New year, New you?

Ever made a New year resolution? The change of year can be a great time to put a best foot forward towards a goal. 

Maybe you want to take a small step towards cutting down your drinking or you want to cut drugs or alcohol out of your life completely. Here are some of our top tips to help you with your goals this January.

What are your reasons for making change?

Identifying why you want to achieve a goal will dramatically increase your chance of achieving it. A great way of doing this is to write the reasons down. This will give you something to look back on when you are struggling or have lost motivation.

Setting realistic goals

Making large changes to your lifestyle and habits takes time. It is unrealistic to completely change your behaviour overnight. Take your time and don’t try and to do too much too soon. The key really is consistency and not large scale short term change. 

Don’t be too hard on your self

We’ve all been there when trying to change something in your life. You start out strong in the beginning, fully committed to your goal, but as time passes you start to slip and before you know it you’ve fallen off the horse completely. Putting too much pressure on yourself can mean it is much harder to get back on track if you slip up. 

If you do slip up don’t be too hard on yourself, just accept that it was a mistake and start again with a fresh mind. 

Use technology

There are a ton of bits of technology that can help you achieve a goal. From apps to support groups using technology can be a great aid to staying on track. 

Why not try:

Breaking free online – Breaking Free Online is a digital resource to help you on your journey with alcohol and other drugs. Along with Staying Free, the partner app, it provides tools, techniques and tips to help you to understand and cope with your alcohol use.

You need an access code to sign up, put just pop us an email at info@bdp.org.uk or ring the helpline on 0117 987 6000 and we’ll provide you with the code.

Drinkaware – Drinkaware has a whole host of amazing tools to help you along your journey with alcohol including a Unit to Calorie Calculator, self-assessment tools and drink diaries.

Club Soda – Free online course and huge facebook support group focussing around abstaining from alcohol.

Try Dry App – Download the free app to help you meet your goals, whether you want to take on Dry January (or another dry challenge), cut down on your drinking, or go totally alcohol-free.

Other help and advice

Starting out on the journey can be hard and confusing but we are here to help. If you need any advice or guidance feel free to get in touch and we can let you know some best practices or point you in the direction of an appropriate service. 

Get in contact:

Telephone – 01179876000

Email – info@bdp.org.uk

Contact form – Click here