11 Lessons From 11 Years of Sobriety
Eleven years sober now, Adam Hill takes his time today to reflect on his journey through recovery as he shares 11 lessons that he gained from sobriety. Everyone has their own journey and what works for you might not work for another person. But know that there is hope at the end of the tunnel – and a path of sobriety moving forward.
Here are some power takeaways from today’s conversation:
- How Adam got into alcoholism and how he lost control over his life
- Finding hope and having the willingness to be sober
- Transcending the desire to drink
- Never a better time to get sober
- There’s power in a like-minded community and in frameworks
- Embracing fear and using anxiety as a superpower
- Sobriety is an ongoing journey
Episode Highlights:
[13:05] 1. Even in the midst of hopelessness, there is hope.
Walking out of that jail cell, Adam leaned into hope. He leaned into a community and into sobriety. It wasn’t an easy process and anxiety could once again set in, but he chose to lean into hope.
[15:11] 2. You have to want sobriety, deeply.
Willingness is the key and that desire to be sober has to be much stronger than the desire to drink. Otherwise, have a soul-searching inventory of your life if your desire to drink is stronger than where you want to be.
[18:00] 3. You never get over alcoholism, but you can transcend the desire to drink.
Transcendence is to rise above. The way to get sustainably sober is not to just get over the addiction, but to transcend the desire to drink. It means transforming who you are into the person that you want to be, and this helps transcend your desire to drink.
[21:11] 4. There is never a better time to get sober.
You can always find your excuse to not stop drinking, but there’s never a better time because it only gets worse.
[22:52] 5. Just because you’re sober doesn’t mean that life gets easy. But it does get better.
Just because you’re sober doesn’t mean life gets easy, but that’s okay. Life doesn’t have to be easy. If life was easy, then it wouldn’t be fulfilling and we wouldn’t see growth. Understand that it’s okay for things to be hard and it’s okay to experience discomfort. But develop the tools to rise above them.
[26:15] 6. There is tremendous power in a like-minded community.
You don’t have to do things alone. There are other people like you and you can depend on them during those tough times.
[28:20] 7. There is tremendous power in frameworks.
A framework is a series of steps that you can follow to achieve your goal, in this case, sobriety. And a great example of this is the 12 steps in Alcoholics Anonymous.
[30:32] 8. It opens up your time.
Increase your time and energy by cutting out anything that you’re doing in excess that isn’t serving you back.
[33:40] 9. Telling your story helps you stay accountable.
Anonymity is very important because it allows people to speak up in a safe environment, especially earlier on in their journey. But there is also power in being open about sharing your story because it reinforces accountability.
[36:22] 10. Anxiety is a superpower once you stop fighting it.
When we rise up to face our fear, we start to heal. And once we rise up to embrace it, it opens up abundance in life. Treat fear as a signal to push past your comfort zone.
[41:48] 11. Sobriety is an ongoing journey.
Take it one step at a time and focus on every single moment.
Resources Mentioned:
GoBundance: https://www.gobundance.com/