“How badly do you want to get into recovery?”

You've probably heard this “motivational” question before:



“How badly do you want it?”



As in: “How badly do you want to get into recovery?” “How badly do you want your relationship with you to work?” “How badly do you want to have peace and serenity in your life?”



The idea being: if you “want” something badly enough, you’re gonna make it happen.



In my experience: that’s not quite how it works.



As a former addict who spent years “wanting” a better life — but not actually doing much to create it — I know that “desire” doesn’t always translate into “action.”



In order to turn desire into action, you need a mental and emotional turnaround, first.



You gotta take specific stages to resolve whatever trauma is holding you back from making progress — and believe me, we've all got our “trauma.”



From getting screamed at by your 2nd grade teacher, to being teased for being fat, skinny, nerdy or gay, to surviving physical abuse, we’ve all been through “something.”



Until you permanently resolve your “something” and detox the emotional residue from your system? Progress is always going to be difficult — or nonexistent. No matter how badly you want it.