Working Toward Goals

People in recovery offer the following suggestions:

· Focus on your strengths.

· Focus on solving problems.

· Focus on the future instead of reviewing hurts from the past.

· Focus on your life instead of your illness.

Developing goals for recovery can be tricky, especially if you aren't sure what it is that you want to accomplish. Consider your interests, things that bring you joy and things that keep you motivated. Also, think about the things you want, like where you want your life to go or what you would do more of if you could. Having a deep investment in the goals that you set will increase the chances of completing them.

Care For Yourself

Some tips for self-care include:

· Live Healthy, eat healthy foods, get enough sleep, exercise regularly, and avoid drugs and alcohol. Manage stress and go for regular medical check-ups.

· Practice good hygiene. Good hygiene is important for social, medical, and psychological reasons in that it not only reduces the risk of illness, but it also improves the way others view you and how you view yourself.

· See friends to build your sense of belonging. Consider joining a support group to make new friends.

· Try to do something you enjoy every day. That might mean dancing, watching a favorite TV show, working in the garden, painting or reading.

· Find ways to relax, like meditation, yoga, getting a massage, taking a bath or walking in the woods.

Strengthen Your Connections

Connect With Yourself

It is important that you check in with yourself periodically. If you do not then you may not realize that things are changing or getting out of control. Checking in with yourself allows you the opportunity to evaluate where you are in your recovery. You may find that you need to readjust what step of your action plan you are on or try different coping tools.

Making a list of accomplishments that you have achieved is a good resource to turn back to when you are feeling low. Another tool that may help you is to journal about your experiences. Another method of connecting with yourself is to become an advocate and share your story. There has been a lot of research that explores the power of storytelling as a form of therapy.

Connect With Others

Spending time with positive, loving people you care about and trust can ease stress, help your mood and improve the way you feel overall. They may be family members, close friends, members of a support group or a peer counselor at the local drop-in center. Many communities even have warmlines (free hotlines run by people with mental health conditions) that you can call to talk to someone and receive peer support.

Source: https://mhanational.org/taking-good-care-yourself

What are some steps that you would follow to achieve a goal?

#Goals #Recovery #Positivity