Stephen R. Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People was first published in 1989. Since then, more than 40 million copies of the book (in 40 different languages) have been sold around the world. Time magazine included the book in the magazine’s 2011 list of “The 25 Most Influential Management Books.” The book encouraged people who wanted to increase their effectiveness in the workplace to develop positive practices that would serve them—and others—well.
Covey’s original phrasing of each of the seven habits is a registered trademark, so we will paraphrase them in this blog (you can see them in their original forms here). We think each “habit” (which is admittedly something of a fraught word in the recovery community) is applicable in one way or another to the work of staying sober.
The 7 Practices of Ongoingly Sober People.
Let’s take a look…
Practice One: Focus on the Things Over Which You Have Control
One of the best ways to support your sobriety is to proactively take steps that you know will make it easier for you to withstand cravings and temptations. Examples abound, including:
- Making sure you get to your 12-Step meeting (or other recovery meeting) regularly
- Working toward better physical and mental health by eating right, getting enough rest, and exercising
- Fostering positive, supportive relationships and ending toxic relationships
Practice Two: Be Clear About What Success Looks Like
The primary goal of your recovery journey is pretty straightforward: Stay sober.
When you consistently remind yourself that this is your overarching goal, it can be easier to make the decisions that are most likely to help you achieve that goal one day at a time. Each of the strategies listed above (and many more like them) is a tactic intended to help ensure you are well positioned to keep meeting your sobriety goal.
Practice Three: Put Your Sobriety First
This practice is all about evaluating what does—and what does not—serve your sobriety in each moment. Or to put it another way, when you know that any number of decisions can have either a positive or negative impact on your ability to maintain your sobriety, it is easier to identify those consequential moments when they arise and consistently make the sobriety-supporting choice.
Practice Four: Know Which Relationships Serve You Well
We identified fostering positive, supportive relationships as an example of the kind of thing over which you have quite a bit of control. This practice makes explicit the fact that supportive friends and family are essential to your sobriety. Building up trusting, mutually beneficial relationships is one of the great joys of life—and a great anchor for your sobriety.
Practice Five: Lean Into Listening To—and Caring About—Others
As a rule, a person in the grip of a substance use disorder will be focused mostly on themselves and their needs. One of the joys of sobriety is the opportunity to rebalance your life so that you can focus on what others might need. This shifting of your focus actually supports your sobriety, which means you help yourself when you concentrate on helping others. And the people you support in a time of need may well be there for you when you are facing a challenge, whether that challenge is related to your sobriety or to some other aspect of life.
Practice Six: Overcome Confusion Related to Recovery Jargon
Okay, we admit that Covey’s sixth “habit” is difficult to adapt to a conversation about recovery. Covey used a single word—one of the buzziest (and arguably annoying) business words around—for the sixth part of his program. But the jargony nature of Covey’s sixth category provides us the opportunity to acknowledge that the recovery community has its own jargon—much of which can be confusing and unhelpful. Here’s a guide to some of it.
Practice Seven: Remember to Take Time to Refresh
Our lives are so busy—and so demanding. That’s true for most everyone, but the dangers of stress and burnout are particularly acute for those in recovery. Ongoing stress can sorely tempt a person to return to drug or alcohol use as a way to cope. Of course, substance use is not a good coping mechanism at all. Instead, it is a path to relapse.
To avoid getting on that path, it is important to take time for yourself and for activities you enjoy. Ironically, it can sometimes be extremely helpful to put relaxation directly into your schedule so that you guarantee yourself time to restore balance and enjoyment to your daily life.
We Are Highly Effective at Helping You Reclaim Your Sobriety
At French Creek Recovery Center in Meadville, PA, we have the expertise and experience necessary to help you get sober—and stay sober. When you are ready for a highly effective approach to detoxification, rehabilitation, and ongoing support, we are ready to get to work.