Survivor to Thriver Manual Chapter 5 - Stage 2, Step 13, Self-Help

Step Thirteen Self-Help

If assertiveness is a problem for you, now is the time to do something about it because you have a lot at stake the beginning of the "new you." People who are unaware of your progress in recovery will expect you to be the same old person and may treat you accordingly. Therefore, you need to learn some new skills that will help support the "new you." Consider reading a book on assertiveness training or taking a brief class to learn some strategies that will enable you to put these new behaviors into practice. You may be surprised at how quickly you reap rewards. When you start behaving from a position of equality and strength, people often notice and begin to respond in kind. This encouragement will, in turn, reinforce your efforts to behave in an assertive manner.
Have a friend take a photograph of you to document the emerging "new you." Arrange the pose so that the camera is shooting slightly up to you, from an angle that captures your best features. As the picture is being taken, try to communicate your new sense of yourself to the camera. Take several shots and experiment with the feelings you want to convey. Choose the picture that best expresses your new found strength and frame it. Put it on your desk or on a wall in your bedroom. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then this picture will capture the changes you have made during the first twelve steps of recovery.