Tips on How to Rebuild Your Life and Career After Addiction

Each step of addiction recovery is hard — accepting you have a problem, seeking treatment, repairing relationships, and every moment in between. Additionally, overcoming withdrawal and cravings as you try to work yourself back into day-to-day life can be overwhelming. Then there’s your career. Having work you can be passionate about and that gives you purpose can go a long way in renewing your self-confidence. And self-confidence is an important aspect of addiction recovery. Here are some tips that can help you with rebuilding relationships after addiction.

Be Mindful of Stress

Wherever you end up working — including any side gigs or career jobs in the future — you will always need to be careful when dealing with stress. Especially for those new to recovery, workplace stress can be difficult to deal with. Make a habit of leaning on the coping skills you’ve learned so that you can maintain your sobriety.

Reach out to Contacts

The first thing you want to do is reach out to people who could give you a job or help you find employment. Having contacts is the most powerful tool for landing a job (even more so than resumes). It’s important to take advantage of any opportunity — any family member, former coworker, friend, or acquaintance — you can think of. You may have some pretty difficult conversations, but it’s essential for people to understand that you’re sincerely sorry for any way you let them down in the past and that you’re truly committed to turning your life around. Make sure it’s clear that they won’t regret giving you a chance.

Start Building

careerThe fact that you’ve chosen a new start has probably saved your life, but it also means you’ll have to repair and/or rebuild your career. With that said, you shouldn’t feel pressured to land a career occupation from the get-go. There are many fulfilling ways to make a living as you build your career. One job that’s increasing in popularity and demand is pet sitting. You could start by working through an established company (though they will take a significant cut of your earnings) or get out there and make a name for yourself. You can ultimately set your own rate and hours, and you get the awesome benefit of canine companionship. Teaching lessons, such as music or art, is another option. Like with pet sitting, you can look into teaching through an established business/store or do it yourself. Online tutorials (via video conferencing) is gaining popularity because it offers teachers and students maximum convenience and flexibility. If you enjoy crafting things like clothing or jewelry, you could go the e-commerce route and sell items on Etsy. Setting up a shop on Etsy is simple, and if you put enough effort into it, it could turn into a full-fledged business.

Prioritize your Sobriety

What matters more than anything as you rebuild your life and career is that you stay sober. In order to succeed in recovery, you must make it your first priority. The best way to do that is to build your life around your recovery, rather than building your recovery around your life. That means pursuing a healthy lifestyle, as well as making adjustments to your treatment, changing your environment, and hanging out with different people when necessary. Staying sober is ultimately the only way you will improve your life. And, practically speaking, it’s the only way you’ll be able to hold down a job and move forward in your career. Rebuilding a life and career isn’t for the weak-willed. But here’s the good news: If you’re recovering from substance abuse, you have what it takes to do about anything. As you rebuild your career, remember to take advantage of contacts and look into viable side gigs to make ends meet. Also, be careful in how you deal with stress and be sure to prioritize your sobriety.

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