Motivation for Sobriety and Books to Help You Achieve the Goal

Last Updated: August 8, 2019

Best Alcohol Rehab Books

Bad habits create long-term effects of bad decisions that alter the course of your life. The decision to quit drinking will be one of the easiest, yet most challenging thing you will ever do. Putting rules in place, changing your environment to one of support, and setting boundaries are the easy part. The hardest part will be changing your mindset to ensure that you are successful.

Part of the alcohol rehab process is keeping you motivated and inspired so that you can continue and maintain a healthier and sober lifestyle. These books are just a few of the many out there that can help you gain insight into the process and focus on the steps needed to achieve your goal.

Useful self-help books for those looking to quit alcohol include:

• The Dark Night of Recovery by Edward Bear
• Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book Trade Edition by AAWS
• Full Recovery: Creating a Personal Action Plan for Life Beyond Sobriety by Brian McAlister
• Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions by Alcoholics Anonymous

Quitting drinking is always easier said than done. The early days of sobriety take hard work, motivation, and perseverance. Learning to love yourself by the adoption of strategies that are needed will go a long way for your continued success in leading the life of a sober individual.

Here is a list of popular self-help books that have helped many alcoholics beat their alcoholism disease, and hopefully it will help you start your journey of success and maintain your sobriety:

  1. The Dark Night of Recovery by Edward Bear: Conversations from the Bottom of the Bottle. Once you become serious about conquering your alcohol addiction, this book takes you through someone else’s journey in tackling the 12 Steps of Recovery. It’s a transcript of the dialogue that takes place between the participant in the program and their sponsor, providing insight into the thoughts that take place with the person in recovery and the interaction with their sponsor.
  2. Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book Trade Edition by AAWS: For those new into sobriety who find themselves lacking the concentration necessary, this book provides personal stories in the back. Read these first, and you’ll notice the similarities between their lives and yours; what they went through and what happened during their journey into sobriety.
  3. Full Recovery: Creating a Personal Action Plan for Life Beyond Sobriety by Brian McAlister: This book reminds you that there is life after recovery, and everyone can lead a productive and healthy life. This book will help you gain insight into where to go in your journey of sobriety and how to avoid triggers of alcoholism.
  4. Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions by Alcoholics Anonymous: This book strives on the importance of working the 12 steps of recovery needed to persevere to ensure the success of staying clean and sober. It explains the purpose of each step and the traditions behind them.
  5. Came to Believe by AA Services: Many recovery programs believe in relying on a higher power. If you are struggling with this concept, this book will help with enlightenment and understanding on how to use your Higher Power in your efforts in conquering the hold alcohol has had in your life during the AUD treatment process.
  6. Keep It Simple: Daily Meditations For Twelve-Step Beginnings And Renewal, from the Hazelden Meditation Series by Anonymous. This book focuses on the simplicity of life in the 12-step process. This is a series of books that help to remind you of the beautiful things that happen in your life daily.

Making this decision the number one priority in your life is crucial to overcoming the power that alcohol addiction has over your life. A partial commitment ensures failure and relapse. You must be willing to prioritize this decision in all areas of your life, even if that just means saying no to the temptation of having that one drink during a dinner night out. The way to success is not only to make quitting your top priority, but also to talk, act, and think like it can be done. You must believe that you can conquer this thing that has taken over control of your life. Reading the motivational books is one of the ways to handle alcohol cravings and to draw a line between social drinking and problematic substance use.

For many, the simple desire to quit drinking just isn’t good enough. Many need inspiration or a reason to take that step forward. Think of all the many reasons to quit, from how it is affecting your finances, your love life or relationships, your spirituality, or your physical and mental health. The more reasons you can come up with will make it easier to succeed. More than likely there is one reason that will trump all the other reasons, and this is the one that should be your number one source of motivation.

You can motivate yourself to quit alcohol by creating a motivation list, such as by:

1. Writing down the important things to you that alcohol has ruined.
2. The first one on your list should be the most motivating.
3. After the list, write down your reason why you want to get your drinking habit under control.

Take an honest look at your life and determine which areas of your life are suffering. Do you know what is moderate drinking and what is alcoholism? Is your health suffering and your doctor has even mentioned that you need to quit to survive? Is your financial situation taking a hit and money is just going down the drain of alcohol? Maybe you are on the verge of divorce, or your kids are worried sick about you. Are they tired of you always showing up drunk at school functions? There is always one area of your life where your alcohol addiction is taking the front and center stage. Figure out the one thing that truly motivates you. Here are some possible things you can do to help you begin your journey into sobriety:

  • Write down all the areas in your life that alcohol is ruining. Create a top five list that is of great significance. For example, making it work on time, arguments in your family life, feeling physically sick all the time, relationships with your spouse and kids are suffering, your family doesn’t respect you any longer, or your job is at risk.
  • List the problems in order of importance. The number one on your list is going to be your greatest source of inspiration for motivation.
  • After you have created your list, write a paragraph or two, in detail as to why it is so important to gain control of your drinking so you can start feeling good about something in your life.
  • Now, put your words into action, and use your list as the beginning step to conquering your addiction. Refer to your lists often to help push your motivation and succeed.

How can I motivate myself for alcohol rehab?

There are several motivational materials and activities that can help an alcoholic person in his or her journey towards a successfully sober life after the residential alcohol treatment center. This includes reading motivational books, creating lists of inspiring and motivating reason to stay away from alcohol, and joining support groups for alcohol addiction.

Remember, the key to success is to find that ONE reason that will motivate you to make the necessary change towards the outcome you desire. Action a powerful weapon, and you’ll soon find that amazing things will start happening in all areas of your life. Nothing will change in your life until you take the necessary steps forward in the direction of positivity.

No matter what happens in your life, you don’t have to pick up a drink. Many people new to recovery from drinking become stressed at just the thought of those words. You may think “How can I make it through the next hour without a drink, not to mention a whole day?”

 

Author

Gregory Okhifun

Dr. Gregory Okhifun

Medical Reviewer

Dr. Okhifun is a passionate medical doctor, with over five years’ experience as a general practitioner. His passion for medical education led to his journey in medical writing. He has a wealth of experience writing for hospitals and medical centers, health organizations, telemedicine platforms, wellness organizations, medical tourism publications, addiction websites, and websites focused on nutrition and nutraceuticals.
He also serves as medical coordinator and content writer for Gerocare Solutions, for which he also volunteers as a health advisor/consultant for the elderly.
Dr. Okhifun enjoys traveling, meditation, and reading.

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