Recovery is Not Free, You Need to Invest in Yourself

Unlock the hidden costs of addiction recovery and the treasures that come with personal investment in the transformative journey ahead. Today, I, HugoV, pull back the curtain to reveal the true price of sobriety - a price that goes beyond the physical realm, embedding itself deeply in the pursuit of personal growth and character development. This episode isn't just about getting clean; it's about the rich, fulfilling life that awaits on the other side. With insights from "Think and Grow Rich," the introduction of the Recovery Growth Scorecard, and the indispensable role of an accountability partner, we navigate the complex terrain of rebuilding a life with honesty, hope, courage, discipline, and perseverance at its core.

Step with me into a world where emotional trauma and character flaws are faced head-on, where the investment in therapy, coaching, retreats, and conferences isn't just a line-item expense but the fuel for a rocket ship to a new stratosphere of living. Together, we explore the relentless commitment required—not just to abstain but to thrive. This episode is not only a blueprint for those in the throes of addiction recovery but also a beacon of hope for anyone seeking to continuously evolve into the best version of themselves. Join us, and let's grow together in recovery.

Chapters

• 0:02 Investing in Recovery for Personal Growth
• 8:58 Invest in Recovery for Lifelong Growth

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

Recovery is not free. Let me repeat that Recovery is not free. Yet you hear that message time and time again that the way to recover from an addiction is go to meetings, find a higher power, work the steps and then you will have recovered, not true? Welcome again to another episode of the 1% in recovery podcast, where we encourage you to laugh every day. You've got to enjoy life. You've got to work hard. Work hard in your relationships, work hard in your job or your business, work hard in recovery. You cannot get what you want in life without work and love unconditionally. Just love others without expecting any love in return. Guess, it is hard, but it is so worth it and I guarantee you the more love you put out there in the universe, the more love you will get back in all different types of ways. Recovery is beautiful. Your EQ is your IQ and you cannot outthink an emotional issue. Yes, download the Recovery Growth Scorecard. It is free. It is a way to fill the void with using natural hormones dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin and dorfins, using different types of activities, most of them which are free Also why the scorecard is free To get a person going, to get them moving in the right direction To start filling the void, filling their schedule, making sure their mind is not wander. That is why so many people relapse is because they don't know what to do with all the time. They thought that they spent very little time in their addiction when they were actually 24-7, in their addiction one way or another. And also you can book a free 15-minute call with yours truly HugoV all at LifeIsWonderful Love L-O-V-E website. That is where you can download the scorecard. That is where you can book a call. We are going to talk about the steps recovery relationships.

Speaker 1: 2:36

Now let's jump into this week's episode. Recovery is not free. The only way to truly recover is to invest in yourself and you need others to push yourself. Last summer I had a buddy talk about and kind of encourage me to reread Think and Grow Rich. I had read this book probably about 25 years ago and a lot of the concepts are similar to a lot of self-help concepts, self-help books. You know where they talk about. You know you've got to be very specific in your goals and your dreams, you've got to have timeframes, but the key thing is that you have to have some type of accountability partner, someone to kind of check you. That is why it's always good to have a workout partner. That's why it's always good, especially if you're going to school you have whether you're in graduate school or undergrad some type of team, someone to must be like a study group. So even if you feel like you don't want to study, you start studying because you don't want to be the one that doesn't know or isn't up to speed or isn't going to do that extra step, let's say, in the gym to get your body right, to get your body the way you want it.

Speaker 1: 4:09

Accountability partner is so key. That is why when I got into the gambling 12-step program now I've already been into an alcoholic 12-step program and I've already been to that. I've been for three years towards different peace times. It was off and on as well as a year and a half of going to therapy. But when you're in your addiction, you really are not invested in therapy, you're really not invested in working any type of 12 steps. You may not be drinking, but your mind is still in an addiction.

Speaker 1: 4:51

Mine was gambling, compulsive gambling, and then, after a month of going to my first meeting and then finally stopping, having a spiritual awakening and then hitting the ground running after two weeks of not gambling, not drinking, really getting in touch or trying to get in touch with my feelings and my spirituality hit the ground running. What was key is number one is that I had an accountability partner, that I was committed to therapy, that I was going to come every week. I ended up going overall. Besides that one and a half years, I spent another five and a half years where I was truly committed to therapy and I fully believe in psychologists, psychiatrists, therapists, different types of people with higher education that really truly understand either modalities or addictions, emotions, childhood stuff, trauma, bullying all the different topics that someone may really encounter and have to deal with. You cannot deal with that in the 12 steps.

Speaker 1: 6:14

I think it's a fallacy and I think it's pushed too much, whether it's in live meetings or in online support groups, that all you magically have to do is show up to a meeting, get a answer, find a higher power and then work the 12 steps. The problem with that, even with therapy, is that it is driven by the newcomer, the person who just relapsed, and you do not want that person driving the bus. You don't, because they don't know where they're going. You need someone to truly push you and understand where you're going to go and how you're going to get help, that will create that pain. Move forward. That is how I became a recovery coach, because I looked at character. I looked at the steps. I saw how they can be enhanced and fortified and made stronger so someone truly feels uplifted. And to push someone daily. And if you get someone to push you, especially for those First weeks now I go 18 weeks, so that's 126 days that really gets you a foundation to change your mentality on how to move forward. And so I encourage you to invest in yourself and also getting a trainer, a nutritionist, other types of people that can really push you forward and in terms of getting you to a recovered state because a recovered state is not just something so simple as working the 12 steps. You have to look at truly your character.

Speaker 1: 8:18

If you read the first 164 pages of the big book, if you read the combo book that gamblers like to read, it talks a lot about character, changing your character. It talks about spiritual principles. It talks about character traits. That is the basis. If you still have the same character, even though you work the 12 steps, even though you may have been the therapy, you're not changing and part of the change is a spiritual awakening and part of that does come from working kind of spiritual principles.

Speaker 1: 8:58

But there's no one works in a specific order and that is what I incorporated, I realize, is that I have to really address and have someone write about, talk about honesty, hope, courage, discipline, perseverance the essential character traits, spiritual principles to get someone moving, as well as deal with everything else that would fortify you to be an all around person, to go from addict to abstinence to sobriety, to recovered, recovered, that there's no longer an obsession, that there's no longer an out. But for me there's no out with alcohol or gambling. That's not even a thought. No matter what's going on in life, life will always be a challenge. There will always be successes and ups, there will always be depressive situations and downs. You just got to deal with the feelings. Your feelings can change hourly, minute by minute, different days, different weeks, but in the end you've just got to always be in touch with your feelings so then you can move forward.

Speaker 1: 10:17

So recovery is not free. Invest money. Here's the thing. Once you put money into something or into some type of service, you are going to be motivated to do the work, because most people don't want to waste money, even if it's $100, $1000, $10,000. You can do in treatment. You can do IOPs, you can do recovery coaching, you can do therapy. You can buy books, go to retreats, go to conferences. You've got to spend money and be around and learn.

Speaker 1: 10:59

Recovery is a lifelong learning process and that is the beauty, the beauty of recovery, because you're always discovering the beauty of you, of who you truly are, that you do have a wonderful, beautiful story that needs to be told, with all the scars and the bumps, but also all the successes, and, especially when you've worked and gone through addiction and recovery, the success that can then lead to all the other successes that happen in your life. The better relationships that's ultimately what we want. We want higher self-esteem, we want more self-awareness and we want closer, more intimate relationships. So invest yourself, be held accountable, be pushed. That way you get to recover and you recover a lot faster. Do this stuff in weeks and months, not years and years and years. That way you can then start living your dream, your goals, the life that you have always envisioned for yourself, the life that you deserve. Life is wonderful.