Man Gets Sober
My Steps to Sobriety
Step 1
This decision will be one of, if not the biggest, of your life. You need to make it for yourself, and you need to be 100 percent sure it’s what you want. If not, you will fail.
Do you need professional help?
Step 2
If you feel you do feel you need professional help, now’s the time to seek it. Use the Internet, speak to your doctor, there is help available for anyone out there who wants it. If you don’t feel you need professional help, as was my case, start to get into the YouTube videos or talk to people, you will need some form of support.
Step 3
Embarking on a life change necessitates a meticulous plan. Acknowledge that idle time, once filled with drinking and drugs, must be replaced to combat the boredom that might lead to going back.
Establishing a routine for the initial month, with activities during the typical drinking hours, helps maintain structure. Personalise your plan, and don't shy away from unconventional choices. Write out your plan for the first two weeks of your sobriety (a fortnight minimum; a month is better, but I did four weeks). Schedule your days so the time is filled.
Tell people
(or not)
Step 4
You need to decide if you want to tell people what you’re doing, who you will tell and how. My advice is to keep it to a close group of family and friends at the start. Share your plan with them, talk to them about why you want to stop. Trust me, they will have been worried about you for a long time already, even if they’ve never said anything before. Talking about your decision is a key step in getting sober.
You’ll be amazed by the positive reaction and help that close family and friends can offer. It’s instant too and will help you do something that you probably haven’t done in a very long time – feel good about yourself.
Step 5
You’re going to get the question, it’s inevitable. Why don’t you drink? It can simply be through intrigue or be more invasive, depending on the person asking. Be ready, plan what you’re going to say according to the situation. My advice is, if you’re not sure, be honest. Telling the truth is one of the greatest things that comes with sobriety. There’s nothing more to hide. It’s liberating, truly wonderful and life changing.
In summary, be prepared with responses you are comfortable with, be honest or use discretion as needed, and anticipate scenarios where you will need to say no during your sober journey.
Step 7
Exercise helps. End of. I don’t care who you are, how old you are or what shape you’re in; if you can get out and exercise, it will help you with sobriety. You don’t have to be running 10k on day one, but even if you just go for a walk, get on a bike and cycle somewhere or go to a gym, exercise will help you.
Step 8
Staying sober
if you were addicted as I was and you get sober, you’re going to experience the end of the honeymoon period. The novelty will wear off, normality will return, and the questions and praise will die down. The problem then becomes the little fuckers in your head who every now and then will want to come up for a little chat. When this happens, you need to be on your game as unfortunately, like many of us before, you might accidently open the door, puff up the cushions, welcome them in and pour out the drinks.
Step 9
Let’s get this clear right now, slipping up happens. The other term for this is relapse, but I don’t like that word. To me it’s too brutal, screams failure and in sobriety, there is no failure as long as you keep trying to get sober.
Step 10
Help others
The sole purpose of me writing this book is to help you. I have lived the ups, I have experienced the downs, I have been the addict and now I am sober.
This story can be yours too, and I hope many of you reading this will be able to put pen to paper and share your journey. You see the one thing about every successful sober story is that it always has a happy ending.