Another important factor is to be ready to do it for yourself. It is nice to think about others when considering recovery. "I want to do it for my kids" gives you a purpose. This just means that you can be in "recovery" when the kids are around. Remember, everywhere you go and everything you do; you are there. Do it for yourself. Instead of saying you want to do it for your kids, consider doing it so you can be a better provider, better husband/wife/father/mother, etc. It is good to want to change for others, but it is better to want to change for yourself.

Another important factor is to have the resources and support needed for the maintenance stage of recovery. During the action stage of recovery, time must be taken to develop strategies to use if ever triggered by internal or external stimuli that tempt you to use. Purge your life of external stimuli. Clean your environment. Make an effort to stay away from your using buddies.

You may be tempted to feel like you want to help those you used to party with, avoid this temptation until you are at least 3 years out. Helping others you may not know can be considered (as a peer recovery coach) earlier in your recovery, say 6 months to a year, as long as it is in a controlled environment. It is difficult to reach the ones that you used to party with when they know your triggers. I know this can be difficult if your life partner is a user. I am not saying you must leave them. Try to stay away from them while they are using. When I stopped smoking in 2017, my husband continued to smoke. I did not try to make him quit also. I just requested he not smoke around me. Out of respect and love, he chose to go outside to smoke. There may be a time you may have to walk away. That is a decision you have to make for yourself.

Make sure you have resources available to help after leaving rehab. Remember, you are a whole person and should seek resources that can support every aspect of that whole person. I like to use the Faith Community Nursing Model as an example of the whole person. Make sure you have goals and strategies to meet, or work through, each of these aspects of self. If you cannot meet these needs yourself, then find support for those needs. There are many people and organizations available to help with these needs. Just know how to find them before you need them.