So you made poor choices on New Year’s Eve; now what? Recovery is a journey, and you are not perfect. You will have days and times when you make choices that you later regret. Mistakes are learning moments. If you behaved in a manner you do not like on New Year’s Eve, take some time to evaluate the night. Think the night through and establish what you determine as good choices and what were bad choices. You may want to determine these choices on your own, or you may want to think through the night with the support of a mental health professional. As you begin to assess your night, you may want to give some thought to the following areas.
Think About Your Triggers
What triggers did you experience that night? Did these triggers surprise you? How did you respond to them? Did you respond in the way you planned to respond? Sometimes triggers can feel different on holiday nights, such as New Year’s Eve. This is a night notorious for drinking and partying. How do you feel you handled your triggers?
If you did not respond to your triggers in the way you thought you would respond, that is perfectly okay. Use this experience as a learning moment. You may now realize how you really do react to that trigger. Work with your therapist on different skills or plans to learn how to respond in a different way.
Assess Your Relationships
Who did you spend your evening with? Did they influence your behavior or choices? Did you enforce your boundaries like you typically do? The people we surround ourselves with can significantly impact our mental health issues and our choices. Did the people you spent the night with influence you like you thought they would? Were there any surprises?
Nights like New Year’s Eve can be dangerous. Surrounding yourself with people that you can trust is so important. You should not need to worry whether someone will adhere to your boundaries or engage in risky behavior. Set yourself up for success by surrounding yourself with people who understand your journey and want you to succeed. Not everyone will want you to succeed. Not everyone will think about you and your well-being when they decide what they want to do that evening. This is the perfect time to assess your relationships and surround yourself with healthy choices from this point forward.
Hold Yourself Accountable
As you learned in treatment, accountability is important. Think about the choices you made and why you made them. Should you have made other decisions? What could you have done differently?
Assessing your night can be very important for your personal growth. If you do not assess what went wrong, you will not grow. While you hold yourself accountable, try not to be negative and hard on yourself. You are probably your own harshest critic. You realize what poor decisions you made and what you should have done differently. Focus on your growth.
Connect With Your Therapist
Staying connected with your therapist is a great idea as you journey through recovery. You will continue to face new challenges and different triggers. Situations may not go as planned, and you may not react like you thought you would. The good thing about recovery is that it centers around growth and healing rather than perfection. Continue to grow and learn about your mental health.
Continue working with your therapist on a regular basis. Talk about what you are struggling with or what you want to continue to work on. Do not wait for something negative to happen to make an appointment. Your therapist wants you to succeed. There is nothing wrong with continued support and therapy throughout your recovery. This is something most people need to some degree.
Focus On Goals
As you assess how your night went, it can be helpful to evaluate your goals at the same time. What are you working on? Do you have a plan in place to accomplish those goals? How do you feel about your progress towards those goals?
New Year’s Eve is often a fun night filled with family and friends. It can also be a night where goals are forgotten, and poor choices are made. As you spent your night, did you stay aligned with your goals? Did you think about your goals as you made decisions that night? If you did, then that is great. If you did not, try to figure out why or what went wrong. Maybe your goals need to be changed a little. Maybe you need to assess your boundaries and who you are spending time with. So many different components impact your choices and your ability to reach goals.
Assessing how your New Year’s Eve went is a learning experience. You can take time to better understand your responses and actions. Everyone makes mistakes. If you are in recovery, it is essential to set yourself up for success. Consider what triggers you experienced and how you responded to those triggers. Who did you spend your night with, and did they influence your behavior? Look at your night as a whole and think about whether or not you kept your goals in mind. Should you have done anything differently? Do you have anything you now realize you should work on? Here at The Guest House, we understand that recovery is a lifelong process filled with growth and exploration. You will make mistakes, take wrong turns, and need to reevaluate areas of your life. We are here to support you through every stage of your journey. Call us today at (855) 483-7800 to learn how we can support your recovery.