Being newly sober is both exciting and terrifying. We have finally escaped the grips of addiction and now we have a brand new life to build and begin living. Things can get overwhelming though, there is so much baggage sitting right in front of us and has to be dealt with, where do we start? Prioritizing is sorely needed at a time like early recovery, hopefully, I can sort some of that out for you.

Acknowledge That Change Is Vital 

Surrender is the most important part of recovery, it's the first thing we need to do before anything else. Surrender means I am acknowledging that I do not know what I need to do in order to get and stay sober. The clear solution to not knowing is not only to reach out for help and accept guidance but to accept that a lot of things are going to have to change. I could list what has to change but to be honest, it's probably everything. What is important is to be open to change in any area of your life. Change is very uncomfortable, but walking through uncomfortability creates major growth in life, especially in recovery. 

A Support Network 

An extremely common misconception for people in early recovery is that they think they can do it by themselves. I always ask people, "If you can do it yourself, don't you think you would of done it already?". Having a group of people you can turn to at any moment is absolutely life changing. Many of us lived a very isolated life the last few years of addiction, having a group of others in recovery who want nothing else but to help you can feel extremely refreshing and make you more secure about your sobriety. Many inpatient treatment centers offer alumni programs that allow you to connect with other people who went through the same treatment center, creating an immediate and important connection to others. You are not going to want to initially meet new people, once you do though, you will see how quickly you bond with others because you are both on the same journey. I've met my absolute best and closest friends this way. 

Sit down, be HUMBLE 

It's hard to be humble, especially for us thick skulled addicts and alcoholics. Humility can also become a complicated thing to talk about, many people have different interpretations. I keep it simple, however, humility to me means to remain teachable in all areas of life. Find someone sober who has what you want in life and ask them what you need to do. Once you do that it is absolutely integral to not only listen but actually go listen to what they say. There will be times where you could not disagree more with the suggestion they give you, go do it anyway. My first few times I did something that I did not want to do whatsoever were HUGE moments of growth in my life.