Regardless of what harmful habit you’re struggling with, there are 3 factors that can make or break your recovery success. If you include these factors into your recovery, your odds of beating your harmful habit will be better. Let’s start at the top.
Here are 3 tips for harmful habit recovery:
1) Hope
Without hope, you’ll have a “why try?” attitude. And if you don’t try, then change won’t happen. It’s as simple as that. People who have hope are far more likely to put in the effort than those without hope. It’s no wonder that people who put in more effort have more success.
But what if you don’t have hope? Where will you get it? Don’t worry, you’re not doomed. This brings us to factor #2.
2) Support
If your internal source of hope is running dry, then it’s time to connect with people who have had success with recovery. This is where support groups make a world of difference. Sure, it might be embarrassing to admit to others that you have a problem, but these people are there to offer encouragement and support, not shame. It helps to hear how other people manage similar problems like yours, which gives you…hope! Support from professionals and recovery groups is what can stop you from sliding back into a “why try?” attitude.
3) Commitment
Relapses can make it easy to think “Well, that didn’t work. So there’s no point in trying it again.” And that’s when those struggling are more likely to stop going to support groups, and then the source of hope fades away. So they’ve lost factors 1 and 2. This is why factor #3, commitment, is so important. Don’t give up, stay connected to your support system, maintain your hope.