To set a goal for your substance use, it’s important to build a progression of goals for yourself in reducing the risks of substance use.
For example, you can create a goal to limit the number of days using, all the way to becoming abstinent from all drugs, or a goal somewhere in between. This step is essential to helping you stick with your goal. When climbing a mountain if the hill is too steep too early on, you likely will have a very hard time climbing it, so it’s important to start small and increasingly set bigger goals.
To do this, it is important to develop a realistic assessment of your situation, such as reasons for using frequently, understanding the early warning signs, or knowing your triggers. You can learn more about this in the “High-risk situations” lesson (LINK).
One effective way to change your substance use habits is to modify how much, when, and where you use drugs or alcohol.
Some other ways to control use:
- A brief break from using followed by controlled use
- Gradually cutting down until reaching a point when you feel in control and are feeling satisfied
- Creating rules on how much, when, and where you can use
- Talk with your friends and share your ideas to get their perspective
- Look into the problem solving module (LINK) to help you create an appropriate goal, then head over to the goal setting page (LINK) to help you track this goal