If you’re going to set some goals for yourself in recovery, there’s a few important steps you should know about how to do that. First, having goals is important! If you don’t have any goals, then you may not know what you’re reaching for. When you’re in the middle of a craving, for instance, and if you have a goal for the future, you’re more likely to resist the craving because you know what you’re staying sober for. Goals give us direction, hope, motivation, and the power to keep going when faced with challenges.
If you don’t yet have a goal, think about what you want. Are you getting sober in order to advance in your career again? Are you getting sober to heal a marriage? What would you like to see happen in your life? Once you have an idea of what you want, begin to formulate a sentence about it. For instance, your initial goal might be “I am sober to repair my marriage and in the next six months I will call my spouse every day.”
Now that you have a rough idea of what you want and you’ve formulated it into a sentence, consider the following guidelines for making a goal SMART:
Specific – A goal is specific when it is clearly defined. If a goal is not defined well, it might be too general that you won’t know exactly where you’re going. Often a goal can lead the way. It can be the light at the end of the tunnel.
Measurable – One way to make your goal specific is to make it measurable. Make it something within your reach so that once you get there you can reach for another goal.
Attainable – Having goals that are unrealistic and unattainable only set you up for failure. Once you reach a goal it can boost your confidence and keep you going stronger than before.
Relevant – Your goal should be relevant to the direction in which you want to go. Although you might have goals in other areas of your life, if you’re focused on your sobriety, your goals should be recovery-related.
Time-Bound – Goals also need to have a deadline. I’m going to attend AA meetings for one month in order to boost my sobriety and lifestyle change. Goals need to have a time limitation on them so that you know the time in which you want to achieve them.
Now that you know how to make a goal SMART, think again about that goal. It was: I am sober to repair my marriage and in the next six months I will call my spouse every day.”
Perhaps this goal can be revised a bit to make it more SMART-friendly. For instance, you may need to separate this into two goals. One to address your sobriety and the other to address the marriage. Calling your spouse once every day for six months does meet the criteria above. It is a goal that is specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. To add to this, you can create a second goal about sobriety, such as, I will remain sober for at least six months and attend one 12-step meeting each day and call my sponsor weekly. Of course, these two goals together can support each other.
For success in your sobriety, it’s incredibly important to have goals in your recovery! Now, you know how to make them SMART.
If you are reading this on any blog other than TranscendTexas.com,
it is stolen content without credit.
Connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Stay informed with the latest industry news, here on our Living Sober Blog.