More people than ever are becoming addicted to opiates and family members and friends are at a loss on how to help. It’s important to know that there are things you can do to help your loved one get better if you suspect an addiction to substances. Take these 10 steps to help someone you care about get out from the deadly grip of opioid addiction.

1. Learn About Opioids

The important first step before you take any action is to research opioids and addiction. Drug addiction is increasingly focused on the abuse of prescription drugs, such as painkillers. Learn about what opioids are, prescription and street drugs that are produced from the opium in a poppy plant. These could include street drugs, such as heroin, and narcotics, such as Vicodin and OxyContin.

2. Look for Signs of Addiction

The next way you can help someone who may have a drug problem is to look for the signs of addiction. Heroin addiction signs and symptoms are pretty dramatic and can show a big change in someone’s regular behavior. Be careful when looking for behavioral signs. Your loved one may be withdrawn, have sudden weight gain or loss, and may have problems at work or at school.

3. Educate Yourself About Opioid Paraphernalia

Besides looking for signs of addiction or drug abuse in your loved one’s behavior, you should also be on the lookout for certain types of materials or objects associated with opioid addiction. Most of the time, the addict will do whatever is possible to hide a potential addiction, so you may have to look for very subtle signs. Missing spoons, bottle caps, burnt up foil squares, hollowed-out pens, lighters, candles, matches, used cotton balls, and syringes left behind may all indicate some sort of drug problem.

4. Talk to Them

After noticing the signs of drug addiction in your friend or family’s behavior and seeing some possible evidence of drug paraphernalia, it may be time to have a private talk with your loved one about the problem. It’s important to tread carefully with this step to avoid alienating your loved one even more. Communicating with an addict requires lots of patience, kindness, and understanding. It’s also important to show lots of love and respect to the person who you are worried about.

5. Recruit Other Family Members or Friends

Taking on the responsibility of helping an addicted friend or family member by yourself can be a major source of stress. If possible, talk to other people in your loved one’s life, such as other family members or close friends. Discuss your concerns and see if anyone else is also worried about a potential addiction. Make a plan to offer a network of support for your loved one, but be careful so it doesn’t look like you’re ganging up together to attack the person in crisis.

6. Avoid Making Excuses

Next, it’s important that you avoid making excuses or enabling your loved one’s addiction if you suspect there is a problem. Confronting the fact that someone you care about may be struggling with an opioid addiction can be tough. Millions of people, with all types of economic situations and family backgrounds, have experienced addiction problems. Don’t make excuses for your loved one’s problems just because you think he or she may not be the type to be a drug addict.

7. Research Treatment

The most important thing to do when you think someone is an opioid addict is to get help. Learn about heroin treatment options and therapy type situations that may be successful. If your loved one is an adult, it’s important to have information ready at hand so he or she can make their own decision about treatment. Have some options available so it shows you’re prepared to offer help immediately.

8. Stage an Intervention

The next step to helping your loved one is to confront him or her in a non-threatening intervention. Schedule a time to meet with your loved one and have some other people there to support your discussions about your concerns. It may be helpful to prepare a script ahead of time or at least a series of bullet points to cover each concern. Set limits to keep your intervention to about an hour and share ideas about treatment.

9. Provide Recovery Support

If your loved one agrees to go get treatment, your support shouldn’t stop at that point. During the recovery period in treatment and after treatment, addicts still have plenty of struggles and uphill battles. If you truly care about someone, you can help along in the journey to full recovery by checking in every once in a while, visiting if appropriate in the treatment center, and staying in communication.

10. Get Help for Yourself

The final way you can help a loved one get over an addiction is to also take care of yourself. Being close to someone who has developed an addiction to opiates can be devastating. Witnessing someone overdose or simply just wither away in front of you over time can be heartbreaking. Consider talking to a professional mental health counselor who specializes in treating family members of addicts to get your own support system.

Caring about someone who may be struggling with an opioid addiction doesn’t mean you are powerless. There are things you can do to give your loved one support and help him or her get into treatment and recover from this devastating condition that plagues so many people around the world.

Important: This article contains opinions expressed by the author. These views are not necessarily shared by Fearless Motivation. If you have, or know someone who is addicted to opiates please seek professional help.

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Technology is now controlling us but it wasn’t meant for that.

Humans are supposed to be the ones that controlling it. Otherwise, we’ll end up in a Terminator judgment day movie where the machines take us out!

If you’re addicted to your phone here’s why it might ruin your life unless you take control of the addiction. 

Here are four ways you could benefit from a digital detox to take back control of your life.

Addicted To Your Phone: How A Digital Detox Can Help

Killing Your Sleeping Patterns

The light from your phone is killing your sleeping patterns. It’s why so many people lie in bed restless and unable to get quality sleep.

While some hardcore digital detoxers might have you remove phones from your bedroom, I’m not sure that’s very practical. Instead, try to minimize technology or screens at least 60 minutes before bed if you have trouble sleeping.

Starting Your Day Reactive

Successful people aren’t waking up and scrolling through social media. As Mel Robbins said in The 5 Second Rule, “ Imagine Bill Gates or Oprah Winfrey. Do you think they are lying in bed scrolling through social media?”

Of course not! So why are you?

This year I’ve made it a point to ignore my phone for at least one hour when I wake up. I’ll use it for guided meditation but I don’t look at the text, social media, or emails. Anytime I even look at one wrong email I find myself getting pissed off, frustrated and reactive.

You want to start your day energizing yourself, not giving your energy away to mindless social media or maybe even worse, the news.

Instead, focus on creating in the first hour. Work on yourself by reading a book, meditating, observing your thoughts or writing in a journal.

Feeling Anxious and Depressed

Phone addiction is creating anxiety in our culture. It’s no surprise that since 2010 (when social media took off and the first iPhone was released) that searches for depression and anxiety have increased at an alarming rate.

If you are dependent on your device, you most likely feel anxious and depressed when you aren’t using it. Quit seeking a quick hit of dopamine from Twitter or Instagram and only use social media at specific times. A good example would be 10-minute windows at lunch or after work.

If you are struggling to find happiness, pleasure, and a relaxed mood put the phone down and do something else. Run, exercise, take a walk or meet up with a friend.

Lose Relationships

A Forbes study found that 3 in 5 people spend more time on their phones than they do with their partners. 

If you can’t go out to dinner with your significant other or friends without your phone you might have a problem. Instead, put it on airplane mode and keep it off the table.

Don’t even have it out where you can see it. This will subconsciously show your brain that you are still thinking about it.

Start Your Digital Detox Today

Only you know how much your technology is hurting certain parts of your life. Since I’ve made the changes this year I can say 100% that it’s helped increase my happiness and decrease worry, stress, and anxiety. The longer I go without looking at my phone the prouder I am.

This year I started actively trying to start controlling my technology instead of it controlling me!

Here are a few things you can start doing:

• No phone on the table when eating with anyone
• No phone on my desk when you’re working
• A great morning routine: no social media, emails, or texting the first 60 minutes of the day

The result?

You’ll feel happier, healthier, and sleep better than ever before. Remember, you control technology, it doesn’t control you.

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But with great power comes great responsibility, distractions are more numerous than ever, we’ve gone from the radio to TV to smart phone. There’s a reason they used to call the TV the ‘idiot box’.

You must be smarter than your smart phone or you will get less done than ever before.

As Jim Kwik said,

“A lot off people give away their sovereignty and their power first thing in the morning”

5 Reasons to Work Out Before Checking Your Emails and Social Media

1 – It Will Destroy Your Focus – Work Out Before Checking Your Emails And Social Media

There are two types of people in the world, the ones that will achieve success and ones that won’t. The difference? Focus. If you want to achieve your goals as bad as you want to breathe you will let nothing stop you or distract you.

So when you wake up in the morning and begin to get ready for your workout toss your smart phone aside, you have much bigger things in mind than anything you’ll scroll past.

If you want to take your workout to another level, pre-workout supplements can give a huge boost, while intensifying your focus. Leave no stone unturned on your journey to the top of the mountain.

2 – It Ruins Your Posture & Can Cause Injury – Work Out Before Checking Your Emails And Social Media

Functional strength expert Angelo Grinceri points out the habit of hunching forward while texting on your phone alters the natural balance of your spine by flattening the lumbar curve and allowing your head to hang forward. “poor lifestyle habits lead to shoulder and neck pain.” Both of which can cause unnecessary strain on your neck after waking, which could contribute to injury at the gym.

If you’re serious about working out get up, stretch and do a proper warm up before the gym, so that when you enter you are ready to give your all.

3 – It Affects Your Mentality – Work Out Before Checking Your Emails And Social Media

Steve Furtick said it best “One reason we struggle with insecurity: we’re comparing our behind the scenes to everyone else’s highlight reel.” If the first thing you do each morning is jump on social media and compare your life to others, it is going to leave you feeling lousy, you need to have laser like vision on your own goals. Let nothing affect your mentality, you need to enter the arena with unwavering ferocity. So do what’s important first and never give away your power.

4 – Your Intensity Suffers – Work Out Before Checking Your Emails And Social Media

If you do find yourself at the gym with your phone, perhaps like me you use it to listen to music. Take note of these do’s and don’ts.

Don’t Text

Another noteworthy study, published in Computers in Human Behavior last year, found that people who texted during a 20-minute workout spent almost 10 of those minutes in a low-intensity zone, and only seven minutes in high intensity. Those who worked out without a phone spent only 3 minutes in low intensity, and almost 13 minutes in high intensity.

It’s obvious, and science confirms that if your looking at your phone in the gym, it’s guaranteed to lower the intensity of your workout. Taking your phone to the gym could be setting your progress back months. Is it really worth it?

Do Listen To Music

The good news is that listening to music on a cell phone had no notable impact on balance, so exercisers should feel free to use their tunes. In fact, earlier research has shown that listening to music during exercise can boost workout intensity and enjoyability. Check out Fearless Motivation’s Spotify playlist for something that will get you firing on all cylinders

Put your phone on airplane mode.

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Some people don’t love his brash style but everything he says about entrepreneurship and success is truth. Read on as Grant shares some powerful insights on how to get the best out of yourself.

Here’s how to 10X Your Results and Life With These Powerful Quotes By Grant Cardone:

“What you have done is nothing compared to what you can do.” – Grant Cardone

Don’t evaluate your future based on your past potential. You are capable of achieving greatness if you put in the work.

If you study, learn, network, fail and repeat you can do more than you ever thought possible. It won’t be easy but reaching your dreams is worth the effort.

Quit looking back in the past, you won’t find your answers for your future there.

“Almost every problem people face in their careers and other aspects of their lives – such as failed diets, marriages, and financial problems – are all the result of not taking enough action.” – Grant Cardone

Taking action is the answer. If you’re struggling in anything, take more action.

Struggling with your diet? Run longer, workout harder, and make the right choices with your diet.

Struggling with your bills? Work harder, make more calls, get there first, stay there last, and take action to always move forward.

Action cures imperfection and gets you one step closer to your goals!

“Love me or hate me, at least now you know me.” – Grant Cardone

Grant has a strong opinion on almost anything. Some hate it, others love it. Regardless of how you feel, you don’t get millions of followers and a private plane by not being known.

I’m not saying you need to take Grant’s approach but you should absolutely have an opinion. Get in front of the right people, spread your message, and get your name out there.

“You sleep to rest the body. You wake up to make your dreams a reality.” – Grant Cardone

If you don’t wake up jumping out of bed it’s because you have boring, unmotivating goals. If your goal is to wake up, go to work, and watch Netflix you’ll never want to get out of bed.

But if you set big, scary, audacious goals and an action plan to achieve them, you will be jumping out of bed each morning.

“I don’t go to work to work, I hate that saying! I want you to go to work to prosper. Go to work for freedom. This is what wealthy people do differently than anybody else. Wealthy people work for freedom. They’re not working for comfort items, not for a weekend, they’re working for freedom.” – Grant Cardone Quotes 

Work for freedom more than anything else. As Jocko Willink said, “Freedom equals discipline.”

Be prepared to work hard, fail, learn new skills, and take risks on yourself to acquire freedom. Don’t work to work, work to be free.  

“Disciplined, consistent, and persistent actions are more of a determining factor in the creation of success than any other combination of things.” – Grant Cardone

Discipline plus consistency plus persistence will lead to success. It won’t be overnight but this is the equation for massive success.

“Very successful people don’t seek comfort; they seek success and are willing to do what is most uncomfortable. But most of the world is seeking comfort and familiarity, which are traps that cause you to settle for the mediocre.” – Grant Cardone Quotes 

Mediocrity kills dreams more than anything else. Don’t settle for mediocrity, strive for greatness in every area of your life.

Get out of your comfort zone, try new things, meet new people, and you will reach higher levels of success than 99% of the world.

Use these Grant Cardone quotes to get motivated and take massive action!

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When King was three years old, his father, Donald King, deserted his family after telling them he was just “going to buy a pack of cigarettes”. His mother, Nellie Pillsbury, raised King and his adopted older brother David by herself, sometimes under great financial strain. The family moved around a lot finally settling in Maine, the easternmost state in the contiguous United States.

As a child, King witnessed a gruesome accident – one of his friends was caught on a railroad and struck by a train. It has been suggested that this could have been the inspiration for King’s darker works, though King himself dismisses the idea and has said he has no memory of the event.

After finishing his university studies with a Bachelor of Arts in English and obtaining a certificate to teach high school, King taught English at Hampden Academy in Hampden, Maine. During this time, he and his family lived in a trailer.  During this period, King began a number of novels. One of his first ideas was of a young girl with psychic powers. However, he grew discouraged, and threw it into the trash.

Tabitha (his wife) later rescued it and encouraged him to finish it. After completing the novel, he titled it Carrie, and more or less forgot about it. Later, he received an offer to buy it with a $2,500 advance (not a large advance for a novel, even at that time). Shortly after, the value of Carrie was realized with the paperback rights being sold for $400,000.

Since that first novel Stephen King has gone on to become one of the most prolific and successful authors of all time, churning out masterpieces on a yearly basis. Having struggled with alcoholism and stimulant addiction (namely cocaine) his family staged an intervention after which he sought help, quit all drugs (including alcohol) in the late 1980s, and has remained sober since.

Despite his struggles and tribulations Stephen King never gave up on his passion and worked on his writing with every spare moment he had, even when he failed to believe in himself. After ever set-back he dusted himself off and got back to work.

“The scariest moment is always just before you start.” – Stephen King 

Starting anything is half the battle. So many people never accomplish anything great because they are too scared to even start. The scary part is when it’s about to get really good. Don’t be afraid of what will happen if you fail, be afraid of what will happen if you don’t make the first step.

“I think that we’re all mentally ill. Those of us outside the asylums only hide it a little better.”

We all have our struggles, some of us just mask it better. Don’t be fooled into thinking you’re the only one doing it tough, there are millions just like you that have been through or done what you are trying to do. So reach out you’ll be surprised how willing they are to help.

Difficulty, darkness & imperfection are things everyone goes through, how you respond to it will define you.

“The place where you made your stand never mattered. Only that you were there.. and still on your feet.” – Stephen King Quotes

It doesn’t matter where, just that you do. Take a stand now. Vow to improve your life, achieve that goal or commit yourself to a higher standard. You were not brought into this world to be average.

“Get busy living or get busy dying.” — Stephen King

Life is way too short to simply go through the motions. So many people seem to “get busy dying” way more than living as they get older. Don’t waste a single day of your life. You don’t know how long you have, make sure you live and cherish each moment.

“Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.” — Stephen King Quotes 

Fear, doubt, and insecurities are real but don’t let them be the reason you don’t live the life of your dreams. The most successful people in the world experience these ghosts as well, they just choose not to listen.

One of the best ways to avoid them is to learn how to listen to that negative inner critic. A morning meditation or mindfulness practice can help you become more aware of what is going on inside. Once you learn that you don’t have to listen to every negative thought you can free yourself to live a better life.

“There’s no harm in hoping for the best as long as you’re prepared for the worst.” – Stephen King 

Most people always worry and think about the worst case scenario instead of thinking how good it could turn out. Don’t be afraid to think about the whole plan working out. Think about how you can make your dreams happen.

Focus the majority of your time on how it could go right instead of what could go wrong.

“We never know which lives we influence, or when, or why.” — Stephen King 

You never know who you are influencing with your actions. If you’ve been excelling at work you might motivate the people around you. If you have been getting up early, creating a morning routine, and exercising you might be motivating your spouse.

People are always watching your actions, make sure you lead by example. You never know whose life you could change.

“You can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will.” – Stephen King

Fear stops 90% of people. With enough determination, anything is possible.

You can learn any skill if you have a passion for it. You just have to braver than the 90% and follow through.

Take a leap of faith and you will be amazed by where you land.

“Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.”

Everyone has talent to some degree, and that is what people focus on, how good people are at things at a base level.

Why? Talent is the smallest part of the equation, we hear again and again the difference is your focus, determination and work ethic.

With those 3 attributes you will achieve more than any ordinary talent in your field.

“The only mortal sin is giving up.” – Stephen King Quotes 

Never give up. If something means a great deal to your life make sure you see it through.

Nothing great was ever accomplished from quitting. The winners learned to persevere through the hard times. Quitting is never the answer.

Use these Stephen King quotes to realize that life is finite, don’t waste another moment. Get out there and start living.

You only get one life, make the most of it and never give up!

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It has been said almost everyone living in a first world country is addicted to something. Addictions come in many forms and can bring down just about anyone, no matter your gender or race, we are all at the mercy of addiction. You might not even know that you are currently suffering from an addiction right now. Technology addiction is a real problem, and an example of a potentially devastating addiction which is affecting millions around the world, without anyone really understanding they are addicted, or how to release themselves from that addiction.

Main Types Of Addictions:

The helpful list we provide below may help you overcome any of these addictions: Gambling Addiction, Technology Addiction, Substance Addiction (Drug, Alcohol, Prescription Drugs) and Behavioral Addictions (see below).

Behavioral Addictions:

Food (eating) related addiction
Sex addiction
Pornography (attaining, viewing) related addiction
Addiction to technology (computers / the internet, video games)
Addiction to Working
Addiction to Exercising
Spiritual obsession related addiction
Addiction to Pain (seeking pain)
Addiction to Self Harm
Addiction to Shopping

5 Ways You Can Overcome Any Addiction Naturally

1. Overcome Any Addiction With A Purpose That Is Greater Than The Addiction

One of the key reasons anyone has previously overcome an addiction is they had a purpose that meant more to them than their addiction. They might have been facing death, so living was more meaningful to them than dying… it was a MUST they overcome their addiction. They may have done it for their kids, or their family (a purpose that was greater than their addiction)

Find that purpose and think about how much it means to you. Think about why you MUST overcome this addiction.

2. Overcome Any Addiction With Goals & Commitment

Set big goals that excite you, goals that are hard to achieve but will be very rewarding when you do finally get there. Write down clear goals with exact dates you must achieve them, so you are always busy working on creating your bright future. Fill your time with things that challenge and inspire you. If you have a compelling future you won’t have the time or interest in doing anything that could harm that future vision.

Make a commitment to yourself, in writing that you will achieve these goals. Write down what it would mean (what pain you would suffer) if you didn’t achieve the goals. Write down WHY YOU MUST.

3. Overcome Any Addiction With Meditation, Yoga & Healing

If you don’t already know about the power of meditation to enhance your life on all levels, it is certainly time you should. Meditation, and Yoga can be helpful to release stress and anxiety related with any addiction. Meditation can bring you back into the present moment with a clarity of thought you may never have experienced, this may help you make better choices and over time guide you to a better life. Many studies have pointed to meditation being a powerful healer of addictions but also a great stress release for every day living.

Energy healing may be another natural, spiritual alternative to help you overcome any addiction.

4. Overcome Any Addiction With Self-Help

Feeding your mind with positive, powerful thoughts and learning more, both about addictions and how to overcome them, but also learning how to enhance your life through proven principles, from proven, great teachers, can only have a positive effect on your life.

Dive deep into self-development. Once you get going and notice your progress, in all areas of your life, you simply will not be able to stop. Doing this will get your mind off your addictions very fast, as it will become more important for you to continue that progress rather than take it away with an addictive behavior.

5. Overcome Any Addiction by Getting Professional Help

By professional help, we are not suggesting drugs. Prescription or otherwise. From a “professional” or not. We are suggesting professional, natural help from a teacher, coach or mentor with proven results. Do your research and find an expert in your field, that suits your needs. They may not be a conventional “Addiction” specialist, but many coaches these days are trained to help overcome addictions, and there are free resources everywhere – YouTube, google – become obsessed with making your life better, in every way.

Good luck.

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