Building confidence after recovery is the key to owning a healthy sense of self-esteem. It is understandable to have doubts and reservations in the early days of a sober lifestyle. However, confidence builds as the ability to practice healthy lifestyle skills proves fruitful. As you build up your self-esteem, urges subside to go back to the painful lifestyle. The new normal is feeling stable and confident while enjoying the truth in positivity and good health your treatment predicted would happen with sobriety.
The Role of Confidence After Recovery
The song lyric, “I never promised you a rose garden” speaks to life after recovery and the insecurities that may pop up when trying to stay sober. Sober life is difficult, but addiction is more complicated. Treatment teams talked about how glorious sober, healthy, and positive energy could be without substance addiction. In your mind, the struggle is real in choosing between unhealthy and healthy coping mechanisms. Confidence after recovery is your best friend to embrace and celebrate while maintaining progress and sobriety.
Building confidence after recovery is a driving force in staying sober and enjoying personal growth. Healthy and positive lifestyles are an educational journey in understanding yourself. Being open to possibilities and looking in the mirror of your mind to realize and acknowledge your many accomplishments fuels new confidence levels. Remember the good things. Stay true to sobriety and build confidence by taking an inventory of how much personal growth you have already achieved. Be your own cheerleader.
How to Rebuild Confidence After Recovery
When feelings of low self-esteem erupt in a newly sober lifestyle, it’s vital to resolve the issues causing these feelings. Recognizing emotions and feelings is a new step in a healthy and positive lifestyle. Treatment and therapy address methods to recognize feelings and identify the causes of the emotions. The next stage of choosing how to cope healthily must become the automatic go-to. Learning to rebuild confidence after recovery is based on exploring our thoughts and feelings and stopping ignoring them.
Behaviors that could affect our self-esteem and reduce confidence in ourselves might include:
- Comparing ourselves to others: Comparisons can trigger feeling bad about ourselves and lower self-esteem. The habit of looking at others who are successful and living a lifestyle you may believe is better than yours, is a self-defeating thought process. Instead, your thoughts and journey are what you need to be reflecting on. Give yourself credit for accomplishing great things, like leaving addiction behind to build confidence after recovery.
- Rejecting or not accepting compliments: Insecurity is a challenging problem for those in recovery. They are not accustomed to the realization that they are capable of accomplishing great things. In addition, lacking self-confidence causes a compliment to sound insincere. In short, confidence after recovery stems from recognizing the accomplishments you have already made and allowing others to be proud of you.
Learn to Forgive Yourself
A significant component in lessening feelings of anxiety and depression after recovery is working on leaving self-blame in the past to forgive yourself. Addiction affects judgment and impulse control and may cause negative communication with others. Detox, treatment, and recovery are the beginning of leaving the past behind and forgiving yourself for those bad decisions. After all, no one is perfect. Build confidence after recovery by allowing yourself to be free of self-blame and beating yourself up.
Make a Habit of Writing Affirmations about Yourself
Successful and positive people use positive affirmations daily to maintain a positive focus. An affirmation is a simple statement you repeat in your mind or say out loud to yourself. It is meant for you alone. This habit works because it changes negative self-talk to positive, healthy self-talk, helping to build confidence after recovery. Self-talk is a guiding principle of a healthy sense of self. Talking to yourself may seem awkward initially, but keep trying, and you will realize how helpful it can be.
Volunteer or Do Good Deeds
Helping others, extending kindness to others, and simple goodwill practices are very beneficial for building confidence after recovery. Begin with holding a door for someone, allowing someone to go before you in the checkout lane, or telling someone they look nice. Doing good deeds can feel uncomfortable at first, but practice makes perfect. For instance, share a gift you have for cooking by bringing someone cookies or soup you made. Indeed, the possibilities are endless with doing good deeds. Your self-esteem will soar, and your heart will feel so good.
Develop an Exercise Routine
The mind-body connection is always positively affected by exercise of any kind. Walking, running, swimming, participating in sports, taking an exercise class, or anything that involves movement can build confidence after recovery and strength of mind and body. Exercise can take you outside to enjoy nature or stay inside when it’s more convenient. Incorporate holistic therapies like yoga, martial arts, or simple stretching into your daily routine and improve self-esteem and physical strength.
Set Goals and Work Toward Them
Setting goals for future accomplishments and developing a plan to reach the goals can build confidence after recovery. The beginning step in goal-making is taking the initiative to write it down. Making a vision board or finding pictures of what you want to achieve can be displayed for visual realizations. After all, change takes time, so try to be kind with your judgments of your progress. In short, achieving greatness begins with the thought of a simple goal.
Find an Effective Aftercare Program
Stay focused on your sober lifestyle factors by staying involved in an effective aftercare program. Remember to keep strong with a support group or therapy. A support system familiar with addiction and recovery can help with issues others do not understand. Moreover, self-care practices can be attached to a group or friend attempting to do the same things. Also, stay on prescribed medications and you will build confidence after recovery on many levels.
Find Help in Building Confidence after Recovery in Tennessee
You can find help in building confidence after recovery with Detox West in Tennessee. Our support programs can assist you in reaching your sobriety goals. Our experienced professional staff offers understanding and compassion to those struggling after treatment. We encourage you to work with us to improve the quality of your sober lifestyle. Contact us today.