Recovery may be a challenging process for a variety of reasons. You are getting sober, learning coping mechanisms, building a support network, finding who you are, and discovering who you want to be. However, one more aspect of recovery is often one of the most challenging parts of the journey, learning to trust yourself again. Trusting yourself to not slip back into old habits can be tough. However, it is a critical skill that needs to be acquired because self-trust is the foundation for building your recovery. Self-trust will give you the power and confidence to make it through rehab and long-term recovery to maintain sobriety. Learning to trust yourself and find your inner strength in recovery will heal you more honestly and openly.
Learning to trust yourself will benefit your life in numerous ways, such as boosting your confidence, reducing stress levels, and helping you become more decisive. Trusting yourself teaches you to listen to that feeling in your gut or voice in your head when you realize something isn’t right. This intuition can guide you through difficult situations and place you on the correct path. It can be easy to get lost in the advice of others telling you what to do, but knowing what is best for yourself and making that decision on your own will do wonders not only for your recovery but also for your life as a whole. For this reason, self-trust is a crucial skill to learn and develop.
If you are lost in knowing where to begin trusting yourself again, the best place to start is with a clear mind. Letting go of your guilt, shame, embarrassment, and grief attached to your addiction will allow you to have a new beginning to build your sobriety on. It’s okay to remember what you went through and what you learned from it, but hanging on to the negative feelings associated with your addiction will do you no good in starting over. To begin trusting yourself, you have to let go of this baggage that weighs you down to make room for healthy growth and progress. Forgive yourself and move on so you can begin the path to healing.
Once you have released those negative feelings attached to your addiction’s memories, you can begin taking concrete steps to start trusting yourself again.
The bravest thing you can do is be yourself in a world that is continually trying to change you. Having the confidence to be your authentic self in front of others shows a kind of confidence that can only be cultivated through doing the work to improve yourself. Others can sense when you are lacking confidence and are worried about what they may think of you. Take baby steps and practice being your authentic self in front of those you trust, such as friends and family. Learn who you are and who you want to be without others’ influence trying to change you. From here, you can begin learning what you want, where you are going, and how to trust yourself again.
Setting realistic goals and working to achieve them can help you see that you have the work ethic and determination to get where you want to go. This is crucial to building confidence and trusting yourself because you realize that you can follow through on goals. Make sure your goals are reasonable and allow you to see your progress over time.
You can’t trust yourself if you don’t know who you are. It can be intimidating to spend time alone and look inside to see all the things that need healing. However, this is a great way to learn who you are and how to trust yourself. Consider taking walks alone and focusing on what you are thinking. You can also practice meditation to help with self-awareness, paying careful attention to any negative thoughts that come by. If and when they do, acknowledge them and identify why you feel this way. Then, let them go and focus on bringing more positive thoughts.
Instead of questioning the decisions you make for yourself and your life, learn to stand by them and stick with them. Owning your choices and not allowing other people’s influence to waver you can teach you to trust your gut and learn from the decisions you are making. This will help your recovery by allowing you the freedom to decide your goals in a healthy mindset.
Learning to trust yourself after addiction can be difficult. You may be worried about falling back down the rabbit hole again. However, you have to remember that you are actively working towards a better life for yourself, and you are the one with the power to do so. To start the process of rebuilding trust for yourself, make sure you have released all of your baggage to start fresh. From there, you can begin taking concrete steps towards self-trust in recovery. Spend time with yourself to find out who you are, then be brave enough to show that version of yourself in front of others. Teach yourself to make decisions and stand by them without wavering. You can also begin setting small goals to see yourself make progress over the coming months and years in your recovery. At Northstar Transitions, we want to see you blossom into your new life and trust yourself again. We can help you start the process. Reach out to us at (303) 558-6400 today.
