Essential Tips for Staying Motivated in Recovery

It is hardly easy to stay motivated throughout a grueling process of recovery. Even just working out regularly can be challenging! However, there are still ways to make this easier and ensure that your recovery process passes without a hitch.

To help you, we’ve prepared essential tips for staying motivated in recovery!

Know that rushing can only hurt you

Since staying motivated in recovery is difficult, it is often tempting to try and ‘rush’ the process. For example, a person undergoing physical therapy pushes for faster progress. However, all you need to do to remain motivated to grind through the process is remember the following: rushing often hurts more than it helps.

Following the same example as before, that person undergoing physical therapy might hurt themselves even more. This means that instead of spending a couple more months getting better, they can stay in a hospital bed longer.

If the worst comes to pass, they might end up with a permanent disability. Of course, since even this might not be enough to motivate some, finding alternative exercises is also a way to cope. For example, doing yoga can be both relaxing and good for you and replace some physical therapy.

Keep in mind your goal

No matter what you are going through, keeping your eyes on the goal can help you stay motivated in recovery. The promise that things will return to normal and you’ll have an everyday life again is powerful.

Of course, again, this is not always possible, especially in particularly rough recoveries. An example is what addicts go through, which is why aftercare programs are so significant, and continued support is essential.

This added support of professionals will tide you over when your goal seems far too removed to be of any real consequence. With both elements at play, you will definitely succeed and get better!

Look for the support of loved ones

Speaking of support, there is an excellent way to ensure that staying motivated in recovery is not too difficult. Namely, turning to your loved ones and family. These are the people who have only the best intentions at heart for you.

So, having them there, supporting you, and helping you do better will work wonders for your progress and mentality. Still, be aware that there’s one potential pitfall here, which can be harmful.

Sometimes, going through recovery wears on a person and makes them irritable. As such, it can make even those helping you seem malicious and pushy. This, in turn, can make you lash out in anger at your own support network.

You can’t really be blamed, as everything seems too overwhelming. You should, however, make sure to apologize afterward properly. Always make it clear you didn’t really mean the hurtful things you said. And, if possible, learn from that experience and try another approach next time.

Set smaller goals along the way

One of the reasons why staying motivated in recovery is so difficult is because you only have a distant goal to focus on. Of course, there are some minor improvements along the way, but they often don’t seem worth it. As such, an excellent way to overcome this is by setting smaller goals for yourself to overcome.

You are in physical therapy? Don’t focus on being able to walk effortlessly. Focus on taking a certain number of steps, and celebrate your successes. Recovering from addiction?

Fighting your urges for a lifetime is a daunting task. But you can still grind through a week if you set a goal to get through it without ever getting close to falling into temptation. You can even ease the challenges of home fitness this way by focusing on what you can do today that you couldn’t a week ago.

Reflect on all your progress

Speaking of setting goals and remembering what you’ve overcome, the addiction recovery experts from archstonerecovery.com advise reflecting on your progress regularly.

After all, if you just take a minute to remember the headspace and physical condition you were in at the start of your recovery compared to what they are now, you will often be shocked.

The difference can be as stark as night and day, and the knowledge that you are responsible for the change is downright liberating. It makes it evident that your efforts are actually paying off.

That you are not just wasting time hoping for things to get better. Which, of course, makes staying motivated in recovery much more manageable.

Work on building a routine

You’d be surprised how much of our daily life comes down to a routine. Things that used to be extremely annoying can become just another part of life if you do it enough times.

Remember how much you hated taking out the trash as a kid, even with treats on the line? As an adult, you might still grumble, but at least you do it regularly. The same can apply to your recovery process.

If you need to do regular exercise, instead of treating it like a significant daily event, just slot it into your everyday schedule and treat it like another thing to check off your list.

This will let you gradually normalize it instead of treating it like something to dread every day. Naturally, this also helps build some healthy habits once you recover!

Give yourself the care you deserve

The final way of staying motivated in recovery comes by offering yourself a bribe. Sure, living a perfectly healthy life can sometimes be draining. But you can make the bitter pill easier to swallow by washing it with something sweet.

In a way, this builds on setting a smaller goal for yourself. If you hit those goals, then treat yourself! Take a day to relax, read a good book, play video games, or whatever else you might enjoy. Of course, so long as it doesn’t harm your health or actively hurt your recovery!

Final comment

With the support of our essential tips for staying motivated in recovery, we know you will succeed! So long as you follow our advice and refuse to despair, you’ll get your life back.