Six Ways to Increase Your Conscious Sobriety

Having what I call conscious sobriety is important to attaining any significant measure of success through your addiction recovery. With clear intentions, you know what you want and how to go about getting there.

But what if you’re not feeling much clarity? What if you can’t make up your mind about what path you should choose, and your decision-making seems muddled? This is actually a very common challenge and happens to the best of us from time to time.

Fortunately, moving from a sense of uncertainty into full conscious sobriety isn’t particularly difficult.

 All you need to do is take few simple actions, and clarity will follow:

1. Take responsibility. The power in taking full responsibility for anything is that you give yourself the power to change it. If you believe that something is inside of your control, you can always find a way to have what you want. You’ll never be stuck.

• Conscious sobriety is living in the now and something that you ultimately create, not something that happens to you. If you’re currently not as well practiced at creating as you would like, resolve that you’re going to work on this.

• Start by making a small intention and then sticking with it until success is achieved. Since you get better at making decisions by being aware of your priorities, you may need to spend some time contemplating what’s most important to you.

2. Use your past. Your past is a tool that’s always available. Your level of sobriety hasn’t always been constant. There have been times in your life when things seemed much clearer than they are right now. There have also been times when you felt more uncertain.

3. Visualize. You may think that things have to be a certain way before you can feel clear. Having everything “just so” can make focusing easier. However, even when things aren’t perfect, you can still choose to make a decision and stick with it.

• Instead of waiting for the ideal circumstances, visualize what your life would be like if they were in place. What would you know that you don’t know right now? How would you feel? Visualization can help you make decisions as though things are actually already the way you want them to be.

4. Write down your intentions and review them. Having a written objective will help you stay clear. First of all, you have to make some decisions to even have an intention in the first place. Second, by reviewing that intention every day, you’ll keep reinforcing that objective. As you do this work, your clarity will become a little greater each day.

• Reviewing your intention first thing in the morning and last thing at night should work well for you.

5. Believe. Many people get stuck making an intention because they believe they have to come up with the perfect one. Nothing could be further from the truth. Don’t spend too much time or energy creating the intention. Just pick something that feels good to you and start working on it.

6. Focus on one thing at a time. Having a higher level of addiction recovery is easier if you’re only focusing on one thing at time. Avoid spreading yourself too thin, especially at first.

As you can see, you can do many things to increase your conscious sobriety. The best news is that you don’t have to wait; you can get started today. As you increase your clarity, your life will seem easier and easier. Before you know it, you’ll achieve goals you never even thought you could set for yourself. Now that’s progress!

If you’re looking for a little hand holding to go to the next level of conscious sobriety then feel free to drop me a line and perhaps what I have can help you. Contact me.

Ladies, have you ever received a card and felt its sentiments shake you to the core? Have the words in a book ever reached out to tug at your heartstrings?

 Inspirational quotes can infuse you with the motivation to take action toward your goals and live the life you desire.

You can use inspirational quotes on a daily basis to help you get up and get going in the morning, face your boss during a meeting, and even find the motivation to get physically active.

There are plenty of awe-inspiring quotes you can call on when you need a pick-me-up. The more often you call upon motivational quotes, the more likely you will break through mental and emotional barriers that hold you hostage.

I’d suggest you internalize these sayings so you can call upon them whenever you need a boost.

Here are ten inspirational quotes to spark your passion and bring you motivation:

1. Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones that you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. – Mark Twain

2. Well done is better than well said. – Benjamin Franklin

3. Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. – T.S. Elliot

4. Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step. – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

5. All that we are is the result of what we have thought. – Buddha

6. People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily. – Zig Ziglar

7. Begin with the ending in mind. – Stephen Covey

8. If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. If you don’t step forward, you’re always in the same place. – Nora Roberts

9. Experience is not what happens to a man, it is what a man does with what happens to him. – Aldous Leonard Huxley

10. Don’t go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

You can use these quotes in your everyday life to help keep you motivated. You will find the greatest benefit if you deeply internalize the meaning behind these words sparking you into action. After all, words are nothing without action!

You will also want to constantly re-fuel your thirst for motivation by using the power of visualization. For example, by using desktop wallpapers with quotes and sayings, you are giving yourself the visual stimulation and motivation you need to overcome any obstacle on your path.

With just a quick glance, you can help yourself or a friend, get through a difficult day by having a positive image coupled with an inspiring quote on your computer desktop.

When you embrace the beauty and joys of both motivational quotes and positive imagery, you’ll not only feel better, but you’ll be more productive too!

 How are you empowering women?

Most of us have heard that the road to addiction recovery is long and strenuous. The fact that it is seen as a struggle is that reason that many addicts do not get sober. Substance abuse provides a quick fix to their problems and is easy to obtain.

What few realize is that the recovery process does not have to be hard. I fact, that hardest part is a struggle that takes place within yourself. No one is physically stopping you from getting sober. The addiction is completely self-induced. Furthermore, it is not like there are no easily accessible resources for you anymore. In fact, it is no longer necessary to pay in to an expensive treatment facility in order to obtain sobriety.

No there is no quick fix when it comes to sobriety. There is nothing that will just make the desire to drink or do drugs go away immediately. That said, it does not mean it has to be hard either. Since the struggle to get clean comes from within it only makes sense that you choose the difficulty level of your sobriety. You choose whether you are going to wake up in agony everyday wishing you could drink or you can also choose to do something about it.

The following are some easy tips to help you in your addiction recovery:

Change your coping mechanism. A lot of people believe that this is merely replacing one crutch with another. However, if you decide you want to exercise every time you get upset as opposed to drinking one option definitely outweighs the other. It is best to get multiple HEALTHY coping mechanisms so that your new coping mechanism does not become an unhealthy obsession.

Change your attitude. Addiction has known to have been successfully treated by things such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). CBT is a treatment that is known to deal with the emotional component of disorders. CBT allows an individual to change the way they respond to certain events. It also allows the individual to think more positively about life and themselves. A healthy self-esteem will help ensure that you refrain from hurting your body with drugs and alcohol.

Simplify your addiction. I’m sure you have probably heard the phrase “it is what it is”. Once you simplify your addiction to what it truly is (a coping mechanism) then you can start to see the issue with it a bit clearer. You come to terms with the fact that you need to change your relationship with alcohol or drugs so that when you have a bad day they are not what you are running for.

Addiction recovery does not have to be difficult and it should not be a never ending struggle. You can learn to place yourself back in to a society that socially drinks without you be judged or being terrified of relapse. The point is not that you never drink again, but that you are okay with not drinking ever again.

Regardless of the gender differences, women should be aware of certain circumstances that might affect their sobriety. Some of these characteristics might even increase your chances of a successful recovery. However, it is also good to be aware of the things that might increase your chance of relapse.

Socioeconomic state: Few women realize that their socioeconomic state may actually decrease their chances of sobriety. It is a statistical fact that women make less than men and are less likely to find high paying jobs without an education. However, many men can find significantly high paying jobs without an education because they can do the physical labour that a lot of women cannot do.

Many women are either driven to ridiculous low paying jobs or are driven in to the sex industry. And, really when you have a family to provide for, and no financial resources, who can blame them? Either way, both of these life choices can lead to severe substance abuse. If women are unable to get out of this state of living, their chance of recovery is significantly decreased. In fact, with a lack of financial resources, many women are forced to return to their lifestyles after treatment and we all know the importance of a lifestyle change in recovery. In other words, women are a lot less likely to obtain a lifestyle change following treatment.

Women are more likely to respond to private help. The reason being is that women are more in touch with their emotions. If the emotional side of their addiction is not addressed, it is more likely to affect them than it is men (although it is likely to affect men too).

Women are also more likely to seek private help. However, it is more common for women to seek private help when it comes to any kind of psychological issue. Women are more likely to let their emotions affect their sobriety. Their chances of relapse are significantly increased when they have not obtained an emotional sobriety.  It is important to remember that private help tends to cost a lot more than other programs. Unless their socioeconomic status changes there is little chance of them being able to seek private help.

Empowering women has become so important in all aspects of life. It is definitely evident in terms of women and addiction recovery. Women need to be empowered or their chances of relapse are significantly increased. It needs to be ensured that women have a chance to seek private help regardless of their economic situation. Resources need to be put in place to make sure that women have an optimal chance at recovery.

Feel free to contact me for a free consultation to see if what I have can help you.

There is very little known about the gender differences of addiction recovery. However, since men and women think and cope differently in situations it would make sense that they cope differently with recovery. Because of the Gender difference in recovery, man women seek private help. Private addiction treatment helps women deal with issues that would treat in 12-step programs. The reason that private help works is that is deals with the clients particular issues as opposed to a possible issue that may be affecting everyone. Private treatment also allows women to speak one on one with an addictions expert about the difficulties in their recovery.

Intrigued by the thought, but still not sure if private help is for you? The following are reasons why you should consider seeking private help throughout your recovery.

Personal Recovery. When you seek private help, your recovery becomes personal. This means that you begin to learn strategies and steps that suit your personal needs. You are more apt to recover successfully when you are learning rules to eliminate your addiction. You are no longer learning general strategies to deal with addiction, but particular strategies to deal with your own.

Emotional Sobriety. When you receive private help you are more likely to maintain emotional sobriety. Emotional sobriety is when you come to terms with the emotional component of your addiction.  It entails understanding why you needed the alcohol to cope and why you have lost the ability to control your emotions. Eventually you will learn to see alcohol for what it is. The need to drink will slowly disappear.

Holistic Recovery. Most private help entails a holistic recovery. This means that you will be able to obtain help for all the components of your addiction. Most programs just treat the physical part. You achieve physical sobriety, but never anything else. With a holistic recovery you will feel like there is no part of your addiction that was left untreated.

Recovery Coaching  is very important for women and addiction recovery. It allows women to seek personal and emotional help for their recovery. If you are feeling like generic 12-step programs are not for you, or you need a little something extra besides AA  then do seek private help for your recovery. Private addictions specialists can be found in your community as well as on internet social networking websites. Don’t hesitate to make such an important decision for your recovery.

If you are looking for a little hand holding to take you to the next level of sobriety, then I am here. Private recovery coaching saved me from returning to my alcohol addiction, and there are many pieces to the puzzle. I figured it out for me, perhaps what I have will help you too. Go and sign up for a free consultation with me, I’m a recovery coach.

To the dismay of many 12-step gurus, addicts have been offered a more liberal treatment option. The treatment is less of a program and more of a lifestyle. It is a form of recovery that is instilled with psychological therapies such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP).  These therapies are most commonly known to treat mental and behavioral disorders that have not been successfully treated by medicine. It works for addiction because it deals directly with changing the addict’s emotional response to certain situations.

The following are some of the opportunities non-12 step programs have to offer.

Recovery without Religion: Most 12-step programs pride themselves on their ability to remove Religion from their programs. However, they generally ask to put your problems in a higher power (like God) and end their sessions with a prayer. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this kind of recovery and in fact it has worked for a multitude of people. There just needs to be something in place for people who are more spiritual than religious and wish to have a religion-free recovery.

Recovery without Negativity: With most 12-step programs you are supposed to take a moral inventory daily. This means that every day you analyze yourself and name all the things that you could have done differently or ways you could have acted differently in terms of your sobriety. New treatments such as CBT and NLP emphasize the importance of positive affirmations in recovery. This means that every day you start positively commenting your character and your sobriety.

Life without a label: Twelve-step programs emphasize that even after you gain sobriety, you will always be a recovering alcoholic, a label that follows you until the end of time. Modern addiction treatment allows you to lose the label. What this means is that in terms of modern treatment you are just someone with an abusive relationship with alcohol. With the help of CBT and NLP you can alter your relationship with alcohol to the extent that you are no longer using it as a coping mechanism. Some have even began to drink socially again (not that drinking again should ever be your focus in addiction recovery).

A non-12 step program offers a completely different outlook than a 12-step program; however each have their quantities of recovering addicts to prove that they work. Recovery sometimes has to be a session of trial and error and if you are still uncertain than more research will need to be done. The important thing to keep in mind is that if one program does not work, that doesn’t mean that all of them will not. Keep trying until you finally succeed!