Hi folks. This is my first post. I’m six days sober from alcohol today. I’m curious what advice or tips folks can share for those of us who are early in our sober journey. This is all new to me. I am all ears!
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Welcome and congrats on 6 days! You’ll find a ton of useful information and great advice on this forum. Read, read and read some more.
Here’s a great topic to start with:
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Hobbies! I like to keep myself busy. Find ways to help you get through stressful days. This place is awesome for a shoulder to lean on.
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Hi and welcome!!
Some things that helped me were taking it one day at a time. I didn’t set big goals for my sobriety ie 6 months, 12 months… it was too much pressure and made me feel panicked and that it was unachievable.
Each morning I wake up I tell myself “just for today I will not have that first drink”. No matter what happens I will not drink, just for today.
And when I go to bed that night i write down 3 things that i was grateful for in my day. I repeat this every day.
Know it’s not weak to reach out/ask for support and help. It takes strength and is the smart thing to do. Its so much harder to do on your own and it doesnt have to be a lonely journey.
Know it’s ok to say no to people. Recovery means putting yourself and your needs first. In the beginning I changed alot about my habits including places and people because I didn’t want to put my sobriety at risk.
This forum has been instrumental in my recovery, I highly recommend sticking around, reading threads, and interacting with the other members, we’re a pretty awesome bunch who all just want the best for each other 
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Lots of info in the link previously. In the early days, I made sure to do sobriety activities each morning, i.e. readings, watching a video, a meeting, to set my intent for the day.
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Thank you for this advice. I am trying again but this time with help (this community). I know it has come to a point where I have to stop but I can’t go it alone. Reading the posts, the advice and the encouragement on here has been eye opening. I’m not alone.
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Hi Donna and also welcome to the forum!
No, you’re definitely not alone in your struggles and also don’t have to be alone in over coming those struggles. I love this forum because its world wide meaning there is pretty much always someone awake and active on here. You’re never alone 
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Hi and congrats on 6 days!!! My advice for the very early days (I’m just a baby myself, 116 days 
) is to mind yourself, be gentle with yourself, be forgiving if you can’t be the amazing person you want to be or if you need to rest or hide away or if you don’t have the energy or head space. You are healing both physically and mentally and it requires a lot of energy. Give yourself a break x
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Welcome! 
This group is such a safe and supportive place to let out how your feeling, get support from a community who understands and supports you in your journey. I’ve learned a lot by seeing how others are handling their sobriety and the struggles they go through, and also being their to support them as well.
I would say a daily gratitude list. I at first didn’t think it could help, but I started doing it and it really does. I write 10 things in the morning about what I’m thankful for, whether it be life lessons or something simple as a coffee maker to get me going for the day.
We all have struggles but together we can help each-other keep going or just be there if things happen.
You got this!
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Hi and welcome. I’m just a few months out myself, but I have come to rely on a couple of strategies that have been very helpful.
- Read and learn a lot about the connection between alcohol and your brain.
- Take extra care of yourself. Eat well, go to bed at a healthy time. Treat yourself to other things you enjoy beside alcohol.
- Enjoy your mornings!
- “Play it forward” in your mind how miserable you will feel if you drink. This, in combination with 1,2,3 above has helped me keep to my decision to remain sober.
I wish you well!
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Best advice? Be active here. You get a craving, come here. Get angry, come here. Get sad, come here.
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I agree with @LAB 
. Reading books on sobriety helped me tremendously in the beginning. ‘This Naked Mind’, in particular, was enlightening. And I kept a mental list of things I wanted to be free of by not drinking - free of hangovers, free of making drunken FB posts, free of starting drunken arguments, free of regret, free of guilt, etc. I allowed myself sugary treats, namely ice cream. A huge thing for me was recognizing all the excuses I made for drinking - celebrating, feeling down, good weather, bad weather, birthdays, New Years, football games, weekends, days that end in ‘y’ - and saying absolutely, no more, ZERO excuses.
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Hello Mate im coming up 6 days sober too.
Getting up early is working for me im up at 4am or 5am for the gym and by the time the night comes the only thing I want to do is sleep…
Drinking is the last thing I want to do.
Hopefully this helps take each day at a time.
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Congratulations on your 6 days.
And welcome. The lunch box has landed 
Yep. @K.Slaughter Gratitude list. Every morning start my day right here for the last 2 plus years. Gratitude.
It works. I’ve trained my brain so that as soon as I wake up now I start thinking about things I’m grateful for without even trying.
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The lunchbox has landed! Ha! Love it! Thank you for the input. I have a lot of great tools to use. It’ll be 7 days in a few hours!
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I actually have This Naked Mind so I will give that a read this upcoming week!
That’s great advice. I’m brand new to this app but I already see the value. It’s great to have a community of like minded folks. I work from home and don’t have any friends that are going through what I’m going through or could even understand why I want to stop drinking completely. I’ll be “seeing” folks here regularly. Today was the hardest of all the days but I’m a few hours I will have 7 days. That’s a nice milestone.
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Excellent suggestions! Thanks so much! I have to say I’ve never been a morning person but sober morning are wonderful. I can get used to this! One of the things that made me quit was being hungover last weekend. I’m too old for that type of foolishness. There are people that depend on me to be the best version of myself.
Thanks so much! I actually have a gratitude journal I never used. I will find it and put myself to work! I think it will be really helpful. Thanks again!
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That’s really great advice. I hear you loud and clear on the physical and mental healing. I am early in this process but I can already feel the physical benefits. I have a history of being hard on myself so I will need to focus on avoiding that through this process. Thanks!