My Daily Do-Not-Do List + Do-List For Thriving In Recovery

They say recovery is not about opening the Gates of Heaven to let you in. Rather, it’s opening the Gates of Hell to let you out. When you suffer from alcohol addiction, you live a life of mediocrity at best. A life no one deserves to live. So how do you not only embrace recovery but thrive in it — to live your life to its fullest potential?

Truthfully? I don’t know.

Removing Mediocrity

But, what I have done in my first year of recovery is discover the building blocks of mediocrity. All the things that lock you into a “comfortable” life drinking. And turned them into a daily “Do-Not Do List”.

If you simply avoid what’s on this list, the chances of living and dying from your disease are greatly reduced. On the flip side, I have also created a “Do List” which increases your odds of not only recovering but creating purpose in your life and living up to your greatest potential.

Be Inspired and Go Forth.

Before we get to the lists, it is important to note that we all have different opinions on recovery, mediocrity, and greatness. So my intent is not to hardwire my list into your brain. Rather, inspire you to create your own.

Capiche?

 Do-Not Do List 

• Drink alcohol: Let’s start with the obvious. Alcohol is my DOC. Alcohol can no longer be a part of my life. Period.

• Watch hours of TV each day: The best way to guarantee a comfortable life in mediocrity, do nothing productive with your time, watch network dramas, accelerate depression.

• Spend hours on social media each day: This is the fast lane to loneliness, jealousy, envy, and a life with no meaningful connections. The opposite of addiction is connection.

• ​Watch the news: News and politics are fast food for the soul. And now that I’m thinking about it…

• ​Eat fast food: Garbage in, garbage out. Your diet directly correlates with how your life unfolds. Food is not an outside issue when it comes to any form of addiction. It is one of the core issues.

• ​Regret the past, worry about the future: Forgive yourself for past stumbles and falls. Correct what you can and accept what you cannot. Have the courage to try again, next time a bit wiser.

• ​Stay up late at night: If you are not getting enough sleep, you have at least a dozen other problems in your life that exist as a result of you not sleeping well. Solve that ONE problem, and most of the others in your life would be indirectly solved.

• ​Hit snooze

• Gossip / complain. Dr. David Hawkins suggests humans, in various emotional states, “vibrate” at certain frequencies. Right now, you are vibrating at the frequency of addiction. At the lower end of the spectrum are all the emotions associated with gossiping and complaining. The high end of the spectrum? Peace and love.

• Engage in “dopamine-driven behaviors”. Our society, especially in the US, is more overweight, medicated and in debt than ever before in human history. Why? Our inability to delay gratification. Everyone needs everything, now. Shortcuts, hacks, instant results.

• Put everyone else’s needs first. This one is tough. Especially having a wife and toddler at home. But if my life’s desires are to protect and provide for them, I have to put my own recovery above all else. This does not mean I love them any less. Quite the opposite, actually. Recovery now, so they can have the best of me later.

• Compare my recovery to others. Everyone in recovery has fallen off the deep end. Rather than seeing who can swim to the surface first, why not pull each other up as we go.

• ​Take life too seriously. Addiction sucks. I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy (if I had one). I won’t always be perfect, but so what. Progress, not perfection. I am going to do the best that I know how, and always remember — grace wins.

The Do List 

• Sleep. Going to bed at a reasonable hour, getting quality sleep, jolting out of bed with no alarm ready to proactively take on the day >>>>

• Meditate / Journal / Grounding / Visualization. This is not one of those morning routine tips suggesting you start at 4am and it takes 4 hours to complete then you are ready to “take on the day”.  I make sure I do at least one of these each day.

• Nature / Sunshine. Get outside. Walk barefoot in the grass. Observe nature. This is one of the best ways to save yourself from yourself. Nature and sunshine restore calm and clarity to your day.

• ​Walk. Be intentional about increasing your steps each day. Schedule walk breaks throughout your day, even if only for 5–10 minutes. Take the stairs. Park at the back of the parking lot. Human beings weren’t designed to sit and look at screens for 12+ hours each day.

• ​Workout / Sweat. You can get a fantastic workout at home with minimal equipment in under 20 minutes. On days I am unable to workout, I find a way to sweat. In the North Carolina Summer heat, this is easily accomplished sitting outside in the grass for 15 minutes hitting the pause button in my afternoon.

• ​Eat healthy foods. Fruits, vegetables, grass-fed meats. Lots of water. As long as this is 90% of my intake, I have a buffer for indulgences from time to time.

• ​Delay gratification. This is when you embrace pain and hard work in the present for a greater return in the future. The future reward is bigger and better in comparison to the instant one had you forgone the pain and hard work.

• ​Be kind to myself. Consider using postive “I am” statements. (Examples: I am love. I am valuable. I am enough. Everything is always working out for me. I am wealth. My body is healthy. You get the idea.)

• ​Be a go-giver. All the great fortunes in the world have been created by men and women who had a greater passion for what they were giving than for what they were getting.

• Live in the now. Whether you are cooking, cleaning or playing with your kids — be present. Wherever you are, be there.

• Create a routine. Go to bed and wake up up and the same time every day. Schedule your day. Create time blocks for periods of being “on” and “off”.

• Forgive myself. Self, I acknowledge, accept and love you unconditionally just the way you are. I recognize that I am a spiritual being having a human experience. I love and support you in every aspect of my humanness.

• ​Let go.

I encourage you to go through each list and see how many apply to your current life. Doing this will give you a great indication of whether you are heading toward a mediocre life in-and-out of recovery or life beyond addiction filled with purpose and meaning.

Connect With Me.

I help individuals struggling with alcohol break free from addiction by creating purpose in their lives. If you’re interested in seeing first hand I was able to achieve this freedom for myself and others, click HERE to learn more.

SPEAK OUT! SPEAK LOUD! Express yourself! This is the space for stories of sobriety journeys. After removing drugs and alcohol, many addicts discover new talents, abilities, and forms of self-expression. Most have lived through unbelievable situations and are basically walking miracles. Sharing these talents and stories helps those who are still battling addiction. So, let’s Speak Out! And Speak Loud! Because when we recover out loud, we help keep others from dying in silence.

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