Amber Hollingsworth encourages people in early sobriety to identify what inspires and nourishes them (books, recovery stories, music, volunteering) and to intentionally incorporate small, positive practices into daily life. She emphasizes gratitude (thanking influential people), finding role models for desirable traits, and her own habit of listening to audiobooks/podcasts in the car as a repeatable, mood-lifting routine.
Chapters
Okay, so we've talked a little bit about identifying someone that you look up to and how to get that characteristic that that person has that you really want in your life. And we talked a little bit about saying thank you to someone who did something awesome for you in your life that maybe didn't know that you felt so grateful for it. And today, I just want you to think in general about what inspires you. Are there books that you read that inspire you? Is it listening to people's stories and recovery? Is it music? Is it volunteering? What is it that really sort of nourishes your soul? And figure out how to get a little of that in your life every day? I know this seems silly, but for me, I love to, like, listen to books. Most of them are about, like, business or management or leadership, but it's just something I've been working on a lot in my life and I listen to them in my car. I hardly ever even listen to anything else because I'm always listen to a podcast or a book, and it just. When I'm alone in the car and it just sort of feeds my soul for whatever reason, it gets me, like, all excited and all jazzed up and feeling good about the day and being all like, oh, I'm gonna go out and do this and learning something new and interesting. That's what does it for me. You've got to figure out what does that for you. These are things that are going to help keep you mentally healthy. You got to put this practice in your life, and it's just super easy and it's kind of fun. It's something you like. So bring more things in that we like. It's not always about taking things out of your life. A lot of times it's about what you're going to bring in.
