Skip to main content Skip to bottom nav

How do you keep up your will to recover? Recovery is hard and I don't know how to motivate myself to keep working towards recovery.

5 Answers
Last Updated: 03/15/2021 at 2:07pm
1 Tip to Feel Better
United States
Moderated by

Stacey Kiger, LPC

Licensed Professional Counselor

My belief is that therapy is not about giving advice, but joining you on your journey

Top Rated Answers
MissMeghan
October 11th, 2018 4:07am
I know how difficult recovery can be.. in my case I will never be "recovered" but all I can hope for is improvement.. I know when were feeling hopeless these pessimistic thoughts can consume us and our day, and we can get this "tunnel vision" seemingly looking down to the negatives with no way up 😔 But I know for me, as long as you hold onto those thoughts of hope and reassure yourself it'll all play out, just let life... happen, its helped alot. I know sometimes flashes of anxiety and depression can distract us from the amazing parts of life, but there IS hope, and theres always a reason to carry on.
ListenerDustin
October 11th, 2018 3:03pm
Recovery for any situation is very difficult as you have already discussed. Using things like distraction (using this want or need for something, to find a good hobby or something else that helps you make the best use of your time in order to decrease the cravings or need for your vice) or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (being about to tell your "mind" that you will not do this and replace the negative thought of needing, for example, alcohol into a positive thought.) Finding ways to move negative thoughts into more positive thoughts is very common during recovery or therapy for recovery from substance abuse.
Zeroshade
May 13th, 2019 6:53am
I try much not to think about what i have done, or what i did, i focus on what i can do to prevent what i did from happening again...and recovering just happens for being willing to do good for yourself, and having the heart to know when you need good in your life.If you don't pay much attention to what needs your attention now, someday it will take more of your attention than it possibly deserves. Recovery is hard and easy but if you are willing, you'll get through, you are brave enough to control your life not rather sorrows and sadness controlling you.
Rosealyn
November 11th, 2019 3:28am
Recovery is a long, arduous process. When I was diagnosed with fibrillation, I was taught a very important lesson by my favorite professor. She told me to take time and make a dream wall- a place that I would look at daily with the goals I hoped to achieve. For me, it was to travel, to manage my health better, and to play with my dog. She then told me to stay positive; being positive can be hard on our toughest days, but it is also our best weapon on days when hope seems lost. We must remember that the bad days will come with the good, but or positivism will get us through both!
Shilaliah
March 15th, 2021 2:07pm
Motivation is only possible when the sub conscious mind is stimulated. Unfortunately, it is said that the only way to influence your sub conscious towards a goal is through emotion. One way you could do it is to think about how you feel without recovery, how it's impacting your life in the negative. Then, focus on transforming that, aiming for a better feeling. Let your focus be so intense that you are willing to do a lot to achieve that. However, if you keep dwelling on negative thoughts, they maintain your stagnation. Combat the "I can't seem to get a move on" with "I must get a move on".