“You will find in the world what you bring to the world…Change the world within you, and that will change the world around you”. – Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, “Mindshift”

What does that mean?

We are vey quick to blame everything on those and the world around us.

What if it wasn’t the world affecting us, but in fact it was our internal outlook affecting how we perceive the world and other people?  

If you are filled with anger, hate, frustration, sadness, and fear, you will project that onto others and blame them for your negativity.

If you want to start seeing better things in the world, take a look at the current state of your own heart. 

Find joy within yourself and you will more easily find joy in other things and people.

Becoming more positive (and less cynical) allows you to see the world from a whole new perspective! 

If you or someone you know needs help receiving substance abuse treatment, please call (270) 900-0373 any time, any day, 24/7 for a screening with one of our employees. 

“Love yourself well; you can’t properly love someone else until you learn to properly love yourself. “.

What does that mean?

Today is Valentine’s Day and the word “love” is being thrown around all over the place. 

We love our significant other, our favorite food/restaurant, our favorite car, etc.; however, do we love ourselves? 

I am not talking about being narcissistic or self-obsessed, I am talking about valuing who you are and what you are capable of. 

If you do not learn how to properly love yourself, you will never successfully love others or be accepting of love from others.

Taking care of yourself and your own mental/physical health and wellbeing is very important. 

We were all created for a purpose and we all have skills and talents that other people do not have. 

We can be proud of what we have accomplished and achieved without being prideful and arrogant. 

Take some time today to show yourself some love. You deserve it. 

Once you begin to better love yourself, you will find it is much easier to be loved by others and take compliments as well.

If you or someone you know needs help receiving substance abuse treatment, please call (270) 900-0373 any time, any day, 24/7 for a screening with one of our employees. 

“Everyone has experienced trauma, but it is up to us to turn that trauma into a testimony that can be used to help other people”.

What does that mean?

If you are a living, breathing human being, you have experienced some sort of trauma. 

Whether you have personally lived through and experienced trauma first-hand, or if someone you know experienced a traumatic event and you are a witness to it second-hand. 

The point is, trauma is a part of our everyday lives, but we do not use that trauma in the ay we should. We often times allow that trauma to control us instead of using that trauma for the good of ourselves and others. 

The trials, tribulations, and traumatic experiences we have survived in our lives were meant to be used as a testimony to help others through the same situations.

Our traumatic experiences are often times unique, but they share similar themes with the traumatic experiences other people have to endure. 

If you made it through to the other side and allowed that trauma to teach you something, it is your duty to be vulnerable and share your testimony with someone else who is struggling with something similar. 

Share the tools, knowledge, and wisdom that helped get you through your most difficult fights. 

One of the worst things about trauma is that it causes you to feel alone, isolated, scared, and confused. You can tear all of that down by being there for other people during their difficult life journeys. 

If you or someone you know needs help receiving substance abuse treatment, please call (270) 900-0373 any time, any day, 24/7 for a screening with one of our employees. 

“Is your goal motivational? Completing one goal leads to the completion of more goals“.

What does that mean?

According to the University of Scranton, 92% of New Year’s Resolutions fail, and that means only 8% of people who set a New Year’s Resolution actually see it through to completion. 

February 1st is considered “Quitters Day” because the majority of people give up on their New Year’s Resolutions on that day.

Over the next few weeks, we are going to be discussing 6 ways we can set goals for ourselves that are easier for us to accomplish so that we don’t fall into that 92%.  

For week 6, I want to ask the question, are your goals motivational? 

Goals can be daunting by nature. It is a lot easier to sit back and do nothing than to take initiative and work on bettering yourself. 

This is why it is important to make sure your goals are motivational. 

Motivational goals encourage us to keep going and continue working towards accomplishing more goals.

In a previous blog post, we discussed Jon Acuff’s idea of Micro-Milestones. These are essentially mini-goals that you can “check off” along the way to completing a larger, main goal. 

These mini-goals are motivational tools to help push you to keep going.

If your goal is to be one year sober, set mini-goals along the way at 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 9 months. 

Once you hit and accomplish those milestones, it will encourage you to keep going to become one full-year sober! 

“If I made it to 3 months, I can make it to 6 months, no problem!” 

When we are chasing down a difficult goal, we need all the extra encouragement and motivation we can get, and that is why setting motivational goals are so important.

This concludes our series on goals! Go out there and knock your goals for the year out of the park!

If you or someone you know needs help receiving substance abuse treatment, please call (270) 900-0373 any time, any day, 24/7 for a screening with one of our employees. 

“Is your goal personal? YOU have to want it!“

What does that mean?

According to the University of Scranton, 92% of New Year’s Resolutions fail, and that means only 8% of people who set a New Year’s Resolution actually see it through to completion. 

February 1st is considered “Quitters Day” because the majority of people give up on their New Year’s Resolutions on that day.

Over the next few weeks, we are going to be discussing 6 ways we can set goals for ourselves that are easier for us to accomplish so that we don’t fall into that 92%.  

For week 5, I want to ask the question, are your goals personal? 

Often times we set goals for ourselves because we are trying to please other people. Goals like that aren’t going to drive us to complete them, our heart isn’t in them.

When you set goals for yourself, you need to make sure they are goals that YOU want to complete.  

Don’t set a goal to get sober becuase your boyfriend/girlfriend wants you to; set a goal to get sober because you want to.

Even when we were kids, we were setting goals that were based around what our friends or family members wanted for us, not what we wanted. 

We set a goal to join the basketball team just because our friend wanted us to.

We set out on a certain career path in college because we wanted to please our parents. 

We can’t set goals for ourselves and expect to accomplish them and be happy and successful.

Take time to evaluate your goals and make sure they are things YOU want to accomplish, not someone else. 

Next week we are going to discuss the importance of setting “motivational” goals!  

If you or someone you know needs help receiving substance abuse treatment, please call (270) 900-0373 any time, any day, 24/7 for a screening with one of our employees. 

“Is your goal fun? Passion = possible!“

What does that mean?

According to the University of Scranton, 92% of New Year’s Resolutions fail, and that means only 8% of people who set a New Year’s Resolution actually see it through to completion. 

February 1st is considered “Quitters Day” because the majority of people give up on their New Year’s Resolutions on that day.

Over the next few weeks, we are going to be discussing 6 ways we can set goals for ourselves that are easier for us to accomplish so that we don’t fall into that 92%.  

For week 4, I want to ask the question, are your goals fun? 

Why would you try hard to achieve a goal you hate and aren’t excited about? 

Why have we made “fun” a dirty word when talking about goals? 

Having fun goals will help motivate and encourage you to complete them.  

Set goals you are passionate about; you’ll find they are much more possible (and enjoyable) to complete than not-so-fun goals.

Want to get better at that new video game? Want to catch up on some of your favorite shows? Want to try new recipes? 

Who says you can’t set fun goals for yourself.

You can also pour some fun into your more serious goals as well to provide a boost of motivation.

Want to get better about folding laundry? Set a goal to fold your laundry during an episode of your favorite sitcom.

Want to exercise more? Do 10 push-ups and 10 sit-ups in between commercial breaks or video game cutscenes. 

Want to read more books? Find books that cover topics and characters you really enjoy, or read a book based on one of your favorite shows or movies. 

There are so many ways to make your goals more enjoyable while also giving your results a needed boost as well.

Next week we are going to discuss the importance of setting “personal” goals!  

If you or someone you know needs help receiving substance abuse treatment, please call (270) 900-0373 any time, any day, 24/7 for a screening with one of our employees. 

“Is your goal realistic? It has to be possible!“

What does that mean?

According to the University of Scranton, 92% of New Year’s Resolutions fail, and that means only 8% of people who set a New Year’s Resolution actually see it through to completion. 

February 1st is considered “Quitters Day” because the majority of people give up on their New Year’s Resolutions on that day.

Over the next few weeks, we are going to be discussing 6 ways we can set goals for ourselves that are easier for us to accomplish so that we don’t fall into that 92%.  

For week 3, I want to ask the question, are your goals realistic? 

It is easy to dream big and make big, swing-for-the-fences goals; however, when we set goals that aren’t really realistic, we run the risk of getting overwhelmed and giving up.

We may feel tempted to eat the whole cake instead of cutting off pieces. 

Turn, “I want to run a marathon” into, “I will run 3 miles a week”. 

If you haven’t ran since high school, you’re 37, and get winded walking up stairs, you may want to change your goal from running a marathon to simply running a few miles a week. Use those miles to build up confidence and endurance to tackle a marathon once you’re ready. 

If your goal is to read 52 books in a year; however, you haven’t read a single book in 12 years, you may want to set a more realistic goal.

Plus, we all have different schedules; don’t set a goal of going to the gym every single day if you literally do not have the time to go. 

While you’re setting your goals this year, be sure to make sure they are possible for your current life situation. 

Next week we are going to discuss the importance of setting “fun” goals!  

If you or someone you know needs help receiving substance abuse treatment, please call (270) 900-0373 any time, any day, 24/7 for a screening with one of our employees. 

“Is your goal specific? Broad is bad!“

What does that mean?

According to the University of Scranton, 92% of New Year’s Resolutions fail, and that means only 8% of people who set a New Year’s Resolution actually see it through to completion. 

February 1st is considered “Quitters Day” because the majority of people give up on their New Year’s Resolutions on that day.

Over the next few weeks, we are going to be discussing 6 ways we can set goals for ourselves that are easier for us to accomplish so that we don’t fall into that 92%.  

For week 2, I want to ask the question, are your goals specific? 

Often times, we set goals for ourselves that are very broad and lack specific details on what you need to do in order to accomplish those goals. 

Change your broad, general goals into specific goals by adding details like numbers and dates. 

Turn, “I want to lose weight this year” into, “I will lose 20 pounds by December 31st”. 

If you do not make your goals specific, you leave too much room for failure. It is much more likely that you will complete a goal that you can measure. 

Goals with numbers allow you to know exactly how much you have accomplished and how much more you have to go. 

Goals like, “I want to lose weight this year”, “I want to lift more weight this year”, “I want to read more this year”, and “I want to save money this year” are all far too broad and do not give you anything specific to work towards. 

Chasing a broad goal is like throwing darts at a dart board while blindfolded. You have an idea of what you’re trying to hit, but you don’t have anything to aim at. 

Next week we are going to discuss the importance of setting “realistic” goals!  

If you or someone you know needs help receiving substance abuse treatment, please call (270) 900-0373 any time, any day, 24/7 for a screening with one of our employees. 

“Is your goal simple? Simple is easier!“.

What does that mean?

According to the University of Scranton, 92% of New Year’s Resolutions fail, and that means only 8% of people who set a New Year’s Resolution actually see it through to completion. 

February 1st is considered “Quitters Day” because the majority of people give up on their New Year’s Resolutions on that day.

Over the next few weeks, we are going to be discussing 6 ways we can set goals for ourselves that are easier for us to accomplish so that we don’t fall into that 92%.  

Firstly, I want to ask you the question, is your goal simple? 

Simple goals are easier for us to accomplish. That might sound like a no-brainer; however, we often times set goals for ourselves that are overly complicated and difficult. 

Don’t say, “This year I am going to start a strenuous exercise routine every day, twice a day, for 2 hours each day, and three times on the weekends at precisly 7am, 5pm, and 9pm”; change your goal to something like, “I am going to excercise twice as often than I did last year, before and after work”. 

When you make your goals super, super complicated, you leave a lot more room for failure. Perfectionism has more room to smack you in the face and tell you that if you miss exercising at 7am, you might as well not work out at all that day. 

Simple goals allow more room for adjustments and “failure”. 

It is a lot harder to stick to a strict, over complicated goal than it is a simple one. 

Next week we are going to discuss the importance of setting “specific” goals!  

If you or someone you know needs help receiving substance abuse treatment, please call (270) 900-0373 any time, any day, 24/7 for a screening with one of our employees. 

“You are what you eat“.

What does that mean?

We have all heard the phrase, “you are what you eat”, but I want to bring it into a different context for you.

We become what we consume.

Isn’t that just another way to say the same thing? Yes, but not necessarily. 

The type of content we consume, the people we listen to the most, and the things we tell ourselves every day form our personality and create who we are.  

It’s time to stop feeding ourselves with negativity, hate, and darkness and start consuming more positivity, hope, and joy. 

If you have ever wondered why you struggle to find joy, why you’re always so angry, or why you never feel satisfied, maybe you need to take a look at what you’ve been taking in on a daily basis. 

The type of music and podcasts we listen to, the types of movies and TV shows we watch, and the top 5 people we spend the most time around profoundly affect us more than we realize. 

Cut out the toxic people in your life, change your playlist, and invest in more positive, motivational content.

You might just begin to notice a change in who you are – for the better! 

If you or someone you know needs help receiving substance abuse treatment, please call (270) 900-0373 any time, any day, 24/7 for a screening with one of our employees.