Making Recovery Goals for Your Sobriety Journey

Do you have goals for recovery? Perhaps you’ve tried setting goals before and have come up short time after time. Maybe you’ve had bad experiences with new year’s resolutions in the past. If you’re honest, you may feel apprehensive about goal setting in recovery. It’s all understandable. However, recovery goals (and following a healthy process for achieving them) can provide accountability and purpose along your sobriety journey. 

Recovery Goals: What’s Their Purpose?

It’s a good idea to make recovery goals. But why? Recovery goals provide a description of your hopes and dreams for the future, shares the Minnesota Department of Human Services. Goals in recovery allow you to define what you want to achieve in a life of long-term sobriety. With stated goals in place, you’ve clarified what’s most important to you in recovery. 

Goals not only provide long-term direction; they also increase your motivation to succeed, shares PositivePsychology.com. Goals act as outlined success measures that give you purpose for each day of your recovery, no matter how mundane. This renewed clarity, drive, and deliberateness is a far cry (and welcome change of pace) from the unreliable, impulsive, and erratic nature of living with an addiction.

Recovery goals also give your loved ones and support network guidance on how to come alongside you in this season. And when a goal gets accomplished, you can celebrate your achievement with your friends and loved ones. Tracking your goal success gives you more confidence along the way, equipping you to tackle more challenging goals in the future.

Goal Setting in Recovery: Potential Hurdles

Goal setting is good and worthwhile, but it also comes with challenges. While you can certainly achieve your goals, there’s a chance you may fall short, too. If that happens, you may fear the potential of letting down your support network and feeling bad about yourself. The process of working on your goals may seem like an extra burden on your shoulders, generating more stress or anxious feelings.

The above feelings and fears may become addiction triggers, setting the stage for potential relapse or a transfer addiction. In many ways, it’s easier to make goals and harder to actually achieve them. Goal difficulties can happen to anyone, so it’s key to make recovery goals alongside your therapist, recovery mentor, or support network. Their assistance can help you to approach your goals in a healthy way.

How to Set Goals for Recovery

What’s the process for making recovery goals? As you begin to think about possible goals, remember these important tips:

Begin Small

Accomplishing any goal takes time and effort. That’s why it’s best to begin with goals that simply put you on the right path of recovery in these early stages. You don’t need to aim high from the start. Perhaps instead of saying you’ll volunteer at a nonprofit multiple days a week, create a smaller goal to show up twice a month. 

Make Them Actually Achievable

Audacious goals get all the attention these days. However, they’re not the best to strive for as you establish your goal-setting habit. Instead, you need to create recovery goals that are realistic. Otherwise, trying to achieve a lofty goal at first will likely lead to disappointment. Embrace humility and come up with real, achievable goals with the help of your therapist or support network. 

Keep the End in Mind

Goal setting in recovery works best when you know where you’re heading. Perhaps it’s an image of the ideal future self that you keep in your mind. What does this version of you actually look like — confident, sober, and enjoying a healthy lifestyle? A long-term vision for your recovery will help you make goals that point you in that direction.

Remember SMART

Are you familiar with SMART goals? This acronym helps you to remember to make recovery goals that you can truly accomplish. SMART stands for:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Agreeable
• Realistic
• Time-bound

Revise as Needed

Recovery is hardly a straightforward journey. And it doesn’t look the same for everyone (especially if you have co-occurring disorders). As your life changes, you may need to revise your recovery goals to better fit your new circumstances. Make it a point to periodically revisit your goals with a mentor, therapist, or accountability partner to reflect upon whether they still align with your needs. 

Recovery Goals in the Real World

All facets of your life can have recovery goals. When you have goals for different rhythms, you’re in a better position to cultivate a healthier overall well-being. So what do real goals actually look like? Here are some specific examples:

• Go to the gym 30 minutes a day, three to five times per week
• Show up to two support group meetings every week
• Start a new hobby by the end of next month
• Keep a steady job for the next calendar year
• Journal when you wake up every morning
• Connect with a trusted friend three times a month

Get Support for Your Addiction Recovery in Nashville

Ready to achieve lasting recovery from addiction? We’re here for you every step of the way at Integrative Life Center in Nashville, TN. From residential and outpatient treatment to aftercare and alumni programming, we can equip you to sustain your sobriety for the long haul. Call us today to learn more.

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