How to Start the New Year with a Fresh Focus in Recovery

The New Year can be full of excitement and hope, giving people of all ages and in all walks of life the opportunity to foster a fresh focus on themselves, their needs, their goals, and their lives.

It is no different for those in recovery, who are also striving to improve their quality of life through practices like resolutions, goal setting, mindset development and more. Consistently engaging in these practices while in recovery has been shown to provide a multitude of benefits.

Whether you’re in the initial month or so of recovery or you’ve been on the journey longer than that, it’s normal to reach a point where you start to feel disenchanted with or burned out by the whole process. Even though recovery is good (and potentially life-saving) for you in the long run, it does take a toll on your mind and body as you readjust to life without substances.

When recovery starts to feel a little too monotonous, like you’re just going through the motions and you’re struggling to remain committed, it might be time to adopt a fresh focus.

In this article, we’re going to walk you through how you can develop a new perspective in the new year to have a fresh focus on your recovery and overall life.

What is a fresh focus?

A fresh focus is a revived mindset, a new perspective, and a state of renewed mental health. It isn’t something that happens randomly but by conscious choice and effort.

Some of the benefits of a fresh focus include:

• Relieving boredom and creative stagnancy
• Easing symptoms of stress or anxiety
• Fostering a more positive mindset
• Boosting sense of self-esteem

The state of our mental health plays a role in all of the other areas of our lives, which is why prioritizing a fresh focus in the new year is so important — it’s one of the best ways to keep your mind in a balanced and healthy place.

How to develop a fresh focus

You might know exactly what areas of your life need a revamp or you might feel so stagnant that you don’t have any idea where to begin. Either way, we’re going to give you four practical tips to help you take on a fresh focus in your recovery this year.

1. Identify the root causes

If you’re experiencing discomfort, unrest or some sort of “off” feeling in certain areas of your life, don’t be so quick to suppress or fight it. Allow yourself to get curious about what may have led to this moment, and what habits, people or patterns in your life have contributed to it. 

Consider the potential that this restlessness you’re experiencing is a sign you’ve grown in all of the ways possible in this stage of recovery, and it’s time to take the next step so you can move on to the next stage. This could look like challenging yourself in a new way or assuming more responsibilities to prepare you for your new lifestyle upon completing your program.

2. Take the necessary steps

Once you’ve identified where in your life is causing dysfunction to occur, it’s your responsibility to address those areas of your life and take the necessary steps to resolve them. Gaining new insight into or knowledge about your life doesn’t do you much good if you don’t apply it.

For instance, if you’ve started to struggle with mental health in a new way that is starting to affect major areas of your recovery, you can bring it to your medical team’s attention or seek out a counselor (if you don’t already have one). That’s looking out for your mental health, by taking the necessary steps to resolve a situation after you identified the root cause of it.

3. Create milestones and rewards to look forward to

The further you go into sobriety, the more normal it will feel, and the more normal something feels, the less you remember to celebrate and be grateful for it. Ask yourself, when was the last time you celebrated how far you’ve come in your recovery, in a way that genuinely made you feel accomplished? 

Resolve to celebrate yourself, your achievements, and your milestones, far more often this year; the big accomplishments, the important moments nobody sees, and everything in between.

4. Receive personal guidance

You can google “fresh focus” a hundred times, but the vast amount of results can be overwhelming, and so sometimes, the easiest and most effective way to take the next step in your healing journey is to have a professional to guide you. 

Refresh your recovery today

October Road is a leader in trauma-informed behavioral health and substance use treatment programs and is dedicated to providing personalized, high-quality care to every person who trusts us with their recovery.

October Road’s accredited programs deal in substance abuse, medication management, adult behavioral health services and more so as to best support you in your recovery. Each person on our medical team shares in our passion for helping people balance their minds and lives so that they might reawaken sustainable joy in their lives.

If you’re ready to talk, we’re ready to help. Send a message to our Admissions team today to get started.