Are You Doing Everything You Can to Stay Motivated in Recovery?

Feeling stuck in your recovery? It’s easy to lose sight of what’s ahead and fall off track, feel stuck in a rut, or just not know where to turn to at any given point. Somewhere, deep down you know you need help but it’s hard to admit that to the outside world right now. That’s OK. Here’s some tips to get your own motivation kicked into high gear and get you on the right path.

If you’re ready to get motivated and start heading in the right direction, the first thing you should know is that motivation comes in multiple forms. For starters there is intrinsic motivation which can be thought of self-motivation. This kind of motivation comes from within, it’s what drives you, what you’re passionate about. Sit down and think about all of the reasons you can come up with for why you want your life back, what makes it worth-while to go through the trouble of recovery, because it’s not going to be easy.

You might come up with some ideas like, because you’re worth it. You deserve health and happiness and all that life has to offer, because the sense of accomplishment will make you feel good.

Extrinsic motivation are outside things that motivate you. You can think of this kind of motivation as the kind that earns you external rewards. External rewards might be things like getting your old career back, going back to school and earning a degree, regaining custody of your children, or even repairing lost or broken relationships.

No matter which kind of motivation you’re going to be using, you should have a good mixture of the two. You want things that just give you joy and fulfillment, but you also want rewards, right? So, if you’re ready to give it all you got, then jump in and start thinking about what motivates you!

Reference
Cherry, K. “Extrinsic vs. Intrinsic Motivation: What’s the Difference?”. Very Well Mind. (website). 2019