Fly N Buy

To plan or not, what's your opinion ?

Outonthetiles

A plan is necessary. I didn't have one to begin with, but over time, I discovered that it isn't enough to just not drink, there has to be some direction and plan to avoid falling into old habits. It's all about structuring a new life, because obviously my old life didn't work out very well.

tnek97

I tried many, many, many times to get sober before without any plan, and it never worked.

I think the word "plan" can confuse a lot of newly sober people. Do I have to sit down and write something out? Is this a step by step emergency list? Do I check things off? It can be overwhelming in the beginning. For me, the "plan" meant to actually be conscious about my sobriety, and to take action about recovery. Educating myself about alcoholism, about dependency, the physiological changes that happen when you drink. And then to take active changes in my life: exercise, eating habits, shopping habits, friendships, ongoing education about healthy living, meditation.

You just can't white-knuckle this. Drinking was everything. If I wanted it gone, then my life needed to change. That's where the plan comes in to play: how am I going to change? What is going to be different? What is my plan for my sober life?

Yep, overwhelming for sure! But exciting once you get started.

nova84

This is what my plan looks like:

• post on SR everyday-either replying to other's threads or posting my own

•complete a daily gratitude list everyday-there's a gratitude forum here on SR

•I review my goals and vision statement everyday

•complete a 30 day audiobook sobriety programme called the 30 Day Sobriety Solution-it has daily action steps which I complete and it comes with a handy companion website

•I asked a good friend who has 9 years of sobriety to be my mentor and I check in with him via email, calls or face to face each week

•I have a list of tools/activities/exercises/strategies to use when cravings hit

BrendaChenowyth

I like audiobooks and looked that up, the full title throws up a red flag for me, but the techniques it says it employs sound good to me.

The 30-Day Sobriety Solution: How to Cut Back or Quit Drinking in the Privacy of Your Own Home

nova84

I think the authors intentions are that by the end of the 30 days you will have gotten to the point where you won't want to return to drinking and that you'll have seen the benefits of sobriety. I find the work you do in the daily action steps very very helpful x

BrendaChenowyth

The title seemed wishy washy about the need for complete and permanent abstinence, which I think it the MOST important thing to stress in a recovery plan but...

That being said, I am reading it now.

Fly N Buy

While I have a primary program I find reading many things helpful. Hey, it I get 1/2 through it an think not for me I've lost nothing. Hopefully with many things I have given up my "contempt prior to investigation,"

I read the book Sober Living early on and picked up several handy tips.

Dee74

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...ery-plans.html

skipper63

I think maybe that "not yet, but I am working on it" should be a choice of response, too, eh?

applewakesup

I have a plan but it isn't detailed. So none of the above choices applies.

MLD51

Not a newcomer anymore, but yes, I had, and still have, a plan. I had tried many times to at least cut back, with no plan. My plan at the beginning this time was to get into outpatient treatment and start going to AA. I had realized going it on my own was never going to work. I found SR about a month into sobriety and started posting and reading here a lot every day I read a lot of memoirs and other sobriety literature. I did gratitude lists often. I reached out for support whenever I felt shaky. I found new activities to fill the time when I would have been drinking. I got a full-time job for the first time in years. I really changed a lot about my life.

My plan is not as rigid now. I still go to meetings, but only one a week, maybe two. I still make gratitude lists when I feel I need one. I have expanded my list of other activities to do on weekends and free time. I'll still occasionally read sobriety literature. But I could not have gotten and stayed sober as long as I have without that original plan. I cannot stress that enough.

Fly N Buy

+1 for a plan but not detailed

The poll is highly flexible and allows write in responses!

Chilledice

Don't have a plan as such right now, in a weird place , can't even focus on anything right now BUT I do hold the thought of one day at a time!

Fly N Buy

Not drinking today is good enough at times. One day at a time has helped me - there were one hour at a time periods as well.

PurpleKnight

For me continuing to do the same things, the same routines, the same activities, hanging out with the same people and wishing or hoping that things would somehow be different never seemed to work, and therein lay the problem, the grip of addiction was a real thing that needed to be broken by revolutionising my habits, and that took a plan of action, tweaking it as I went, and implementing it over and over until Sobriety was made a reality.

Anyone feeling like they're going round and round in circles, I've been there, the wishful thinking and all the great intentions in the world was no match for my addiction!!

You don't go into battle without a plan, and for me this was a war with myself!!