Be Honest With Your Addiction...Here's 4 Steps to Help
Once you've admitted that you have an addiction problem it's time to start being honest with yourself and get specific about how you end up getting trapped by your addiction time and time again. Don't be a victim. Here are some practical steps to help you identify some of your problem areas.
To be effective with this you have to step back and look at yourself as a 'system'. For our purposes, a system is defined as anything with more than one moving part. Do you have more than one moving part? So you qualify.
Any working system has a range of variance. For example, if they put a heart monitor on you and you have a straight line, you're dead. Your system is not working. There will be peaks and troughs in any living system.
Now you have to define, when it comes to your addiction, what is your acceptable range of variance? Once you define your accepted range of variance your goal should be to continually get your range smaller and smaller because constant improvement should be a goal for all systems. Your doctor may tell you that you need to get your blood pressure down to the 160/90 to 140/90 range, however, your ultimate goal is to get your pressure down to 120/80.
Maybe you're drinking everyday after work and that's outside of your acceptable range of variance. In an attempt to take small steps maybe your initial goal is to only drink two times a week when you get off work. Remember how you eat an elephant? One bite at a time, right?
So now that you've defined your acceptable range of variance you can start analyzing the four parts of your system which will help you pinpoint the areas that you're having a problem in. You can't find an answer to something if you haven't really pinpointed the source of the problem.
PART #1: People
You don't think about drinking until you get around the fellows that you work with. This particular group of guys is constantly talking about how much they hate work and are looking forward to getting a few drinks at the end of the shift. You've known them for a long time and you just seem to get drawn into agreeing with them every time. However, now you're married with a family and you've gotten a promotion so you don't really hate your job anymore and your wife thinks your drinking is getting out of hand. Wouldn't you agree that the guys on your job are a problem area?
PART #2: Material
For example, you're feeling lonely. As a child you had to move from place to place a lot so you didn't have a lot of friends. You hang out with these guys so you'll have some friends. Maybe you should find some more friends. Join the bowling team. Join the men's group at church. Volunteer. Sign up for a class. Give yourself an excuse to do something else after work especially if it involves your family.
PART #3: Equipment
Well maybe you would take a few classes but you only have one car in the family and your wife uses that for her job. You say "I can't afford to get a car" but you've been saving your money to get the latest big screen television. Consequently, the only ride home you have is with your drinking buddies and you tell your wife you can't do anything about it. You're a victim. You're not a victim. Get the right equipment. Take the money for your big screen television and buy yourself a car or get a monthly bus pass! You have to do whatever you need to do to rescue yourself and your family.
PART #4: Environment
Maybe you don't like coming straight home because you don't like the apartment you and your family have to live in. It's your environment. You're saving up to buy a house but it's not coming soon enough. You parents have offered you their back house so you can save money quicker but your pride won't allow it. So rather than change your environment you drink instead. You harm your health and you harm your family because you won't change your environment.
Life is about choices. You're not a victim. You always have a choice. Hopefully, as you honestly analyze your system you'll begin to look in the mirror to find the strength to make the right choices.
Copyright 2011 Danielle Wise All rights reserved. You are free to use this article in part or full provided you include the author bio and a live website link.
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