There are so many things in life that we can do without thinking. Unfortunately, we may find that the outcome was not what we wanted. Sober living skills will create a great outline for you to follow on your road to recovery.
For example, you can use your last $10.00 for gas in your car to head to the beach. But, when it is time to go to work, will you have gas to get there? Or, how about when you decide to put scrambled eggs in a pan to cook and then decide to jump in the shower. Did you expect to have a visit from the fire department? Likely not.
In order to get the outcome you are searching for, you must first educate yourself and sharpen your skills. If you want to have a difficult recovery and find yourself face to face with a relapse, then just jump into it. But, if you want to have a great chance at a successful recovery, then get prepared with these sober living tools and skills.
You can start by learning how to…
1. Create a Healthy Routine
As you have learned – or will learn –treatment facilities and sober living homes both come with a set of rules and a routine. Why? Because having a routine gives you a sense of structure. You don’t have any down time to let your mind wander. Instead, you always know what you have to do when you are supposed to do it.
As you enter recovery, this is something that you must incorporate into your life. Get a healthy routine and stick to it.
2. Provide Yourself with Nutritious Meals
Your body needs healthy nutrition to maintain strength and mental clarity. And, in recovery, you are going to need a lot of both of these. Therefore, an essential skill you must have is the know-how to properly feed yourself. Learn how to navigate the grocery store, learn about nutrition, how to follow a recipe, and how to safely navigate the kitchen.
3. Manage Your Money
There is a good chance that you haven’t been very successful at managing your money in the past. Going forward, you are learning to be more responsible.
In doing so, you will need to know how to properly handle your money. Take time to understand how to budget – and what you should be budgeting for. And always, always take steps to save money.
4. Find & Secure Employment
If you want to have money to manage, you will need a source of income. In recovery you need responsibility – so you will get a job. To do so, you must sharpen your skills on resume writing, interviewing and more.
5. Maintain Consistent Support
Stepping out into the real world as a newly sober individual can be incredibly scary. Do you think you can do it alone? If you are looking for a successful recovery, you need a good sober support system. This is a mixture of family, friends, therapists, mentors, etc.
When things get tough and you need somewhere to turn, you need to have someone in place to keep your head up. Sober living skills include finding a support system to help you in times of need.
Another perk to having a consistent support team is that when you surround yourself with positive – sober – people, you will likely be more inclined to make similar choices and steps through life. It’s the same reason why you likely circled yourself with other addicts when in the midst of your addiction.
6. Integrate Socially
Ready to live life to the fullest? Then you will want to get out there. This is why you need to learn how to integrate socially. You are the now the new sober version of your old self. So, your old friends, old habits, and old hangouts are kicked to the curb.
- You need to find yourself a new group of sober friends.
- You also need to make amends with those in your past that have suffered due to your actions.
- Find a new hobby and spend time with those who enjoy the same thing.
- Discover new places to go that don’t involve drugs or alcohol.
7. Properly Use Problem-Solving Techniques
No matter how many sober living skills you learn or how prepared you are to face life in recovery, speed bumps are likely to occur. This means that you must be ready to face them and work through them without getting overwhelmed, stressed, or frazzled.
By learning how to successfully problem solve, you will find that your self-confidence will increase, and you will feel more capable of every situation. This is an important key to a successful recovery.
8. Communicate Effectively
Whether it is in therapy, in the office, or with your best friend, you need to know how to communicate effectively. This includes both speaking and listening. If you don’t understand what someone is saying to you or asking of you, then you need to speak up.
When speaking to someone else, if you aren’t using the proper tone or your body language doesn’t match your voice, you may be misunderstood or misinterpreted.
Without effective communication, a simple conversation could lead to much undue stress.
9. Set Goals & Work to Achieve Them
Looking at life as a whole can be a bit much. You know where you want to go and maybe you even know how you will get there. But breaking things down into smaller portions make them more manageable.
Goal-setting is the ability to see an end and determine the steps needed to get there. These sober living skills can help you in all areas of your life.
10. Maintain a Clean Living Environment
Learn to take pride in your surroundings. It doesn’t matter whether it is solely your space or if you share with others, do your part to make it nice and clean. Staying up on the chores you learned with daily living skills is a great way to have a place you can feel confident about.
Perhaps the most important essential sober living skills are to make sure you know what to do to make yourself feel whole and happy. As you enter recovery, do so with confidence and strength. You’ve got the skills – now show us how you use them.
Dr. Deena is the Chief Clinical Officer of Westwind Recovery®, an award-winning outpatient treatment center in Los Angeles where she oversees the clinical and administrative program and treatment methods. Dr. Deena is a doctor of psychology and licensed clinical social worker since 1993. LCSW #20628. Originally from the East Coast, Dr. Deena has worked running treatment centers, worked as a therapist in psychiatric hospitals as well as school settings and currently has a thriving private practice in the LA area. Dr. Deena has appeared regularly on the Dr. Phil Show as an expert since 2003. She has also been featured on many other TV shows, podcasts and has contributed to written publications as well as podcasts.
