If you’ve decided to take a break from alcohol, congratulations. There’s no time like now to take charge of your health. There’s plenty of information on how to do this. The challenge is staying on your course.
These highlights I found helpful during my alcohol-free journey. Please reach out if I can support you in any way. www.purepotential.health or Colleen@purepotential.health
- Why do you choose to drink? Write down all your reasons why. What do you get from it? Identify your beliefs about alcohol. Get into this. Does it relax you? Make you more social? Do you like the buzz? The taste? Are you bored and this fills time? Etc.
- Write down reasons why you don’t want to drink. Tired of hangovers? How’s your sleep? Are you waking up at 3:00 a.m. with hangxiety (hangover/anxiety)? Are you trying to lose weight but can’t? How much money do you spend on alcohol? Do you say or do things you apologize for later? Have you been drinking and driving? Are you having blackouts? Is your family asking you to slow down? What barriers do you see to success?
- Create a plan for Change. How would life look like without alcohol in it? What are your tactics for success? Do you need help? Join a group or program to get community connections and support. Hire a coach or therapist. Creating your unique plan is crucial. There are so many professionals out there who would love to help you if you aren’t achieving success on your own. I know as I refused help until I finally realized it was my only option. Once I asked for help, my success started to unfold. Consider it.
- Dealing with discomfort. There are trade-offs with change. You’ve created an addictive habit you’ve come to enjoy and rely on. Remove the substance and you will most likely feel uncomfortable when the urge to drink hits and it most likely will. If not now, later down the road. Be prepared. Alcohol takes about a week to be removed from your system, so after that, your body craves it. This is when you look at your why’s. You are going to have to balance whether the craving is worth your why and make a choice. Stick with your plan of change if possible. Check out my Curb Your Cravings Tactics for more on this topic.
- Distract yourself – when the craving hits – listen to it, acknowledge it, and move on. Know they don’t last forever. Go for a walk, eat a snack to level your blood sugar, call a friend, play your guitar, whatever works for you to move past the craving. It won’t last forever. And you’ll feel empowered when you pass it, guaranteed. It gets easier with each success.
- If you give into your craving, acknowledge that too. Just because you have a drink doesn’t mean your challenge is completely over and you throw in the towel. Think of all the successes you did have over your period of change. Say in a 30-day period, you drank 5 times. That’s 25 days you did not drink. After noticing why you drank, what could you do differently next time?
Change is not linear. Giving yourself the same grace you’d give a family member or friend will be a kind gift to you. If you are a person who strives for perfection, know that it typically isn’t a perfect journey. With each success, it’s another notch of growth. Focus on that, before you focus on what you did not do. Remember, reach out for support if you feel compelled. The reward at the end of this road is worth all the bumps, twists, and turns. What do you want your future to look like? Envision that and take your steps to get there!
