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Affirmations can be used in recovery to help you stay focused on your goals and achieve a better, more positive attitude. Many people in recovery feel plagued by negative thoughts or self-defeating beliefs. These are the kind of issues that keep people stuck in recovery and perpetuate negative attitudes. They can also stop you from trying new things or succeeding.
“I’m no good at this” or “I never manage to learn” are examples of negative self-talk that affirmations can help you change. You may have heard that you weren’t good at certain things when you were growing up, so you never tried them for yourself. In your mind, when you try something new, these beliefs may pop up and discourage you. Negative self-talk can keep you from trying new things or becoming the person you want to be.
Think about your most negative thoughts. You probably have a few of them going through your mind throughout the day. Write them down. Think about how they affect your decision-making. Think about how you feel when those thoughts arise. You probably can even think of a few times you were completely wrong when you were having these negative thoughts.
Let’s work on changing your inner narrative.
Positive self-talk takes practice. Affirmations are an easy way to practice thinking better thoughts about yourself. Self-affirmations can help you to challenge and overcome negative thought patterns and establish better self-esteem. When a thought is repeated enough, you can start to believe more positive things about yourself. You’ll also have a better attitude.
Write down your affirmations on some index cards and keep them in your pocket. When you have a quiet moment during the day – in the bathroom, on lunch break, etc. take the time to read them. Try to read your affirmations at least three times a day, every day, even when you’re having what you consider a bad day.
Affirmations should challenge the negative thoughts you have about yourself.
If you’re not sure how to do that, here is a list of affirmative statements that you may want to choose from:
These are just a few examples of how you can use affirmations in your life. Try to use them whenever you feel stuck in a rut or negative. If you’re having trouble writing your affirmations, ask for help from a sponsor or recovery friends.
For many people in recovery, sober living is an integral part of their journey in recovery. Living among peers with similar goals helps you stay focused, and you’ll also be part of an intimate, recovery-centered community. Learn more about your options by calling us at 760-216-2077.
Are you defeating yourself with negative self-talk? Self-talk is the conversation you have within your head. Everyone has an “inner voice” that provides a narrative in daily life. For people in recovery, this voice can be detrimental. After all, when you arrive at drug and alcohol treatment or go through detox, you go through a lot of pain. Many people in recovery feel hopeless, sad, or fearful. The good news is that these feelings are just that, feelings. They’re not facts about what’s going on right now.
Changing your self-talk will help you live on a day-to-day basis rather than feeling bad and beating yourself up. (And will help prevent your mood from going from bad to worse.) Positive self-talk can also provide you with some great benefits.
Self-talk reveals a lot of information about how a person may feel about themselves. You may suffer from low self-esteem or guilt. Or maybe you’ve let yourself and others down in the past. Maybe you simply think you’re no good at anything because that’s what somebody told you in the past. Here are a few examples of negative self-talk:
Negative self-talk is how you reinforce negative beliefs about yourself. It’s not useful, and it’s really not an accurate reflection of who you are. After all, you are changing all the time in recovery.
Many people in recovery find new ways to change their self-talk as time goes on. The first step is that you need to recognize when it’s happening. Try wearing a rubber band around your wrist and snapping it every time you start thinking negative thoughts. Write down what you were thinking in a journal every time you’re feeling negative.
Once you know the negative thought you’re thinking, it’s time to think about examples of when you felt good about yourself. If you believe you are stupid, then how did you get an A in College Algebra? If nobody wants to hear what you have to say, then why were you invited to speak in the first place?
Trying writing down ideas that counter your negative thoughts onto note cards. Write them in affirmation-style.
If you need help writing affirmations, ask a therapist or your sponsor for more ideas. Affirmations can help you work on focusing on your strengths and believing in yourself. Try using them at least once a day, and pulling them out when you’re thinking negative thoughts.
Are you looking for sober living in the San Diego, California, area? Our programs are a great launchpad for people new to recovery who need time to transition to daily life. We offer options for housing and aftercare. Call to hear more about how we can help you by calling 760-216-2077.
Staying positive in recovery can seem like a battle, at least when you first get clean and begin to sift through your emotions. Negative self-talk can be harmful to you and hinder your progress in sobriety. Learning to become more positive will help you achieve more of your goals, build your self-esteem, and stay on track in your new way of life.
What is Negative Self-Talk?
Let’s face it, we all have an internal voice that tells us things about ourselves, whether they are true or not. Many of these things are negative, and nowhere close to reality. For example, some people call themselves stupid over the tiniest thing, like dropping a plate or missing a bus. Mistakes can sometimes seem like astronomical problems when your internal voice is so negative. When we do this, it’s called “negative self-talk”. It can be a huge issue for those in recovery.
These negative self-beliefs can be dangerous and cause failure because you’re continually looking at the negative, and are also telling yourself that you are meant to fail.
What does negative talk sound like? Here are a few things people tell themselves that can get in the way of recovery:
Negative self-talk can prevent you from trying new things because you feel shame about yourself. And it’s not true, anyway! Many of these thoughts come from a place of hurt or shame in your childhood and have been reinforced throughout the years. But they’re self-defeating at best and cause self-hatred at worst. How can you be good at something if you give up quickly? How can you learn to handle things if you give up before you try?
Changing Your Self-Talk
Changing your self-talk won’t take place overnight, but you can get started today with more positive feelings. One way to help yourself feel better is to write out some affirmations for yourself and practice them every day. For example, when you find your self-talk keeps calling you stupid, start your day with a statement that changes the dialogue. “I am learning new things every day, and I am feeling smarter than ever before” is a great one to try. “I’m a good person, and I do good things for others” is a good answer to when you’re feeling “no good”.
Write down all of the negative talks you can think of on a piece of paper, and make new affirmations on index cards so that you can scroll through and read them to yourself every morning.
Talk to others such as your peers or therapist to learn other ways to banish negative self-talk. As you spend more time in recovery, you’ll find more examples of being the person you want to be, rather than the person your disease says you are. Hold on to your moments of accomplishment and give yourself credit.
Life After Treatment
Your journey in recovery doesn’t end once you have finished inpatient treatment. A sober living situation, aftercare plan and other activities can help you stay on course as you adjust to life after treatment. Want to learn more about your options? Please give us a call at 760-216-2077.
