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It is possible to get sober but still have a very average type of life. You may even end up treating recovery like a voluntary prison sentence in which you count the days and spend a lot of time missing alcohol or drugs. It does not have to be this way at all, and it is a real shame if you settle for anything less than a joyous sobriety. The way you get more out of this new life is by unlocking your potential, so in light of this, here are a few ideas about how you can go about doing this.
1. Get Rid of the Entitlement Attitude
If you believe the universe owes you because you stopped abusing alcohol or drugs, you can expect a good deal of disappointment in the future. You should feel proud of taking this step to improving your life, but you are going to need to keep taking further steps in order to improve your life. It is an ongoing effort and you are only ever going to get out of life what you put into it. If you are not prepared to work hard for a better life, you should not be surprised if things stay the same.
2. Get Out of Your Comfort Zone
It is nice to hit a period of ‘calm seas’ in life when you just fall into a routine and never really feel challenged. The problem is that as long as you are stuck in this comfort zone, there will not be any real growth. In order to unlock your potential, you have to be on the edge of life where the ride gets a bit bumpier. This means setting yourself tough goals whereby you are going to feel challenged and likely fail at least occasionally.
3. Don’t Give Up When Challenged in Life
The way you reach your potential is by facing the challenges that come your way in life. Alcohol and drug abuse is all about hiding from these challenges, which is why there is no real development during the years of addiction. When things start getting tough for you, it is important to not take this too personally but to just see it as a period of intense growth that will ultimately lead you to happiness.
4. Develop Plenty of Positive Habits
You may be bored with continually hearing about the need to give up your bad habits, but did you know that it is equally important to develop some positive habits? The great thing about habits is that these become things you do without them requiring any real effort. For example, say you want to start up running, if you do this religiously for a few weeks it will take effort in the beginning, but eventually you will reach a stage where you just do it without really thinking about it too much. These positive habits can greatly improve your life, so make sure you develop some.
5. Don’t Be Limited by Negative Thinking
You may have a soundtrack in your head that is regularly critical and full of negativity about life and your future. You need to stop listening to this voice because it only saps your motivation and traps you in mediocrity. Instead, you need to replace it with a more positive voice in your head that motivates you to reach your potential because this is what you deserve.
6. Always Be Willing to Learn from Your Mistakes
Making mistakes will always be forgivable, but refusing to learn from your mistakes is less forgivable. Even if you really mess up, it does not have to be a complete disaster as long as you are able to learn from the experience and avoid similar mistakes in the future. Addiction is all about making the same mistakes over and over again, which is not a pattern you want to return to now that you are in recovery.
