Part II: Words, Thoughts and Mind are Keys for Recovery. The Subconscious Controls Your Actions and Behaviors.

Have you ever considered how the thoughts running through your mind might be sabotaging your recovery journey? The words we speak to ourselves are more than just fleeting ideas—they're powerful programming instructions for our subconscious, ultimately shaping our actions, habits, and destiny.

Your subconscious mind operates like your body, responding directly to what you feed it. When you consistently nourish your mind with affirmations like "I deserve recovery" and "I deserve love," you begin rewiring neural pathways that may have been damaged by years of negative self-talk and addiction. This isn't merely positive thinking—it's strategic mental reprogramming that creates the foundation for lasting change.

Creating a personal mantra represents a powerful technique that successful people in recovery embrace. Just as businesses thrive with clear mission statements, individuals need personal vision statements that answer fundamental questions: What do I stand for? Who is important to me? What is my purpose? Without this clarity, recovery becomes directionless. The most transformative approach goes beyond avoiding addiction to actively creating a compelling vision for your life. Rather than just saying, "I won't engage in my addiction," focus on what you want: meaningful relationships, career goals, or specific dreams like traveling to Bora Bora or giving a TEDx talk. These positive aspirations naturally pull you forward into recovery rather than leaving you fighting against old patterns.

Consistent mental nourishment establishes a powerful cascade effect—thoughts become actions, actions form habits, habits build character, and character determines destiny. This holistic approach addresses the spiritual disconnection and emotional intelligence challenges that often accompany addiction. Ready to transform your recovery journey through the power of your own thoughts? Start by creating your personal mantra today, and watch how your inner dialogue begins reshaping your life from the inside out.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to 1% in Recovery
• 1:28 The Power of Words and Thoughts
• 3:12 Creating Your Personal Mantra
• 5:37 Focus on What You Want
• 8:40 Speaking Life Into Your Brain

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

Your words, your mind, your thoughts. They are so critical in early recovery and to sustain recovery. Welcome again to another episode of the 1% in Recovery, where we encourage you to laugh every day, to work hard, work hard in relationships, work hard in recovery. To work hard, work hard in relationships, work hard in recovery, work hard in your jobs, your business, in school, just work. And to love unconditionally. Just put much more love out there in the universe and watch more love return to you. Now always remember recovery is beautiful. You cannot outthink an emotional issue and your EQ is your IQ. We encourage everybody to join the Facebook group Recovery Freedom Circle, where we talk about the steps, how to work the steps, how the steps are so critical to changing your character, to changing your life. And if you've put down anything inspiration, motivational, any question you may have or something that you're struggling with, then let the community help heal you and guide you. Join the Facebook group. Link is down below. Now let's jump into this week's episode.

Speaker 1: 1:28

We had talked two weeks ago about the four critical keys to early recovery. Recovery is complex, life is complex. There's not just kind of one thing you are attacking an addiction. If you're attacking low self-esteem, depression, it has to come from different areas. Now, last week we were addressing the one area that you can start with that's probably the easiest is really just start to look at relationships and how to start to build intimate relationships, how to build up oxytocin hugging people. Start to get outside of yourself, because without knowing yourself, without loving yourself, without loving others, without people in your life, you are not going to recover. And the other piece that you can be really working on early on is your mind, your words, your thoughts, because that will tie into the other two, the spiritual disconnect and the emotional intelligence. But let's now work on what goes on with your brain.

Speaker 1: 2:32

A lot of people think that if they just change their mindset, that their life will get better. All you have to do is just think your way into a better way of life. Now, your mind is very powerful. That's why people love books like Think and Grow Rich or any other books that just tap into almost like fixating on a goal, on some type of dream, and feeling those different emotions, on seeing how that can motivate you, change you. And that is so critical because the words really start to build up your new life. So your subconscious really drives your actions. It's not conscious thought, it is your subconscious. And the only way to have a strong subconscious is if you're constantly feeding it. It's no different than your body. Your body will feel different than if you're eating nutritious food or unhealthy food, you're eating a lot of sugar or you're putting in a lot of vitamins and minerals. So the mind is no different. You have to feed yourself.

Speaker 1: 3:38

You have to say Hugo, I deserve recovery, hugo, I deserve love. I'm going to work hard today. I'm going to be there for my wife, my husband, my spouse, my partner. I'm going to be there for my kids, my pets. I'm going to be there doing what I need to do. I am going to do the next right thing. You have to get it. I am no longer going to engage in my addiction. Now I'm not putting more of a positive thing. Just do the things that you are going to do. I'm going to work out, I'm going to go for a walk, I'm going to swim. You've got to keep feeding yourself each and every day. I'm a huge, huge believer.

Speaker 1: 4:14

The number one thing that you need to do is to have a personal mantra. If all businesses have mission statements, have vision statements, then a person has to have their own personal vision statement, mission statement, because without that mission statement they are not going to go anywhere. You have to constantly tell you. My first part is to talk about I need contentment and serenity in my life. Part of that is by believing in hope, part of that is by working hard, having fun. All of that is important and, you see, we have to have our own personal mantra. We have to know what we stand for, what we live for, who are we? And that also leads us into what our biggest goals are. What is our greatest manifestation? What does our relationship look like? Who is most important to you? Who is your why? What is your why? What is your purpose? You know all these things tie into. Now you have to constantly state it. You have to say it out loud. They say, do it in the morning, at night.

Speaker 1: 5:22

I'm a big believer. At least do it in the morning and then move forward, because you have to know what you are going to. Your brain has to constantly be fed. Is this I love my life? You know I have not gambled in 24 years, 11 months and 20 days. You know it's coming in. You know that's it. I haven't drank in over 27 years and 10 months.

Speaker 1: 5:53

You know there is a lot there. I just don't talk about alcohol. I don't talk about gambling. I don't think about it. It has no bearing of it. Even like last week, because I was there with someone significant, someone that means a lot to me, I ended up going to a casino. Now, I was never a casino player, so seeing a bunch of slot machines never did anything. I was a sports bettor, I was a horse player. That's what I ended up betting on, and I do. I just watch little sports, but I can still now watch in it.

Speaker 1: 6:26

But the first few years it was a really conscious thought not to engage in sports, not to go to bars, not to do this types of stuff. I think you know part of it is you know where do you put your mind. You know, are you going to church? Are you going to meetings? Are you going to places that elevate you, like the gym, anything else that is considered healthy? You know we talk about books or you're trying to learn something from a university. You know somewhere where you are really engaging in thought, you know. So I'm a big believer in. You've got to really constantly feed yourself the right words. Once you feed yourself the right words, you are going to recover and it all starts with being more positive and just thinking about what you truly want.

Speaker 1: 7:17

I always say one of my biggest goals right now is still to get on a TEDx stage, to have a honeymoon in Bora Bora and to go to the Galapagos Islands. Those are my three biggest goals. But I talk about it, I see it every day. I talk about okay, what do I need to do? How do I get there? Obviously, the honeymoon obviously depends on finding and being with the right woman. You know you have to get married before you want a honeymoon. You know the TEDx stage. You know you got to just search on what are the proper stages. That's one thing that I haven't been doing enough, but you know you constantly talk about it. You see the holes in what you need and I talk about.

Speaker 1: 7:57

You know it's not about enough to just say I just don't want to do my addiction. That is nothing. You have to have some type of vision for your life. You constantly that will get you out of the addiction. Once you start thinking about what you want in terms of career, business, in terms of relationship, how do you envision your family, your home, life, you will change. So focus on the words, focus on your mind, focus on your thoughts, because that will lead into your actions and behaviors, which in turn will lead into habits, which in turn is part of your character and your destiny. You know, it all kind of just flows together. So with that, speak life into your brain and just say that I deserve recovery, I deserve love. Those are the two biggest ones. I always say I, I deserve love. Those are the two biggest ones. I always say I know I do. I know God said Hugo deserves recovery, hugo deserves love. And now go work, do what you need to do With that. We're going to conclude this episode of the 1% in Recovery podcast.