After a woman has suffered from an addiction problem, she often feels lost. It’s common to feel like you’re sort of wandering through the recovery process. Sometimes, recovering from addiction causes people to feel a lack of purpose. Their lives were once driven by the next high or the next drink. But, when that substance dependence is no longer there, the individual might wonder, “now what?” But, it’s amazing once the person in recovery realizes the ultimate objective is to be a healthier and happier version of herself. And, after she recognizes that, it’s important for her to set goals for recovery from addiction.

The Importance of Setting Goals

There’s a lot of power in establishing objectives. We are always working on something. But setting goals means we’re actually working towards something. When we set goals for recovery, we are creating opportunities for small victories while we work toward our ultimate goal: freedom from addiction. What exactly does that mean, though? Let’s find out by learning what goals for recovery should be like. Your goals for recovery should follow the S.M.A.R.T acronym: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely. Using these guidelines can help you create helpful objectives during your road to recovery.

-Goals should be specific. Don’t just say that you want to stop drinking alcohol soon. Figure out why you want to stop drinking. Are there specific reasons you want to change your current lifestyle? Perhaps you’re just tired of constantly thinking about alcohol. Or, maybe you want to mend relationships that were damaged because of alcoholism. You might want to prevent health issues. Whatever the reason, you need to have a specific purpose. Recovery isn’t easy. But, when your goals for recovery are specific, you’ll always know why you’re doing this.

-Measurable goals allow you to track your progress. If you want to recover from an addiction problem, set measurements for reaching that goal. You might measure your success and progress by creating a checklist. “Talk to family about treatment. Meet with counselor/therapist. Start treatment. Attend therapy sessions.” As you check off these parts of your list, you’re measuring how much progress you’re making.

-When your goals are attainable, they’re goals that you can meet. They’re not exactly easy, but they’re things you can actually do. Attainable goals for recovery are objectives like similar to those measurable goals. You can talk to your addiction specialist and create a plan for attending therapy. And, no matter what comes up, work to meet those goals.

-It’s extremely important for your objectives to be realistic. Having realistic goals for recovery can make the process a lot less frustrating. It may not be realistic to say that you’re going to be completely free from drug addiction within a few weeks. Your body and mind have become dependent on that substance. And, even after you’ve finished detoxing, addiction-forming habits will need to be broken. So, make your goals for recovery a little more realistic by saying things like, “I will see improvement in these areas within about 8 weeks.”

Finally, make sure that your goals are timely, or time-bound. This basically means that goals should have a time limit on them. You know what you want to do this. You know why you’re doing it. But, timely goals help you to establish when you accomplish your goals. Find out how many times you need to go to therapy per week and follow through. Decide on the amount of time you’ll spend doing healthy activities and working on your life beyond addiction.

Let Us Help You Set Goals For Recovery

At The Willow Place for Women in Asheville, North Carolina, we know that recovering from an addiction can be hard. We’re aware of the challenges people face when they are fighting for freedom. That’s why we offer various types of therapy and education to women who want to end addiction in their lives. Are you ready to accomplish your goals for recovery? Contact Willow Place today at 1-888-651-4212.