Many of us have decided on a New Years Resolution – but how many of us have picked the same resolution as last year?
Unfortunately, New Year’s Resolutions often fall by the wayside! For the month of January, gyms are typically filled with people – but the regular gym-goers know to wait it out and they’ll have their gym back in a month or two. I’m not saying we shouldn’t make changes in our lives, but I do believe we need to focus more on making sustainable lifestyle changes.
When thinking about making a change, SMART Recovery encourages us to complete a Cost-Benefit Analysis. This analysis can build motivation and be a useful tool when our motivation wanes! We can look at it again and refuel that fire that got us going in the first place.
Another helpful tool is SMART Recovery’s Change Plan Worksheet. This helps us identify the steps for implementing a change, the ways other people can help us and how we can side–step the pitfalls that may interfere with following through! When we find ourselves making excuses or rationalizing reasons we do not need to follow through with our plans , we can utilize the ABC’s of REBT to identify the distorted thinking that supports this and refocus ourselves back to our original goal. Let us use this time of year refocus on healthy lifestyle goals and most importantly, sobriety!
Happy New Year!
Cassandra Cannon, Ph.D.
Clinical Director
AToN Center 888-535-1516
