Happy New Year! 2020 is upon us, which brings a fresh enthusiasm for what is possible in the coming year. This time around, let your thoughts and imagination focus solely on what is achievable if sobriety is held to be your most important value throughout the year.
Sobriety just makes life easier and better. The fact is, when sober, the world can be a magical place. Sustainable sobriety makes success likely in all that you do. New opportunities with work, relationships, and family become standard. A higher level of achievement becomes expected, and your sense of self comes from within, rather than through a pipe or glass. The result of such a state makes your anxiety manageable, thoughts understandable, and actions predictable.
As you get set for the New Year, hopefully, there is a level of reflection and commitment that takes hold. A reflection on where you’ve been and a commitment to where you want to go. The first day of 2020 is the start of a new decade. For some, this may generate an even deeper reflection of what the last 10-years has produced. But no need to hold judgement if these reflections do not produce all positive memories. Rather than be resentful of what cannot be changed, it is now your chance to celebrate what you have become. The experiences and outcomes of the past are nothing more than your life’s journey. A journey that has placed you exactly where you are at this very moment. Use this moment to imagine all the victories, achievements, and personal satisfaction to be had, if in a decade from now, you are holding your 10-year chip.
You have the talent and knowledge necessary to make the next decade the best of your life. You have the support and tools at your disposal. You have an opportunity to say “I am better than this,” and reach those goals that once seemed impossible. You can look at the challenges you faced in 2019 and use them as the turning point for change. Taking an honest look at your actions, in combination with a deliberate approach to sobriety, can create change. No miracle needed, just a purposeful effort to be the person you want to be.
Millions of Americans will kick off the New Year with a set of goals they wish to achieve in the upcoming months. It is estimated that 45% of Americans make New Year’s resolutions, but less than 10% will be achieved. This embarrassing rate of failure goes to show the difficulty individuals have in achieving even the most insignificant of goals. However, most of these individuals have not dedicated themselves to transforming their life as you have.
This journey you are on has taught you that achievement goes far beyond merely writing or stating your intentions. Your efforts in recovery have shown that change of any magnitude requires a purposeful effort towards something greater than yourself. You know transformational change requires the elimination of emotional biases and the creation of healthy routines. That each day requires a strategic plan centered on completing small goals. And achievement can occur when a set of core principles consistently drives your thoughts, words, and actions. And most importantly, if you allow addiction to re-enter your life and choose your actions, you know with certainty that destruction will take place.
As you enter 2020, it makes sense to create the goals you plan to achieve, identify your life’s purpose, and develop those core principles that will direct your actions. You now have tools and support groups available to assist in the creation of a sustainable recovery plan. What goals do you want to achieve in the upcoming year?
Keys to Achieving Your Goals:
· Breakdown your goals into daily manageable tasks, and with absolute commitment, get them done. Eliminate expectations and accept the success and failure life is designed to deliver as you work to achieve your goals;
· Stop making things up about what life has in store for you or anticipating what tomorrow will bring. Live in the present and stay committed to the goals you have set for yourself. Regardless of outcome, never let rationalization, laziness, or failure distract you from achieving what you set out to do.
· Accept that achievement may not happen the first, second, third, or even fourth time. Stay committed to doing what is right. Ask for help when needed, push yourself to be better, and be open to new possibilities when figuring out how to get things done.
· Stay in action, and when anger, frustration, hopelessness, etc. appear, be tougher than that voice in your head, and double down with an even greater effort!
You have an opportunity to experience the greatest decade of your life. And the good news is, it is your choice whether such a decade becomes a reality.
You have an opportunity to experience the greatest decade of your life. And the good news is, it is your choice whether such a decade becomes a reality.