Episode 57 | The #RecoveryFirst Podcast with Mike Todd | "Recovery, Our First Priority"

Episode 57 | The #RecoveryFirst Podcast with Mike Todd | "Recovery, Our First Priority"

What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol? Mike Todd shares how putting recovery first has shaped more than 30 years of his life, and why that priority still sits at the top of the list today. Speaking straight from his experience, Mike talks about early recovery when he was homeless, jobless and had "nothing there to prioritise" except staying clean: meetings, a sponsor and the simple aim of not picking up.

As he says, those first years were about "just putting one foot in front of the other". Over time, things changed. He got his first place, a car loan co-signed by his aunt, a home, a marriage and a career. That’s where the real juggling began.

Mike is honest about how success tempted him to shift his focus: "As I did that, I quit doing the things that got me those things." He leans on a saying from the rooms: "Whatever we put before our recovery, we will lose," and backs it up with stories of lost businesses, bankruptcy and the painful realisation that he hadn’t actually "arrived" just because life looked good on paper. Rather than self-pity, Mike shares gratitude for those hard lessons.

They nudged him back to basics: living within his means, being content in a rented house, driving paid-off older cars, and valuing relationships over status. His daily routine now starts with prayer and meditation, reminding himself, "There is a God and I am not him." He also touches on wider recovery work in South Carolina, including efforts to support recovery housing and ensure access to naloxone, especially for people in vulnerable situations.

If you’re wondering what it really means to keep recovery at the centre of your life—whether you’re on day one or decade three—this honest share might help you ask: what are you putting ahead of your sobriety today?