Want To Achieve Your Goals? Take Advice From Former Addicts
3 tips for achieving big, difficult things long term — from those who have done it
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Motorbike horns honked around me. A green laser flashed every few seconds into the corner of my eye. Hot garbage and tourist armpit sweat hovered at the perimeter of my nostrils.
Vietnam can be an attack on the senses.
But the thing keeping my attention the most wasn’t the bikes, the club lights, or the smells.
It was my boyfriend’s can of ‘Hanoi Beer’ sitting on the tiny plastic table in front of me — tempting me to grab it and take a sip.
I breathed deeply, then forced myself to repeat the mantra I tell myself whenever I face the temptation to drink.
“Keep it in the day.”
Nearly 3 years ago I stopped drinking alcohol. I documented the day I gave up in my article here. I wouldn’t call myself a serious addict — just someone who has a hard time with the allure and impact of booze. Think ‘crying after 3 glasses of wine’ type of messy.
And while I didn’t officially ‘do’ the 12-step program, a lot of the tactics I deploy when dealing with the temptation to drink come from these teachings.
Craving that cold beer while on my recent holiday to Vietnam reminded me that sticking to the habit of not drinking is the same as achieving any goal long term.
Sticking to big goals and long-term habits is about the choices you make every day to get there. Especially when things get hard, and the call of temptation is louder than a motorcycle horn.
Former addicts face the struggle of making a difficult choice every day — the choice not to drink/smoke/inject/binge-eat/gamble.
And those that succeed in doing so long term make the best teachers for learning how to stick to your goals.
So here are 3 important lessons I’ve learned from former addicts that might help you stick to your personal goals, whatever they may be:
