Changing your mindset in recovery can be an incredible tool when it comes to shutting down the thoughts that can keep you stuck — even trigger a relapse. Today’s guest author, Daniel Wittler, shares his strategies for doing just that.

Daniel is a freelance writer who also produces content for sites like A Forever Recovery. He has been sober nearly 5 years and believes absolutely anyone can get sober provided they are completely ready to take action.

Changing Your Mindset in Recovery – It’s a Process

I have a very loud mind. From the split second I wake up until I fall asleep at night I have thoughts screaming at me. It can be detrimental to my day, it’s so automatic but powerful. I can fall victim to letting my fears and worries define me for the whole day simply for the fact that my thoughts are getting the best of me.

I’ve been sober for nearly 5 years so I have dealt with the worst my mind has to offer. Many say that addiction centers in the mind and I find that to be extremely true. On my worst days, when I absolutely did not want to get high or drink, I still would. Why? My mind said so, and when you’re caught up in active addiction you are a complete slave to your mind. That’s how powerful the mind can be.

I discovered that after getting sober my thoughts can still be ugly and my thinking mind can still dominate my day. It took me a long time to figure out, but I can choose to channel my mind to be a positive force with enough awareness. It’s fascinating how long it took me to realize this. I call this negative, ugly mindset, garbage head.

Let’s talk about what garbage head looks and feels like.

Garbage Head

For a long time after I got sober, I would wake up just in time to roll out of bed, get ready, jump in my car and head to work.

It was an awful way to start my day.

My anxiety is at its worst in the morning. It feels like the moment I wake up my mind has been planning ways to attack me as I was sleeping. My eyes open and it will hurl all of these random fears and worries at me and for a long time I gave into them. Rushing out of the house I would walk out the door with what I like to call ‘garbage head’.

Garbage head is basically a negative mindset that finds a way to creep into every area of my life as I go through my day.

I wanted to eliminate the possibility of walking out the door in the morning with garbage head. A few months ago I decided to form a direct attack on my own mind.

I knew the morning was the perfect time to do it.

Forming A Morning Ritual

A few months ago I simply began waking up earlier just to have a chance of starting my day off right. I’ve found a few practices that don’t take up too much time and have done wonders for my mental health. They include:

• Meditation – The first thing I do in the morning is sit on my living room couch and spend 5 minutes sitting still and trying to clear my mind. If you are new to meditation that’s okay it’s very simple to get started. The goal is to clear your mind of any thoughts. It’s a very hard task to achieve but doing something like focusing on your breathing can work wonders. For me, it generates great positive energy that organically motivates me for the rest of the day,
• Journaling – I have found tremendous power in putting pen to paper. In today’s age where technology rules all, it’s rare to actually write something down. I started every morning just writing about different things, only for a few minutes. Sometimes it’s a few positive affirmations, other times it’s my plan for the day, or it can just be a gratitude list. That’s the beauty of it, there are no rules, write to your heart’s content and you will find after meditation you will be inspired to write something different every time.
• Visualization – Where do see yourself in 5 years? 10 years? What’s your dream? When I ask that question there is a picture that pops up in your head. It will look different for all of us. Whatever picture that comes to mind, visualize it every morning, studies have shown there is a mysterious power behind it.

Taking Care Of Yourself Helps With Changing Your Mindset in Recovery

This may sound like common sense, but in recovery, it can be common to worry about taking care of those around you without putting yourself first at any time of the day. It’s okay to put yourself first sometimes, in order to be there for others you need to be at your best.

About 6 months ago I found I was not taking care of my body, my nutrition was terrible and I rarely exercised. It had a major impact on my overall mood. I began to look at my diet and realized I had a major issue, I had found a new addiction, sugar addiction. I can confirm it’s real because it was just as hard to quit sugar as it was to quit drugs.

After some serious discipline with my eating and creating an exercise routine, I have found that just about every single area of my life has improved. I don’t even notice the physical improvements half as much as I recognize the mental improvements.

To this day, garbage head can occur at the snap of a finger but I now have the tools to combat it. Always remember, you do have control of how your days go. To avoid having those long-term funks and stretches of bad days, pro-actively change up your routine and create an energy of positivity in the morning that can get you through anything each day. These things do not come naturally to most of us, unfortunately, but when you do things to generate a positive universe, the universe will respond positively.