Sobriety Resolutions This New Year

Posted by White Oak Recovery Center on January 13th, 2021

For those struggling with substance abuse, the holidays are known to be stressful and testing of one's sobriety. Setting sobriety resolutions for the coming year can be a great way to kick-start, or keep yourself moving toward your recovery. New Year's resolutions can be an effective way to bring new, productive habits into your life. However, it’s necessary to set goals that are attainable and to spend time figuring out the necessary steps to take in order to reach those goals. Think of short-term goals for attaining long-term sobriety. Not only will it help you be productive every day, but it will also make the goals feel more achievable. 

Here are 5 sobriety resolutions that can help you make this year better than the last: 

1. Journaling 

Dedicate a few days a week to sit down and write whatever thoughts or emotions come up. There are multiple types of journaling such as

1. Goal orientated journaling

write down a goal you have and then write a well-thought-out plan (in bullet form) of the steps, you’ll take to achieve it. 

2. Reflective journaling

Write down an event that had an impact on you recently. It can be happy, sad, or any emotion in between. Then reflect and write about how you could have handled the situation better, what you wish others had done, and/or what you did during that event that made you proud of yourself. 

3. Diary 

A diary is generally used to write down all your thoughts and feelings about the daily, weekly, monthly events of your life. The idea is to pick up the pen and just start writing and see where your thoughts naturally take you. Oftentimes, upon reflection, you'll discover something that was impacting you much more than you realized.

Journaling has a magnitude of benefits such as:

• Helping to recognize triggers 

• Helping to organize thoughts to reduce daily stress and meet goals 

•  Helping to reduce anxiety by getting negative or private thoughts out of your head and onto paper.  

• Consider it your paper therapist! 
   

2. New hobby

A crucial but challenging part of getting clean is removing all the toxic people, places, and things from your life that enabled your substance abuse. A great goal is to commit yourself to find a new sober hobby. Take the time to try out a range of things from sports activities to the arts. Search until you find something that genuinely brings you joy. The idea is to find something that keeps you engaged, so your mind can think of something besides your addiction cravings. 

3. Charity work 

It can feel extremely rewarding and bring gratitude into your life to help others as others helped you. Set a goal to give back to your community in some way a few times a year. Whether it's volunteering at a drug rehabilitation center, shelter or donating food to the food banks, it will help boost your self-esteem and can help restore your sense of purpose that is often revoked from you in the face of addiction. 

4. Express gratitude/positivity 

Especially on tough days, it can be extremely beneficial to have a gratitude practice in place. Set a goal to note at least one thing you are grateful for when you wake up or when you go to sleep. As it becomes a habit, you can use it as a tool to access when you are feeling down or irritated and need a shift in perspective.

5. Exercise 

Just 5 minutes of movement can completely transform your mood from irritable to joyful. Setting a goal, for example, to have 30 minutes of movement 3 times a week will have both immediate and long term effects on your mind and body such as: 

• Reduce stress

• Improve sleep 

• Sharpen memory

• Increase energy 

• Improve self-esteem Even if it's just a  5-minute dance party in your kitchen while dinner cooks, it will have lasting positive effects.