How to Reset Your Goals Without Starting Over (Recovery & Life Tips)

Welcome to Week 4 – The Reset & Recommit Phase

If you’ve been following along with our blog series this month, you know we’ve talked about starting change, getting unstuck, and building momentum. But what happens when you lose that momentum? When motivation dips, life gets messy, or a setback knocks you sideways?
This week, we’re focusing on what it really looks like to begin again…smarter, not smaller. Today’s post is all about that powerful first moment when you decide to reset without starting completely over.

First Things First: Setbacks Aren’t Failures

You didn’t ruin everything.
That inner critic might try to convince you that one misstep means you’ve undone all your progress, but it’s just not true. Slowing down, needing a break, or even slipping into old patterns doesn’t erase your growth, it just means you’re human.
Here’s your reminder: You don’t need a new beginning.
You need a new approach.

3 Steps to Reset Without Shame

1. Reframe What Happened
Instead of asking “What’s wrong with me?”, try:
• What triggered this?
• What need wasn’t being met?
• What can I learn from this moment?
This turns shame into insight. It helps you move forward instead of staying stuck in guilt.
💡 Use the “Setbacks Without Shame” worksheet to walk through this reflection and gain clarity on what to do next.

2. Ground Yourself in What’s Still True
Your worth didn’t change.
Your progress didn’t disappear.
Your goal is still yours – and so is your power to keep going.
Find a grounding phrase that reminds you who you are when doubt creeps in:
“One hard day doesn’t undo all my healing.”
“I am allowed to pause and still keep moving.”
“This is a restart, not a reset to zero.”
You can even write your own inside the “Reset & Recommit” worksheet as an anchor moving forward.

3. Recommit With Micro-Steps
You don’t have to leap back in. You don’t have to feel ready.
You just need one doable action.
• What’s one small thing you can do today that moves you closer to your goal?
• What worked for you before that you can return to?
• What needs to look different this time?
Start there. Let that be enough for now.
✨ Our Reset & Recommit worksheet includes space for a simple micro-plan, affirmation of the week, and “what worked last time” reflection to keep it grounded.

Your Reset Doesn’t Have to Be Loud

Sometimes rebuilding is quiet.
Sometimes healing looks like choosing to show up anyway.
You don’t need to prove anything. You just need to begin again.

💛 Looking for extra support on your healing path?
Visit my Etsy shop, Healing in Reverse – https://healinginreverse.etsy.com for thoughtfully created tools, journals, and guides designed to meet you where you are – whether you’re rebuilding, recommitting, or just trying to take the next right step. Every resource is made with compassion and care for the real, messy, beautiful work of growth.

The 8 Tools You Need to Make a Change (and Stick With It)

You Want to Change, Here’s How to Start (and Keep Going)

You’ve made the decision. You know something in your life needs to shift. But now you’re staring at the mountain of “everything you should be doing,” and the pressure to get it perfect is already creeping in.
Let’s stop that cycle before it starts.
Real change doesn’t happen in one big leap – it happens step by step, often quietly, and almost always imperfectly.
That’s exactly why I created the The Real-Life Change Bundle…a printable worksheet bundle designed to support real-life change with small, doable actions that build confidence, not burnout.

Below are the tools to help you take real steps on your healing journey toward change.
Each one is designed to support a different part of the process –  from finding your why to navigating setbacks – and every tool includes a corresponding worksheet available as part of the printable bundle in my Etsy shop.

🔹 1. One Step at a Time: Breaking Down the Goal
Purpose: Turn overwhelming goals into small, clear steps.
It’s hard to stay motivated when the destination feels too far away. This worksheet helps you:
• Define your main goal
• Break it into 3–5 simple action steps
• Start with just one thing today
💡 Example: “Get sober” → Step 1: Tell someone. Step 2: Remove alcohol from home. Step 3: Attend one meeting.

🔹 2. The Fuel Behind the Goal
Purpose: Anchor your motivation in something deeper than willpower.
When things get tough, your “why” is what keeps you grounded. This page includes:
• Prompts like “Why do I want to make this change?”
• “What will life look and feel like if I keep going?”
• A space for a letter to your future self or a mini vision board
This isn’t fluff…it’s your anchor.

🔹 3. Spot the Sabotage
Purpose: Prepare for what could get in the way before it happens.
Old habits, triggers, and self-doubt don’t just disappear when you commit to change. This worksheet helps you:
• Name common obstacles and setbacks
• Reflect on what’s tripped you up in the past
• Create an If-Then Plan (ex: If I feel triggered, then I’ll…)

🔹 4. What to Do Instead
Purpose: Build a toolkit of healthy coping skills and replacements.
Knowing what not to do is one thing, knowing what to do instead is where real change happens. This worksheet includes:
• Triggers → Healthy response swap-outs
• “Soothing Toolkit” builder
• Emergency grounding tools for high-stress moments

🔹 5. Small Wins, Big Shifts
Purpose: Track and celebrate the progress you can’t always see.
Healing happens in the small things. This tracker supports you in:
• Noticing daily or weekly progress
• Logging what you did well (even if it’s tiny)
• Celebrating “gold star” wins, because they matter more than you think

🔹 6. When It Doesn’t Go as Planned
Purpose: Normalize setbacks and reframe them without shame.
Slip-ups aren’t failure…they’re part of the process. This worksheet guides you through:
• What happened, how you felt, and what you learned
• What you need to move forward
• Grounding affirmations like “One hard day doesn’t erase my progress”

🔹 7. Look How Far You’ve Come
Purpose: Reflect on growth and build confidence from your journey.
When you feel stuck, reflection reminds you that change is happening. This visual worksheet includes:
• Timeline or path-to-progress map
• “Before vs Now” and “Biggest shift so far” prompts
• “One thing I’m proud of” space

🔹 8. Begin Again, Stronger
Purpose: Help you reset and recommit with more clarity.
Motivation ebbs and flows. When you hit a wall, this worksheet walks you through:
• What worked last time?
• What will I do differently this time?
• Affirmation of the week + space for micro-goals

Final Thoughts: Change Is Possible, But You Don’t Have to Do It Blind

You don’t need a perfect plan. You need tools that keep you connected to what matters. These worksheets were built to give you structure when everything feels uncertain.
Whether you’re beginning again, starting for the first time, or learning to rebuild after a setback – there’s something here for you.
🛒 You can download the full bundle here:

https://healinginreverse.etsy.com/listing/4335442039

Healing in Reverse – Recovery Starter Worksheets on Etsy
Change gets easier when you stop doing it alone.

Feeling Stuck After Deciding to Change?

Here’s How to Take the First Step

We’re in Week 2 of the Messy but Moving series, and here’s where we’re at:
You’ve made the decision to change. You’ve had your wake-up call.
But for some reason, you’re still not moving.
You feel stuck in the pause…aware of what’s not working, but unsure how to start building something different.
If that’s you right now, you’re not alone.
And more importantly, you’re not broken.
This part of the process is more common than you think.

Why You Might Still Feel Stuck

Even after deciding to change, people often hit a wall.
And that wall usually looks like:
• Not knowing where to begin
• Overthinking everything
• Putting pressure on yourself to do it perfectly
• Being so emotionally drained you feel frozen
Today, we’re going to walk through some of the most common reasons people stall out after the decision and simple tips to help you break through that resistance.

How to Take That First Step (Even If You Don’t Feel Ready)

You don’t need a master plan.
You don’t need motivation.
You just need one honest move forward.
Here are 4 ways to make that happen:

✅ 1. Be Specific About Your First Step
General goals like “do better” feel overwhelming.
Instead, name something small and clear:
• “Write down how I’m feeling.”
• “Drink one full glass of water.”
• “Go for a 10-minute walk.”
Clarity helps you move.

✅ 2. Make It Almost Too Easy
Your first step should feel doable – not intimidating.
Even if it seems tiny, that’s the point.
• Open your journal (even if you don’t write)
• Set a 5-minute timer to think or breathe
• Put on your shoes. Just your shoes.
Tiny actions break inertia.

✅ 3. Move Before Doubt Gets Loud
That voice that says “you’re not ready” gets louder the longer you wait.
Don’t overthink it.
Start while the intention is fresh…even if you’re scared.

✅ 4. Track It Visually
Progress becomes real when you can see it.
Even if it’s just one small step a day, write it down.
🛒 Grab the Momentum Tracker in the Healing in Reverse Etsy shop – https://healinginreverse.etsy.com. It’s a simple printable to help you stay consistent and celebrate the little wins that add up.

✍️ Journal Prompts for Today:

• What’s one step I can take today that doesn’t require motivation – just honesty?
• Where am I putting too much pressure on myself to get it right?
• What would “starting messy” look like today?

Final Thought:

You don’t have to rush. You don’t have to get it perfect.
You just have to keep moving, even if it’s slow.
Momentum builds from small, honest steps.

When You Know It’s Time to Change but Can’t Seem to Start

Messy but Moving – Week 2

You’ve had the wake-up call.
You’ve told yourself “something needs to change.”
You might have even said it out loud.
But here you are…
Still stuck in the same cycle.
Still waiting to feel “ready.”
If that sounds like where you’re at, let’s pause and be honest:
You’re not failing. You’re just in the part no one talks about.
That frustrating gap between awareness and action.

🧠 This is Where a Lot of People Get Stuck

Deciding to change is a powerful first step, but it doesn’t flip a switch.
It doesn’t remove fear. It doesn’t erase self-doubt.
It doesn’t give you a map, either.
Most of us hit this wall.
Not because we’re lazy, but because resistance is part of the process.
Let’s look at some of the reasons why you might still feel frozen, even after choosing change.

🔎 What’s Really Going On Under the Surface?

1. You’re waiting to feel ready.
You keep stalling because you think a better time will come.
But real change rarely feels convenient. It starts when you move, not when you’re certain.

2. You’re overwhelmed by how far you have to go.
You see the full mountain instead of the next step.
It feels like “Why bother?” before you even begin.

3. You’ve failed before and it still haunts you.
So you hesitate, telling yourself it’s safer not to try than to fall short again.

4. You think you have to do it perfectly.
So instead of starting small, you wait for a perfect plan.
And waiting turns into doing nothing.

✍️ What Do We Do With This?

This week, we’re not going to judge ourselves for where we are in the process.
We’re just going to get curious about it.
That hesitation is information.
It’s telling you where you still need support, clarity, or grace.
By the end of this week, we’ll start identifying simple tools to help you move forward… not all at once, but one real, honest step at a time.

🧾 Want to See Your Progress in the Meantime?

Sometimes just tracking that you’re showing up is enough.
The Momentum Tracker is a simple printable tool to help you record one small step a day, no pressure, no perfection.
🛒 Check it out in the Etsy shop here – https://healinginreverse.etsy.com

💬 Journal Prompts for Today:

• What am I still afraid will happen if I try and don’t succeed?
• What would “just one small move” look like today?
• Where am I demanding perfection, and how can I soften that?

Final Reminder:

Dragging your feet doesn’t mean you aren’t moving.
It means you’re in it.
The work is already happening.
Let’s keep going…gently, honestly, and one step at a time.

Why Awareness Alone Isn’t Enough – and What to Do When You Still Feel Stuck

Messy but Moving – Week 1 Midweek Check-In

You have the wake-up call.
You know something has to change.
And still… nothing feels different.
If that sounds familiar, I want you to know – it doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong.
It means you’re in the hardest part: the in-between.

Personal Reflection: Change Isn’t Instant

In both early recovery and years into healing, I’ve faced these moments… those gut-deep wake-up calls where I knew something had to shift. And yet, the shift didn’t come overnight.
I still had days where I made five steps forward and then spent ten days sliding back.
I still had moments where clarity faded and doubt crept back in.
But here’s what I held on to, every single time:
Once you’ve made the decision to change… you do not give up on yourself.
You keep going.
You give yourself grace.
You keep it simple.
And you keep pushing forward.

Why You Might Still Feel Stuck Right Now

You’re not alone, and you’re not broken.
Here’s why it can feel hard to move forward even after you’ve decided it’s time:

1. You’re afraid of failing again.
You’ve tried before, and it didn’t stick. That fear is loud.
Truth: Trying again doesn’t make you weak. It makes you human.

2. You don’t trust yourself yet.
If past choices caused pain, you may question your ability to choose differently now.
Truth: Self-trust isn’t a switch. It’s rebuilt with consistency and care.

3. You’re waiting for the “perfect” starting point.
The right schedule, the right mindset, the right tools…
Truth: There is no perfect. Start with possible.

4. You feel overwhelmed by how far you have to go.
The mountain looks huge from the base.
Truth: You’re not climbing the whole mountain today. Just take the next step.

✍️ Journal Prompts for Today:

• What’s one thought or fear that’s keeping me from starting?
• What pressure am I putting on myself that I can let go of?
• What’s one tiny thing I can do today to move forward, even if it’s small?

🌿 Gentle Reminder:

You’re not failing if you haven’t figured it all out yet.
This is the part where most people give up.
But you won’t… because you already made the decision.
And now it’s just one small movement at a time.

📥 Resource to Support You:

If you want a simple way to track your small wins and forward movement this week, I created a printable “Momentum Tracker”  a gentle space to log your efforts, not your perfection.
You can find it here in my Etsy shop:
👉 https://healinginreverse.etsy.com

How to Start Over When You Know Something Needs to Change

Series: Messy but Moving – Week 1: The Wake-Up Call

There’s a moment many of us face when everything feels loud inside, even if nothing around us has changed.
It might hit in the middle of a chaotic moment, or in the stillness between them.
But the message is always the same:
“I can’t keep doing this.”
And even if you’re scared, stuck, or unsure what comes next…
That moment is the beginning of something.

Two Moments, One Message: Something Had to Change

I still remember mine clearly.
I was sitting in a jail cell. I looked around and saw faces I had just watched leave weeks earlier… now right back again. I realized how easy it would be to let that cycle become my normal.
And then it hit me:
This is your crossroad. Either make a change right now…or accept that this is your life: jail, rehab, death. Over and over again.
That was my turning point in recovery.
But it wasn’t the only one.
Years later, I hit another wall – not in active addiction, but in long-term recovery. I had a job I cared about and a full life, but everything felt off. I was burned out, constantly exhausted, and disconnected from myself. The work-life balance I once protected was gone. And once again, I heard it:
You can’t keep doing this.
Different situation. Same message. Same truth:
Change is required.

You Don’t Need a Jail Cell to Feel Trapped

Your wake-up call might not look like mine.
Maybe it’s the moment you realize your relationship is draining you.
Maybe it’s the job that’s slowly crushing your spirit.
Maybe it’s the constant burnout, the anxiety spiral, or the quiet knowing that you deserve more than survival mode.
Whatever it looks like, it’s valid.
And if you’re feeling that tug toward change… this is your moment.

Why Starting Over Feels So Hard

Most people don’t stay stuck because they’re lazy or unmotivated.
They stay stuck because change is hard, even when it’s needed.
We tell ourselves:
• “What if I fail again?”
• “What if I don’t know who I am without this?”
• “What if I start over and it’s worse?”
These fears are normal. But they don’t get to lead.
That wake-up call you’re hearing?
That’s your inner wisdom saying:
“There’s something better waiting for you, but you have to move.”

This Month’s Focus: Real Change, One Honest Step at a Time

All month long, we’re focusing on what it really looks like to change your life, especially when you feel overwhelmed or uncertain.
Here’s what’s coming:
• Week 1 (this week): The Wake-Up Call – What it means and how to honor it
• Week 2: What’s Keeping You Stuck – Fear, shame, self-doubt, and how to break through it
• Week 3: The First Tools That Actually Help – Simple actions to shift your momentum
• Week 4: Reflect + Reset – Recognizing your progress and staying grounded
No fluff. No pressure. No fake positivity.
Just real-life recovery, growth, and support, one week at a time.

✍️ Journal Prompts for Today

• What part of your life feels out of alignment right now?
• What am I afraid will happen if I try to change, and what might happen if I don’t?
• What does “starting over” mean to me right now?

Final Words

You don’t have to have a full plan.
You don’t have to fix everything overnight.
You just have to tell yourself the truth… and let that truth move you.
You’re not stuck.
You’re waking up.

If you’re ready to take the first step but aren’t sure where to begin, I’ve created simple, supportive tools to help. From guided reflection sheets to grounding practices, everything is designed to help you move forward, one clear step at a time.
👉 Visit the Healing in Reverse shop on Etsy – https://healinginreverse.etsy.com printable journals, worksheets, and recovery resources created for moments just like this.

The Comparison Trap in Recovery: Why You’re Not Behind (Even If It Feels That Way)

I learned pretty quickly in recovery just how harmful comparison can be.
Not just to your progress, but to your mental health, confidence, and peace.
You start looking around and thinking,
“Why am I not there yet?”
“Why does it seem so easy for them?”
“Why am I still struggling when they’re thriving?”
And in that moment, everything you’ve survived, everything you’ve grown through… suddenly feels like it doesn’t matter.
But the truth? You’re measuring your healing against a highlight reel…and it’s robbing you of your reality.

📱 Social Media Isn’t Reality

We live in a world where people show the win, not the work.
They share the glow-up, not the breakdown.
They post the good days, not the ones where they feel like giving up.
And when you’re scrolling through that with a recovery-heavy heart, it’s easy to forget what’s real.
Social media doesn’t show:
• The nights they doubted themselves
• The trauma they’re still carrying
• The quiet battles they don’t post about
Comparison doesn’t just steal joy.
It fuels shame, and shame kills momentum.

🔄 Everyone’s Timeline Looks Different

Recovery doesn’t come with a finish line.
Healing doesn’t happen on a schedule.
Some people might be working on relationships while you’re still learning to trust yourself.
Others might be getting promoted while you’re celebrating a full week clean.
Neither is better. Both are valid.
And your journey matters just as much, even if it doesn’t look impressive on paper.

🛠️ Tools to Reclaim Your Lane

📍 Zoom In on You
Every time your mind says “They’re doing better,” ask:
• “What do I actually know about their journey?”
• “Why do I think mine isn’t enough?”
• “What small thing did I do today that I would’ve been proud of a year ago?”

🧘 Ground in the Present
You don’t need to be anywhere other than where you are.
Take a breath. Look at your feet. You’re still here…and that’s everything.

💬 Talk Back to the Lie
Comparison tells you you’re behind.
But behind what?
There is no universal pace for healing. You’re not late, you’re right on time.

✨ A Spiritual Reminder

You weren’t put here to match someone else’s timeline.
You were put here to grow through what you needed, in the order you needed it.
What’s meant for you won’t miss you.
You don’t have to rush. You don’t have to compete.
You just have to keep doing the next right thing…for you.

✍️ Journaling Prompts:

• Where do I feel “behind” in life or recovery – and why?
• Whose timeline am I comparing mine to?
• What have I done lately that I would’ve once dreamed of?

🛍️ Support for the Journey:

If this post resonated, check out the resources in my Etsy shop, designed to support your healing in real time, not just the highlight moments.
Whether it’s a grounding card, a reset journal, or a space to breathe…you’re allowed to move at your own pace.
➡️ https://healinginreverse.etsy.com
Your healing is valid. Your story is still unfolding.
You’re not behind – you’re building something real.

Overthinking in Recovery: How to Stop Mental Spirals and Find Peace

I’m an overthinker. Through and through.
In conversations. In decision-making. In silence.
It’s not just a personality quirk…it’s something I’ve had to actively work through in recovery, because left unchecked, it pulls me away from peace.
There have been moments where I’ll replay something I said five times, trying to figure out if I came across wrong. Or I’ll spiral into “what if” territory, overanalyzing everything from people’s tone to their silence. And for a long time, I didn’t even realize where that came from. I just thought I was “too sensitive” or “too much.”
But like every piece of healing, things made a lot more sense once I looked backward.

🧠 Why We Overthink in Recovery

Overthinking is often a trauma response.
It’s the brain’s way of trying to create control when things once felt unsafe, unpredictable, or out of your hands.
If you grew up in chaos, walked through addiction, or spent time around people whose love was conditional. You probably learned to read between the lines. To stay alert. To “figure it out” before things went wrong.
That survival skill becomes chronic overthinking:
• Replaying conversations
• Making up stories about what others must think
• Expecting the worst so you’re not disappointed
• Picking yourself apart before anyone else can
Your nervous system might still be on high alert, even when there’s no danger.
And the hardest part? Overthinking feels like problem-solving…but all it really does is keep you stuck.

🚧 How Overthinking Harms Your Healing

• It steals your energy and focus
• It disconnects you from the present moment
• It makes you second-guess your instincts
• It creates false stories based on fear, not fact
• It erodes confidence and trust in yourself
The more time you spend in your head, the less space there is for peace, rest, and connection.

🛠️ Tools to Pause the Spiral

Overthinking won’t disappear overnight, but you can interrupt it. Here are some tools to help:

🛑 1. The Stop Sign Visualization
When you feel yourself spiraling, close your eyes and picture a stop sign in vivid detail.
• See the bold red color bright and commanding.
• Visualize the sharp white letters S-T-O-P clear and unshakable.
• Notice the octagon shape eight solid sides, unmoving, unbreakable.
• Imagine it standing tall at a quiet intersection, everything paused.
• Feel the message in your body: stop, pause, breathe.
Let that image take over your mind for a moment.
Let it interrupt the racing thoughts.
Let it ground you in now.
Then gently tell yourself:
“This thought doesn’t need my energy right now. I choose peace instead.”

🧭 2. Name the Fear, Not Just the Thought
Ask: What am I really afraid of right now?
Often the overthinking is just a mask for fear of rejection, abandonment, or failure. Naming it takes away some of its power.

📖 3. Reframe the Story
Ask: What do I know to be true right now?
Example: “They haven’t responded” → Reframe: “That doesn’t mean I did something wrong.”

🧘 4. Ground in the Present
Five senses grounding. Deep breathing. A short prayer. Movement.
Anything that gets you into your body and out of your head.

✨ A Spiritual Reminder

You are not responsible for reading minds.
You are not here to anticipate every outcome.
You are allowed to rest in the unknown and trust that what’s meant for you will stay.
If your mind is loud today, give it to your higher power.
Surrender what you cannot control, and anchor in what you can: your breath, your truth, your healing.

✍️ Journaling Prompts:

• What’s one situation I keep replaying in my head? What am I afraid of underneath it?
• How has overthinking protected me in the past? Is it still serving me now?
• What truth do I want to return to when my mind won’t stop racing?

🛍️ Support for the Journey:

A new printable is coming to the Etsy shop to go with today’s post: the “Overthinking Reset Card.” It will include the Stop Sign method, reframe prompts, grounding reminders, and space to write your calming truth.
➡️ https://healinginreverse.etsy.com
You don’t have to figure it all out today.
Your peace matters more than perfect answers.

How Trauma Destroys Self-Confidence – and How to Rebuild It in Recovery

You can survive something and still carry the scars in how you see yourself.
That’s the quiet damage trauma does, not just in what happened, but in the beliefs it planted along the way.

🧠 How Trauma Thoughts Are Formed

When you’re repeatedly hurt, ignored, blamed, or made to feel unsafe, your brain adapts. It starts forming survival thoughts… beliefs that help you make sense of the chaos.
You may have learned:
• “If I don’t speak up, I’ll stay safe.”
• “If I take the blame, they won’t leave.”
• “If I expect the worst, I won’t be disappointed.”
At the time, these thoughts helped you survive. But over time, they harden into default beliefs that whisper:
• “I’m the problem.”
• “I’m not good enough.”
• “I always fail.”
They don’t feel like thoughts.
They feel like truth.

💔 Why Trauma Attacks Confidence

Confidence requires trust…in yourself, your choices, and your worth.
But trauma rewires that trust. It teaches you to scan for danger instead of safety. To doubt instead of believe. To stay small instead of take up space.
Even in recovery or growth, those old patterns can creep back in:
• You second-guess every decision.
• You assume people are upset with you.
• You downplay your success or disqualify your progress.
It’s not because you’re weak. It’s because your nervous system learned protection first, belief second.
But now? You’re allowed to challenge the rules you once had to live by.

🔄 Reframing the Inner Critic

Healing isn’t about silencing the voice.
It’s about noticing it, and choosing not to believe everything it says.

Try this when self-doubt creeps in:

If the inner voice says:
“I always fail…”
Ask yourself:
Is that fear or fact?
Reframe it:
“I’ve fallen, but I’ve always gotten back up.”

If the inner voice says:
“I’ll never be enough.”
Ask yourself:
Who told me that, and why did I believe them?
Reframe it:
“I am enough because I keep growing.”

If the inner voice says:
“I’ll never make it through this.”
Ask yourself:
Would I say this to someone I love?
Reframe it:
“I don’t have to solve everything today, I just have to keep moving forward.”

The moment you question the voice… is the moment confidence starts to return.

✨ You Were Never Meant to Carry This Alone

Even in your doubt, you are still growing.
Even in the middle of fear, you are still being guided.
Whether you call it God, grace, or something greater, there is strength walking beside you. A higher truth that says:
You are worthy. You are becoming. And you are not doing this alone.
And if you’re not there yet with your higher power, that’s okay too.
Just know this: there are so many of us in recovery walking the same path.
There is strength in numbers, and healing in community.
We’re all just trying to make it through this life…together.

✍️ Journaling Prompts:

• What critical thoughts do I hear most often?
• Where did I first learn to doubt myself?
• What truth am I ready to believe instead?

🛍️ Support for the Journey:

If this post resonated, check out the “Confidence Reframe Card” in my Etsy shop – a printable reminder of the truths you’re reclaiming. Perfect for your journal, mirror, or phone background.
➡️ https://healinginreverse.etsy.com
You are not your worst thoughts.
You are the one choosing to heal despite them.
That is your strength. That is your confidence.


Rebuilding Confidence in Recovery: Letting Go of the Lies That Hold You Back

There are moments in healing when the noise in your head gets so loud, it drowns out everything else.
“You’re too broken.”
“It’s all your fault.”
“You’ll never be good enough.”
You know it isn’t true…at least logically. But emotionally? It can feel like gospel.
I’ve been there. Even now, 16 years into recovery, those thoughts creep in when I’m overwhelmed or exhausted. When a small comment hits the wrong nerve, or when I fall into old patterns of blaming myself for things far beyond my control. That’s when I know it’s time to pause and check in, not with the world, but with how I’m seeing myself.
Because confidence in recovery isn’t just about how far we’ve come. It’s about how we view ourselves on the way there.

Confidence Gets Shaped by What We Survived

If you’ve lived through trauma, addiction, abandonment, shame – you’ve probably carried messages that were never yours to begin with. Maybe you were told you were too emotional. Too needy. Too much. Maybe you learned early on to shrink yourself in order to survive.
And when you’re constantly trying to survive, there’s no space left to trust yourself. Confidence doesn’t stand a chance in that kind of environment.
Over time, those survival messages turn into beliefs. And those beliefs become the inner critic that whispers (or shouts) whenever you try to grow.
But the truth is:
You are not the voice that tells you you’re unworthy.
You are the one who hears it and still chooses to move forward anyway.

The Lies We Believe Are Often the Loudest

If you’ve ever told yourself:
• “This is all my fault.”
• “I’ll never be as good as them.”
• “No one really cares what I have to say.”
…know that you are not alone. These aren’t personal failures. They are symptoms of what you’ve been through.
And the first step toward rebuilding confidence isn’t forcing positivity…it’s identifying the lie and questioning its grip.

Everything Happens for a Reason… Even When We Don’t Understand It Yet

It’s okay to wish certain things never happened. It’s okay to feel the ache of the past and still be grateful for what it taught you.
I look at some of the hardest moments of my life and, as much as I wish they weren’t part of my story, I know they gave me what I needed to help others now.
The pain wasn’t the gift…but the growth that came after was.
Sometimes, confidence is built in the quiet decision to stay, to keep going, to believe there’s still purpose in all of it.

Today’s Reminder: Confidence Can Be Reclaimed

You don’t need to be fearless to be confident.
You don’t need to be perfect to believe in yourself again.
You simply need to start challenging the story that says you’re not enough.

✍️ Journaling Prompts:

• What belief about myself am I ready to question?
• When did I start believing that lie and who gave it to me?
• What would change in my life if I no longer believed it?

🔜 Coming Tomorrow:

How Trauma Taught Us to Doubt Ourselves, and How to Fight Back
We’ll explore the roots of self-doubt and how trauma rewires our sense of worth…and what we can do to rebuild it, one small step at a time.

🛍️ Support for the Journey:

If today’s post resonated, check out the “Confidence Reframe Card” in my Etsy shop – a printable you can keep nearby as a reminder of the truth you’re choosing now.
➡️ https://healinginreverse.etsy.com
You’re not broken. You’re becoming.
And your confidence doesn’t need to be loud to be real – it just needs to be yours.