7 Tips For Sobriety

In 2019 I celebrated my seventh year of sobriety! On August 18th, 2019, I had a little party for myself.  HELL YES! I love this day and think that you should celebrate your sobriety, but on your sober birthday, it's that much sweeter.

Every year I am humbled on this day.  To see where my life was to where my life is now is a complete 180.  

The one change I made to my life compounded into the life I have always wanted.

As each year passes, I continue to learn and grow as a person.  I love it.

I was even able to spend time traveling alone to Mexico and stay sober! Mainly because I’ve decided to stop fearing alcohol and letting it control where I get to go. Just because there would be alcohol involved doesn’t mean I have to drink.

So to celebrate sobriety and in the hopes of spreading it further, I wanted to share my top seven tips with you that have helped  me in my recovery journey this far.

This journey is not comfortable, but one that is so worth it. 

Here’s 7 tips to stay sober for my 7th sobriety birthday!

Watch the video below to learn these seven tips or keep reading the blog post below:

7 tips for staying Sober from courtney on Vimeo.

1.  Accountability - You need to start with getting accountable with yourself, an animal, your spouse, or a friend. Personal accountability plays a big role in your sobriety. However, I was the type of person who would tell myself I would do something, but I never did it. Point being, checking in with yourself will only get you so far. You need to find an accountability partner SOMEWHERE. Even if you just tell someone that you’re starting your recovery journey, it’ll help to hold you accountable as time goes on.
2. Supportive Circle - Make sure your circle is full of only supportive friends. Do they need to be sober? Not necessarily, but they do need to support you on your road to recovery. If they’re not supportive of you getting clean and sober, then bottom line, they’re not your friends and it’s time to move on.
3. Gratitude - The practice of gratitude is basically just giving thanks every day and actually being grateful for sobriety. I know being sober is on the top of my gratitude list every single day.
4. Exercise - You have GOT to move your body! Sweating it out, get that anger and resentment OUT in a healthy way! We know the science behind exercising and getting the endorphins flowing and the serotonin pumping = happy chemicals. It definitely helps me keep my mind right. 
5. Meditation - For the last 4 years I’ve been meditating. Within the last year, I’ve started doing daily meditation to help with my anxiety and how I handle my reactive behavior. Reflecting inward on yourself will help you deal with feelings and help keep you calm.
6. Personal development - I can’t say enough good things about this one! With my own recovery journey, I had to address healthier habits with finances, learning to be a happier person, stuff in my business. So you don’t have to focus on other people’s memoirs of addiction, you can break the monotony and explore any areas that you want to grow within yourself. 
7. Repeat the story of what would happen if you were to drink - I do this every weekend as a part of my Sunday ritual where I’ll replay and relive some of the darkest times of my addiction to remind myself what it feels like. This helps keep my ass grounded thinking what if I decided to drink again. The only thing you’re missing out on is feeling like an asshole the next morning if you decide to go out and drink and start all the way over on your recovery.  

I hope this helps you and I'm always here if you need me!

Don't forget to join my weekly newsletter to stay connected.

Sober Not Boring, 

Courtney