The New Oxford American Dictionary defines the word diligent as “having or showing care and conscientiousness in one’s work or duties.” Being diligent is important in recovery. For many of us, staying diligent is what helps to prevent relapse or poor decision-making. If you are new to recovery and sober living, diligence may take some time and learning to get right. What one person needs to do to continue living a healthy lifestyle is different than what another person needs to do.
It took a lot to get sober and work through your addiction, mental health challenges, and trauma. For some people, maintaining that sobriety can be just as much work. Learning what your mind and body need is the key to success. As time passes, with mindfulness and diligence, you can continue with your recovery and reach for goals that you thought were never going to be possible. Here are a few different ideas to keep in mind as you continue with your recovery journey and maintain your diligence.
You Will Feel Better About Yourself
Being diligent in your recovery process essentially means being mindful and staying in the moment. Diligence may often look like thinking about your actions and behaviors before you do them to ensure that you don’t get into situations that may be risky for your recovery. You will feel good about yourself, knowing that you can be diligent and place your recovery and health first.
Not only will diligence make you feel good about yourself, but also it can enhance your confidence. When you see yourself making the right choices and remaining mindful, you will see how capable you are of having a sober lifestyle.
Look to Your Role Models
Being diligent takes work. You constantly need to stay mindful and in the moment. Being diligent means thinking about your actions and decisions before they happen. It is far easier to simply let things happen as they happen and not overthink situations. However, when we do that, we risk placing ourselves in situations that we are not yet ready to handle. Look to your role models if you feel that you are struggling to remain diligent. Having people in your life that have gone through recovery can be beneficial. They have most likely gone through and felt what you are experiencing now. Look to your role models to see how they remain diligent in their sobriety. How do they stay focused on their recovery yet still maintain the life they want? They will most likely have a lot of advice on what worked and didn’t work for them. Take that advice and see what works for you.
Remember Your Goals
Goals are a significant and essential aspect of recovery for many people. Goals help us to think about the future and plan ways to achieve what we want in our future. As you maintain your recovery, always remember your goals–what you are working towards and where you have been. Goals may help you remain diligent in your recovery. Having something to focus on and strive towards can help push us and remind us that we don’t want to go back to the life we had when facing active addiction. Addiction probably consumed your life. It took your relationships, your free time, your money, your health, and your overall self. Being diligent can help us work towards the future and maintain our overall well-being and health. Continue to work on your goals and develop them. It is normal to adapt and change our goals as we move through our recovery process and sober lifestyle.
Reflect on Your Past
Reflecting on our past is a huge aspect of our long-term recovery. Regardless of how long you have been in recovery and living a sober lifestyle, there is tremendous power in reflecting on your past and remembering where you came from. As time passes, you may feel that you can be less diligent. Everyone is unique, so for some people, this may be safe and the right option. However, for many people, remaining diligent is something that needs to continue in the long term.
Having the ability to reflect on our past can also help others who we are new to the recovery process. Just like people helped you, take time to connect with and help others as well. Being diligent can be so many different things for different people. Ultimately, diligence is about doing what helps you and keeps you going on your recovery journey.
Remaining diligent during your recovery process is very important. Making a conscious effort to make healthy choices in order to remain sober can seem like a constant effort. As you journey through recovery, this diligence will probably begin to feel more natural and take less thought. For some people, diligence will look like reflecting on the past and helping others; for others, it will be thinking through our actions and behaviors to ensure we do not end up in risky situations. Learn what your mind and body need from you. Here at The Guest House, we understand that being diligent in your recovery can feel overwhelming at times. You need the right skills and tools to be able to understand your mental health and your sobriety. We are here to help you regardless of where you are in the recovery journey. Call us today to learn more at (855) 483-7800.