After you commit to getting sober, you have a long road to walk. That path looks somewhat different for everyone. Though you know freeing yourself from substance abuse will positively affect your life, that doesn’t mean you won’t have difficult days that tempt you to relapse. Here are five tips that can keep you on the right path and help motivate you to stay sober.

1. Make a Routine and Stick With It

Anyone can benefit from having structure in their life, but this is doubly true for recovering addicts. Drug and alcohol misuse can be a time-consuming habit, and now that you are no longer using these substances, you’ll have to find new ways to fill those hours of your day. Creating a daily routine involves mapping out when you will wake up, eat your meals, exercise, get your work done and practice your hobbies. It can be beneficial to write this down until you have it memorized. Keep a digital version on your phone so you can have it with you at all times. At home, post it somewhere prominent where you’ll be able to refer to it easily.

2. Have a Sober Support Network

If you surround yourself with negativity, it will be much more challenging for you to stay motivated. While you may have become accustomed to isolating yourself when you were in active addiction, staying sober will require you to break that pattern and establish a group of friends or family members who can encourage you to stay sober and remind you of why it’s worth it for you to work hard on your recovery.

3. Find Ways to Treat Yourself

Some days, your path to sobriety may seem as if it only goes uphill. You will have times when you feel as if you aren’t making enough progress toward your goals. On those days, having a reward system in place can be beneficial. Taking yourself out to dinner at one of your favorite restaurants, getting a massage, buying yourself a new outfit – there’s no shortage of ways to do something nice for yourself.

4. View Mistakes as a Learning Experience

Setbacks are a normal part of life, especially for recovering addicts. When you make a mistake, finding a way to learn from it and move on can be incredibly motivating. An essential component of addiction recovery is learning to replace negativity with positivity. Instead of viewing yourself as a failure, you should learn to be grateful for your mistakes – they’ve given you an opportunity to be more mentally resilient.

5. Make a List of Your Goals

Writing down your goals gives you the opportunity to revisit them whenever you feel unmotivated. This healthy habit helps you remember why you embarked on this journey to begin with. Goals are a way to make progress by showing you the way forward. If you achieve a goal, celebrate your accomplishment, then set a new one to replace it.

You Deserve to Feel Better

At Segue Recovery Support, we believe your sobriety is worth preserving so you can live a longer, healthier and more fulfilling life. That’s why we provide sober living environments that help recovering addicts transition from their treatment programs into the next phase of their recovery journey. The length of time you spend in addiction rehabilitation correlates directly to your success and long-term well-being. Contact us today to learn more about what we offer.