Goal Setting In Addiction Recovery

Have you recently completed rehabilitation treatment for an addiction? Are you now searching for ways to ensure that you obtain a long term recovery? Goal setting in addiction recovery is highly recommended.

At Step One Recovery, we work with our patients to ensure that they set realistic and sustainable goals before leaving our facilities.

An essential part of our aftercare support package, goal setting in addiction recovery not only assists those in recovery as they embark on a long term recovery, but it helps them maintain sobriety and provides something to work towards and focus on.

Whether you are looking to attend a set number of addiction recovery groups in your first year of recovery or are hoping to return to work, setting goals that will contribute to your long term recovery will give you every chance of success.

Setting Smart Goals In Addiction Recovery

As you turn your thoughts to goal setting in addiction recovery, you may find that you have several things that you would like to complete, do or participate in. Faith-based rehab centres commonly offer this form of treatment, and is a successful form of treatment.

When considering goal setting in addiction recovery, we would highly advise that you set smart goals. Setting smart goals in addiction recovery will ensure that your goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.

To help you understand what smart goals are, we have provided an outline of the smart goal acronym below, including questions you may want to ask yourself as you consider your addiction recovery goals.

Specific

What do you want to achieve? Why is this goal important to you? Will you require any resources to help you achieve this goal?

Specific goals might include attending a set number of addiction recovery groups, amending relationships with friends, maintaining sobriety or securing a new job.

Measurable

How long will it take you to complete your goal? Will it take you days, months or years to complete? How will you measure your progress? How will you know when your goal is accomplished?

When measuring your goal, you might set yourself a task of attending 20 addiction recovery groups. You will know that your goal is accomplished when you have attended all 20.

Achievable

Are your goals achievable?

As you consider the goals you want to set, consider whether they are realistic. If you come to realise that they are not practical, it may be ideal to re-evaluate how long you will give yourself to complete the goal.

Relevant

Are your goals relevant to your addiction recovery? Will the goals help you make a long term recovery?

As you consider the goals you want to set, it is essential to ensure they will contribute to your long term recovery.

Time-bound

As you set your goal and establish whether it is measurable, achievable and relevant to your recovery, the final stage of goal setting is to consider the deadline that you will set.

Short term addiction recovery goals may last weeks or months, whereas long term recovery goals will span years.

With an understanding of what smart goals in addiction recovery typically include, you will now be able to go about setting your own smart goals in addiction recovery.

Tracking Your Addiction Recovery Goals – Why Is It Important?

As you decide on the smart goals that you will set yourself as you progress through your addiction recovery, keeping track of your goals will enable you to reflect on just how far you have come in your recovery.

Many individuals from all walks of life will set goals, however, results will often be anticipated within a short time frame.

When not attained in the desired time frame, individuals are often left disappointed and disheartened.
Some will even give up and resort to their old habits. Sadly, when considering addiction recovery, this sees individuals more prone to relapsing.

With this in mind, as you set your addiction recovery goals following the smart goal template discussed above, we would highly recommend tracking your progress.

In addition to determining the progress that you have already made, tracking your progress will offer you motivation in times of need and ultimately assist you in your long term recovery.

Tracking your addiction recovery goals does not need to be a complicated process. In fact, all you need is a notebook and a pen.

As and when you set your goals, jot them down. Make a note of what you want to accomplish, how you will know when this goal is achieved, how you will ensure that the goal is accomplished, how the goal will contribute to your addiction recovery and the time it will take you to accomplish said goal.

At the end of every week, refer back to your notebook and reflect on your goals. Write down any progress that has been made and how this success made you feel.

If you did not meet a particular goal or did not contribute to a set goal, make a note of why this was and how this has made you feel.

Although you may feel somewhat discouraged, it is essential to make a note of this if you are to track your progress honestly.

As you track your goals, we would highly advise that you keep an open mind. You may not make the same level of progress each week, but that is entirely normal. Do not let this hinder your overall progress or detract you from your long term recovery.

As time goes by, you will find that regardless of the progress made every week, tracking and monitoring your progress will help boost morale, self-confidence and see you become increasingly optimistic about what the future holds.

Do Not Be Afraid To Ask For Help

As you set your goals and monitor your progress, if you find yourself in need of additional addiction recovery support, do not be afraid to ask for help.

At Step One Recovery, we can support you in your long term recovery by offering advice and guidance. If need be, we can also provide you with further rehabilitation treatment and aftercare support.