Updating Sober Goals and Reaching New Milestones

Setting effective and achievable goals is a part of every successful sober journey, whether an individual is just beginning to challenge their use of drugs or alcohol in detox or is maintaining sober change as an alumnus of Hawaii Island Recovery. However, updating, reworking, and setting new goals each time one is reached is just as important of a skill, and a skill that takes practice to refine. Knowing not just how to set sober goals but also how to identify and update when a goal is accomplished can empower alumni to further the development of their sober lives, routines, goals, and identities in the healthiest way possible. 

Setting the right sober goals can help those in recovery gauge their progress fairly and keep alumni focused throughout their continued recovery journey. This kind of focus is crucial in navigating urges and cravings, contextualizing stresses, addressing feelings of anxiety, depression, and other mental health challenges, and much more. However, having the right goals is necessary, with truly effective goals following the SMART model: Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-focused. 

Having a structure is paramount to maintaining sobriety. Not only can goals provide an overarching sense of achievement or contextualize milestones decisions but setting effective SMART goals can also inform daily routines in sobriety that best reflect a person’s mission in their sobriety. Working with peers, family, loved ones, and professionals to set appropriate and achievable goals is paramount. However, as each person continues to navigate their sober journey, these goals will also have to be refined and updated to reflect each alumnus’s continued progress in sobriety. 

The goals a person sets for themselves at the beginning of the sober journey are often vastly different than when they graduate and begin life as a sober alumnus. For many just beginning detox, it can be difficult to imagine what even 24 hours without engaging with addictive substances can look like. Setting a goal such as “go 24 hours without a drink of alcohol” can be incredibly challenging during this time. 

Those who have successfully navigated detox and residential care and have developed the skills to achieve this goal regularly should be celebrated. However, this does not mean that their journey with addiction recovery has ended. Updating these goals can help prevent complacency and continue to ensure effective strategies for navigating urges and cravings and improving relapse-prevention strategies. In addition, it will keep alumni focused on personal goals that are now possible in the absence of drugs or alcohol.

It can be easy to set goals that are too easy to accomplish, as well as too difficult to achieve or accurately measure.  Keeping goals focused means identifying specific things that an individual wants to accomplish. Goals like “stay sober” are noble yet do not provide much direction, and it can be difficult to know when such a goal is truly achieved. Rather, having more specific, focused goals across different areas of daily life can be more impactful. 

Setting and updating effective sober goals incorporates a great deal of self-reflection. Working with family, peers, and professionals in continued outpatient care can help each alumnus of Hawaii Island Recovery’s drug abuse treatment centers in Hawaii better identify areas of difficulty that may affect them. For many, rejoining the professional sphere in sobriety can be incredibly difficult, and setting goals that reflect this new or challenging area is important. Setting goals centered on navigating workplace stresses, expressing agency, problem-solving, communicating in the workplace, and having after-work self-care routines can all be important to consider to further these areas of personal development. 

Setting grand goals for oneself in sobriety can be an amazing feeling. However, if these goals take place over a long period or are not built properly, they can also seem impossible, compromising a person’s motivation to see them through or birthing feelings of doubt, guilt, depression, and more that can impact the chances of relapse as an alumnus. Setting an overarching goal for oneself, and then working with others to set daily or weekly stepping stones for this goal, is important. For some, continuing to develop a sober identity or self-care strategies is necessary, so having a goal to explore one new strategy a week is a great way to work towards the development of this sober identity.

Reaching any goal should be celebrated, and taking time to acknowledge the specific skills that led to the accomplishment of this goal can reinforce healthy behaviors and mentalities. Celebrating alongside family, friends, and sober peers can be the reassurance needed to navigate the stresses of daily life as an alumnus. It is crucial always to have a goal to work towards, to focus on, and to structure each person’s continued sober journey; however, that doesn’t mean that it isn’t just as important to take time to acknowledge the hard work it took to reach each step along the way. 

Setting and updating sober goals is essential to keep you focused not just on your continued growth in sobriety, but also to help you look back on your accomplishments. Graduating from our drug abuse treatment centers in Hawaii and starting life as an alumnus is a major accomplishment, but it is not the end of your journey. Rather, we at Hawaii Island Recovery are always available to help you update your sober goals to reach personal milestones in your life. Recovery is not just abstinence from addictive substances but is a set of skills for personal and spiritual growth. To learn more about how we can help you set and update your sober goals, call us at (866) 390-5070.