12 Ways the 12 Steps of AA Can Change Your Daily Life

Maintaining a sober existence means incorporating certain key practices within your everyday dealings with others and with self. The 12 Steps of AA provide a ready-made plan that can help you overcome addiction’s effects in your daily life.

Here are 12 ways the 12 Steps of AA can help you stay sober on a day-to-day basis.

For information on 12 Step program treatment options, get help today at 800-781-0748 (Who Answers?) .

How the 12 Steps of AA Can Change Your Life

1. Facing the Problem

According to the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine, being honest about addiction’s effects in your life is the cornerstone of the recovery process. A 12 Step program helps you confront the addiction problem in all areas of your life.

2. Hope

The 12 steps of AA help you take accountability so you can move forward in your recovery.

Having hope can make all the difference in the world when facing a seemingly insurmountable challenge. In effect, hope translates into a belief that you can overcome addiction’s hold in your life.

3. A Plan

The 12 Steps of AA offer a proven plan that guides you through the recovery process. A plan provides you with something to hold onto, which can prove invaluable during the darkest times.

4. Emotional Supports

The 12 Steps of AA place a heavy emphasis on the group as a support system. According to the U. S. Department of Health & Human Services, this support system not only provides direction, but also much needed emotional support and understanding.

5. Accountability

Dealing with past wrongs towards others is an important part of the recovery process. The 12 Step approach offers a plan for how to go about.

In effect, overcoming feelings of guilt and shame regarding past drinking behaviors paves the way for healing to take place.

6. A Willingness to Change

Needing to change your life and wanting to change your life are two different things. By working the 12 Steps of AA, a person develops a genuine desire to change his or her life, which provides much needed motivation for overcoming urges to drink.

7. Asking for Help

Considering how addiction’s effects invade a person’s thinking and emotions, learning to ask for help when times get tough enables you to break the addiction mindset one challenge at a time.

8. Discipline & Following Through

As you incorporate the principles of the 12 Step approach into your thinking, it becomes that much easier to do what needs to be done to live a sober life.

How 12 Steps Changed My Life

9. Forgiveness

Seeking forgiveness for past wrongs towards others is a big part of the 12 Step approach. In the process, you come to forgive yourself as well.

10. Compassion

The 12 Steps of AA enables a person to develop compassion towards self and others. This type of growth directly addresses the underlying emotional issues that drive compulsive drinking.

11. Life Purpose

As the recovery process progresses, the emotional debris of the past falls away. At this point, you’re able to embrace the parts of your life that really matter.

12. Gratitude & Service

As day-to-day changes start to take hold in your life, feelings of gratitude replace feelings of shame and guilt. The 12 Step approach puts these feelings into action by encouraging you to help others overcome alcohol addiction’s effects in their lives.

If you’re considering making the 12 Steps of AA a part of your recovery, get help today at 800-781-0748 (Who Answers?) .