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In your journey to recovery, it may be challenging to stay on the path alone. Surrounding yourself with family and friends can be a significant help at some points. However, the people in your support system cannot be there every second of your life, so finding ways to hold yourself accountable is beneficial. The process of accountability has many different avenues that can be explored. When it comes to succeeding in life, you have to want it more than those willing to help you. Learning different ways to hold yourself accountable can help you foster a relationship with yourself.
Learn Your Triggers
Learning your triggers is your first line of defense. When you are in tune with who you are, it makes it easier to elevate in life. Knowing who you are as a person means understanding what makes you happy and what upsets you. Triggers can be anything from a specific situation, person, or your mood. However, learning your triggers does not mean that you should run away and avoid them. It means you have to understand what and who threatens your sobriety. In some cases, you may have coping strategies and individuals in place who can help you when there is alcohol present at an event you wish to attend. If you feel as if you cannot handle some areas or things on your own and that they may be too much, it is more than okay to avoid triggering situations.
Write an Accountability Statement
For some, writing things down is the key to following things through. Writing down what you will or will not do can be something to hold you steady. Seeing the goals and ideas you wrote down will help keep you consistent on your wellness path. A huge part of falling out of routine comes from not having a solid foundation of rules. You need something to go back to in times of struggle or confusion. It doesn't have to be complicated either. Accountability can be as simple as you writing down a promise to yourself. You can write it on your phone, on a sticky note that you leave on your mirror, or in a journal; the decision is up to you. The decision to hold yourself accountable during recovery can be very intimate and help you grow closer to yourself.
Find an Accountability Partner
Finding an accountability partner can be essential to your recovery process. Having support is crucial and you have to balance it with sorting through things from within before deciding to bring other people on your journey. Find somebody to have a healthy relationship with and understand your struggles and provide moral support. Your accountability partner should be someone who has no intentions of being an enabler. An accountability partner should be someone willing to put in the effort to prevent isolation and secrecy. Finding the right person can be easy as long as it's someone who shows effort. They can be someone in recovery or someone who has never used substances in their life. You can find an accountability partner in a transformational living experience like START UP RECOVERY, 12-Step meetings, or they can be a close family member or friend.
Find a Good Program in Person or Online
Programs like Alcoholics Anonymous, Celebrate Recovery and SMART Recovery are just a few places that you can go to and seek help. Programs like Alcoholics Anonymous have meetings almost every day and can be found in most locations. Due to COVID-19, many support groups have moved online to platforms such as Zoom. Search for your local meetings, and you will find a multitude of Zoom codes!
You can also take advantage of this technology age that we live in. There are plenty of places to receive assistance online. You can use the fact that everything is technology-driven to your advantage. Programs like SCRAM allow you to do remote alcohol testing. SCRAM’s alcohol monitor can be used to test blood alcohol levels whenever you need to. These options may be extreme for some, but it’s highly recommended if your case is severe.
Celebrate Meeting Your Goals
After you have written down your plans and goals and meet them, it’s important to celebrate the milestone. The road to recovery can be challenging and even more difficult if you are hard on yourself the entire time. Taking yourself out to eat, going to a spa, or even telling your story to others who need your help can work as a way to celebrate your success. Telling your story can be as big as speaking to a large group of people who have been through the same thing or telling the story to a family member. You deserve to take a victory and fully enjoy your new healthy life in sobriety.
Accountability is one of the essential parts of recovery. Ultimately your recovery comes down to you and your effort. Finding the right people is a significant part, but you must be placing the same effort, if not more, into yourself. The first step of holding yourself accountable and creating a relationship with yourself is learning your triggers and maneuvering through them. When your triggers are understood, then they can be maintained and controlled. Write your triggers down and make a plan on how you are going to conquer them. Accountability is the key to getting what you want out of life in general, not just on the road to recovery. There are many options for ways to hold yourself accountable. Choose which one works for you based on where you are on your journey. If you or a loved one has been struggling with your accountability or sobriety, you don’t have to do it alone. Contact START UP RECOVERY at 310-773-3809.