Steve Kind of Mankato, Minnesota, is a SMART Facilitator and new SMART employee. His alcohol struggles began in high school and continued into adulthood. After his second DUI, he was about to lose everything, including his wife. Then an open-minded, forward-thinking counselor suggested he look into SMART as a new path to recovery. Now he is living his Life Beyond Addiction.
In this podcast, Steve talks about:
- His struggle with alcohol addiction and the 12-Step recovery process
- How his views on driving under the influence have changed over the years
- Being a defensive Christian and then an Atheist
- Being introduced to SMART and watching a Jonathan von Breton YouTube video
- What came from traveling 70 miles to attend a SMART meeting
- Sitting in a meeting room by himself and waiting for participants
- The word-of-mouth “snowball effect”
- Writing a book about his life: The Inspirational Dissatisfaction
- How a job in California almost cost him everything
- Getting off the couch and changing your life!
Additional resources:
- Jonathan von Breton Memorial Lecture Series: Dr. Nora Volkow
- Cost Benefit Analysis Tool (CBA)
- SMART Brochures in Bookshop
- Promotional Meeting Resources
- Zig Ziglar
- Hierarchy of Values Tool (HOV)
- Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT)
- Steve’s Volunteer Recognition
- Find meetings in Mankato
- Becoming a SMART Facilitator
- SMART Family & Friends
Click here to find all of SMART Recovery’s podcasts
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We look forward to you joining the conversation!
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Really enjoyed listening! Perseverance paid off for Steve in starting his SMART meeting and it sounds like it grew into a very successful endeavor for his community! Thanks for all you have done and continue to do to help others help themselves with the SMART 4 Point Program!
Thank you, Loretta. Being a part of SMART Recovery has been an extremely rewarding experience. I’m glad you enjoyed the Podcast!
Steve, thank you for sharing your story and being so transparent on your challenges.
John, thank you for your kind words.
A wonderfully inspiring podcast. So delighted that you had the tenacity to hang on in there when you first started the meeting in Mankato – and it sounds like things are flourishing there now :O)
Hello Steve, What a remarkable peregrination, finally taking you into the SMART World! Your tenacity in sticking with your initial attempt to start a meeting in Mankato through 6 weeks of sitting in an empty room is truly amazing!
Hi Joe, It was certainly a circuitous trek, but it lead me right to where I needed to be. I appreciate your kind words.
I am so impressed and inspired by the positive changes you have made in your life and your desire to help others!
Thank you Caroline. Things are growing steadily, and the future for SMART Recovery in our area looks great!
What a great story of the power of SMART Recovery to change lives. Congrats to Steve for making the effort to find a program that works, and for then being determined to share this with others – even when they didn’t show up for a few weeks. The SMART facilitators are a truly wonderful resource for so many communities. I’m grateful.
Thank you Steve!
I would like to join SMART Recovery!
Hello Dawn,
Welcome to SMART. We’re glad you found us.
You can find local meetings by searching https://meetings.smartrecovery.org/meetings/location/ or our online community at https://smartwww.wpengine.com/community/