Finding the internal drive for lasting sobriety does not come easily. Ambivalence to change, even resistance to change, is normal. When you are working through recovery, maintaining your sobriety might seem high on your priority list at first, but then, a few months or years go by, and things start to change. You may notice that your initial drive for lasting sobriety wanes.
Without internal motivation or drive, it can be difficult to make and maintain changes including lasting sobriety. Enhancing your motivation is essential to long-term success.
What Impedes Lasting Change
Several things can get in the way of maintaining your motivation or your internal drive. For some people, it can be as simple as having gone through treatment or decided to get sober for someone else rather than for themselves. If that’s the case, there may never have been an internal drive for lasting sobriety, just an external motivation.
But for many people, there are smaller, simpler things that get in the way of maintaining long-term change, and they can include:
- Fear of change
- A desire to remain comfortable
- Being afraid of the unknown
- Fear of failure
- Getting busy with other things in life
- Waiting for change to happen automatically
- Being overwhelmed by how much has to be done for lasting sobriety
- Fear that you aren’t good enough
- Not knowing how to keep lasting change
The fear of change and a desire to remain comfortable or being afraid of the unknown are all interrelated. They all stem from the same emotions but they are all things that can be overcome.
Everyone fears change to some degree. Everyone wants to remain comfortable because it’s safe and known; making changes can lead to unknown results. You often have to move past the initial phase of discomfort in order to learn new things.
Harnessing Your Drive for Internal Motivation
There are several ways you can harness your drive for internal motivation, including goal setting, breaking down your steps into manageable chunks, and focusing on yourself.
Set Goals
One of the first ways that you can harness your drive for internal motivation and keep your drive for lasting sobriety is to make goals. These goals should be small, achievable objectives, and they should be actively displayed somewhere where you can regularly see them, whether that is at home or in an office.
Keep a journal as you complete these goals and write down things like:
- What the goal was
- How long it took to complete
- How you feel when you completed it
- What your next goal is
When you have your small goals on display, you’ll be able to see them regularly, especially when things get difficult. This can boost your drive for lasting sobriety by constantly reminding you what your motivation is.
Tip: Reward yourself each time you meet a goal. This will reinforce the positive relationship between goals and motivation, or internal drive.
Having a journal or a record of the small goals that you have made and met is a great opportunity for reflection on how far you’ve come on your path to sobriety. Too many people forget to take note of their small achievements, so it’s easy for them to lose motivation when they are only looking at whether they have achieved their big goals. But big goals are always the sum total of several small goals, and keeping a journal will help you see that.
Break Down Your Steps
Spend some time to break down the manageable steps you need for each of the goals you set. This can help you alleviate anxiety and group together steps that are much more easily accomplished.
Tip: When you break down your steps, write out how long you think they will take, whether you can do them now or later, and what you need to accomplish them.
Focus on Yourself
Harnessing your drive for lasting sobriety means regularly bringing your focus back to yourself and your goals. In addition to having those goals listed and on display and breaking down steps into manageable chunks, you’ll need to set aside time to find your purpose in life.
- How does sobriety help you lead a fulfilling life?
- What makes you feel significant?
- What can you do to add value or meaning to life?
As you move through drug and alcohol rehab and transition back to your daily life, you might consider increasing your socialization, adding new activities to your list of hobbies, and finding things that give you purpose and meaning. All of this will help improve your self-esteem and your internal drive.
Tip: Boost your self-esteem so that you can have increased motivation for lasting change and sobriety by learning new things, acquiring new education, or participating in new hobbies.
Building Internal Drive with Ava Recovery
Ava Recovery is a drug rehab in Austin, Texas. We can provide a safe place where the best changes can manifest during your addiction recovery. Our team can offer support that helps you find your internal drive for lasting sobriety through our wide range of treatment methods.
Having someone who holds you accountable for your changes increases the likelihood of your success. By working with our experienced and compassionate team, you can count on support from several people, all of whom want you to succeed. By participating in our different therapies, you can find the motivation for lasting change. We can help you learn how to take small steps to move yourself forward toward your recovery goals, boosting motivation and internal drive one day at a time.
Whatever the reason behind your apprehension toward making big changes in your life, you can get help from qualified professionals who encourage long-term motivation for lasting change. We offer both residential and outpatient drug rehab in Texas. Reach out to Ava Recovery to learn more about how our treatment can help you find your motivation for lasting sobriety.
