When someone mentions the word “steps” in relation to recovery, it is only natural that your mind might jump immediately to the 12 Steps that are at the center of the Alcoholics Anonymous program.
AA and those famous steps have been helpful to many people in recovery. While many of the steps refer to God, others are widely applicable to anyone in recovery regardless of their religious faith (or lack thereof). Those steps include:
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
Those steps take into account the ways in which alcohol and other drugs upend a person’s life and leave them feeling powerless. And they lean into taking responsibility for harms that may have resulted from ongoing substance use. Those things are all for the good.
However, those steps (and the others on the AA list) are not the only way of thinking about taking positive steps in recovery.
The Importance of Consistently Taking Positive Steps
In recovery, the main goal is to stay sober, right? On the one hand, that might seem like a simple enough goal—easy to understand and made up of just one step. But on the other hand, staying sober over a long period of time is anything but simple. In fact, the idea of maintaining your recovery over time can start to feel huge and overwhelming.
The key to success when a goal seems huge and overwhelming is to break that goal into smaller, achievable steps. And you can do that very thing when it comes to your recovery.
Take, for example, eating healthy. Maintaining a healthy diet is good for your mental and physical health and therefore good for your recovery. You can make the shift to eating a healthier diet steadily over time. For example, you might replace a sugary afternoon snack with a piece of fruit. You might commit yourself to eating a healthy breakfast rather than rushing out the door with something not so good for you or skipping the morning meal entirely. Pick a step toward healthy eating, and when you find that you have fully taken that step, take another—and so on.
You can see how this might apply in other areas that are important to your recovery. You might start a new exercise program by simply adding a 10-minute walk to your day. From there, you might take an additional step—may be one as simple as extending your 10-minute walk into a 20-minute walk each day.
You might start building a healthier sleep routine that helps you get the rest you need. That might mean committing to powering down your screens an hour (or even two hours) before bedtime. From there, you might step up to adding something soothing to your nighttime routine like writing in a gratitude journal or doing some light stretching.
As you continue to work toward better physical and mental health, you will be supporting your ongoing recovery every step of the way.
What is One Positive Step You Can Take Today?
Sometimes, we get weighed down by a kind of inertia. We are not in the habit of doing a thing, so we continue to not do that thing. Not doing it becomes its own kind of habit.
But falling into that trap is no way to firm up the foundations of your recovery. We encourage you to consider what single step in a positive direction you might take today. And take it again tomorrow. And eventually, use it as a stepping stone to the next positive step you can take. As time goes on, you will find that your series of positive steps has paid off in many ways—including supporting your recovery.
We Are Here to Help You Start Your Recovery Journey
When you are struggling with drugs or alcohol, the first step you need to take is getting yourself into treatment. At Bel Aire Recovery Center—located near Wichita, Kansas—we help the people we serve with personalized plans to address their substance use disorder and any co-occurring mental health disorders.
From medically supervised detoxification through rehabilitation and ongoing support after treatment comes to an end, we are committed to helping you start your recovery journey with confidence. You can count on us to employ evidence-based practices grounded in our expertise, experience, and empathy.
We are in the business of supporting life-changing transformations. We are eager to support your efforts to transform and reclaim your own life.
