SMART Recovery:  Making changes, step-by-step

by Julie Myers, PsyD

Volunteer Adviser, SMART Recovery San Diego

Have you ever wanted to make changes in your life, but felt so overwhelmed by the situation that you didn’t know where to start?  Sometimes it helps to break the change down, working through the situation step by step using pencil and paper.  (A useful worksheet can be found at http://www.smartrecovery.org/resources/library/Tools_and_Homework/Facilitators_Handout/Change_Plan_Worksheet.pdf).  First, think about why you want to make the change and then work through the steps you will need to get there. As you do this, you may find that the change you want to make really requires more than one significant change.

For example, let’s say you want to start exercising in the morning. As you work through the steps, you find that to do this, you will have to leave earlier in the morning, which means that you need to be more organized in the morning, which requires that you go to bed earlier, which means that you need to leave work earlier, which requires that you have lunch by noon.  Too many major changes means overwhelm!

Instead of becoming frustrated, break each of these steps into a different change plan, starting with the easiest change (such as having lunch earlier!)  By doing this, you will feel less overwhelmed, be more successful, and will feel better about your ability to make changes. With thoughtful forethought, you will be amazed at the changes you can make!

Copyright 2011 Julie Myers, PysD:  Psychologist in San Diego.  All Rights Reserved.