Broadening Our Horizons: Working Towards Goals

Recovery Tools from Asana Recovery September 6, 2023

We build our foundation in recovery. As we become more secure, we broaden our horizons and accomplish goals we never have considered before. Many of us go back to school, pursue careers and start families.

- Living Clean: The Journey Continues; Narcotics Anonymous

While the path to success may seem daunting, with a spiritual foundation in recovery, a positive mindset and some practical strategies, we truly can turn our dreams into reality.

Dream Big AND Set Clear Goals

The first step in accomplishing any large goal is to dream big and envision what success looks like for you. Be specific about what you want to achieve, as clarity is key. A goal like “I want to be successful” can make a fuzzy target compared to “I want to get a college degree.”

Then, break down your ultimate goal into smaller, manageable milestones. For example, if you want to buy a house, your smaller milestones might be: “pay off credit card” and “save $500 dollas per month in House Fund.”

Set a realistic timeline for both your larger goal and your smaller milestones. If your goal might take years to accomplish, this will provide you both with a roadmap (so you don’t lose direction) and help you stay motivated by seeing successes along the way.

Cultivate a Growth Mindset

Cultivating a growth mindset is crucial when tackling large goals. What is a “growth mindset”? A growth mindset means that we emphasize learning and growing as being valuable - perhaps equally valuable as reaching the end goal. Embrace challenges as opportunities for growth and learning, rather than potential obstacles. Believe in your ability to learn and improve, and maintain a positive attitude even in the face of setbacks. Remember, every failure is a stepping stone towards success.

Create a Plan of Action

Once you have your goals defined, create a detailed plan of action. Break down your milestones into smaller tasks and prioritize them. For example, if you want to buy a house, your smaller milestones might be: “pay off credit card” and “save $500 dollars per month in House Fund.”

Set a realistic timeline for both your larger goal and your smaller milestones. If your goal might take years to accomplish, this will provide you both with a roadmap (so you don’t lose direction) and help you stay motivated by seeing successes along the way.

Set deadlines, allocate resources, and create a schedule to keep yourself accountable. Regularly review and adjust your plan as needed to stay on track and adapt to unforeseen circumstances.

Stay Motivated and Inspired

Keeping your motivation levels high throughout the journey is important, yet often difficult for long-range goals. Stay inspired by celebrating “small” successes and finding sources of inspiration that resonate with you. Sometimes reading (or watching) real-life success stories can bolster your morale or surround yourself with like-minded individuals who are as excited about your goal as you are.

Take Consistent Action

Consistency is the key to achieving a big goal. As recovering addicts, consistency can be challenging. We have often approached life with an “all-or-nothing” attitude. But, reaching a large goal is an endurance event, not a sprint. Taking small, consistent steps every day is more valuable than burning yourself out on a big push. By consistently showing up and putting in the effort, you’ll build momentum and inch closer to your ultimate goal.

Embrace Failure and Learn From It

Failure is not the opposite of success, but rather a part of the journey towards it. Embrace failure as a learning opportunity and use it to grow stronger. Analyze your mistakes, understand what went wrong, and adjust your approach accordingly. Remember, every setback is a chance to refine your strategy and come back even stronger.

The In-Between Step

We come back regularly to check our foundation for cracks and shifting and to reinforce it where needed. Such a sturdy foundation would not be necessary if we were just pitching a tent, but we build skyscrapers on our foundations. Those skyscrapers must be securely grounded so that renovating one room doesn’t cause the entire structure to collapse.

- Living Clean: The Journey Continues; Narcotics Anonymous

Whatever your own personal goals are, or how you choose to work towards them, coming back to our foundation in recovery is crucial. In the busyness and urgency to reach a goal or build a better life for ourselves, it can be surprisingly easy to stray from the recovery that made this new life possible. We are too busy with family or professional obligations to make it to meetings… We put educational goals ahead of working with others…

However, if we don’t prioritize our recovery work, most of us will either relapse or achieve our goals only to find that we’ve had to sacrifice important parts of ourselves - like our serenity or our supportive recovery fellowship - in order to get there.

Accomplishing large goals requires a combination of determination, perseverance, and strategic planning. By dreaming big, developing a growth mindset, and taking consistent action, you can achieve goals that might have once been impossible. Provided you keep your foundation in recovery. And remember, the journey is as important as the destination. Embrace the challenges, celebrate your progress, and enjoy the transformative process of pursuing your goals.

Questions? Comments? Personal experiences? Tell us in the ‘comments.’