I knew my drinking had to change, I just didn’t know how to do it

For years I struggled with my drinking, wanting to cut back but finding it difficult to do so.

The mental energy I spent on trying to figure out what I needed to do was exhausting.

The conversation in my head went something like this:

“But everyone around me drinks like me.”

“It’s getting scary that you’re forgetting parts of the night and waking up in the early hours of the morning unable to get back to sleep.”

“Yes, but everything else in my life is okay – family, job, finances – I’m managing. It’s not that my life is unravelling. I need a drink to deal with the stresses of the day.”

“You need to cut back.”

“I’m trying to – it’s just hard when I actually start drinking. Once I start I keep going.”

“If you can’t cut back, you’ll have to quit.”

“NO – I’m not that bad.”

And so it went on and on and on ….

When enough is enough

It took me years of trying to moderate – and failing to do so – before I realised I had to change my approach.

I love this Elizabeth Gilbert quote: “I don’t know what my life is supposed to be ….. but it’s NOT THIS”.

That’s exactly how I felt when I’d had enough of the way I was drinking.

Finally finding the solution

It wasn’t until I read Annie Grace’s book This Naked Mind, that I discovered a different way to approach my drinking.

It helped me realise why the moderation techniques I’d been using were not working and, more importantly, that it wasn’t my fault. It was the way that alcohol works in our brains and bodies that makes moderation so hard.

That book, and then doing the This Naked Mind Alcohol Experiment, were the keys to helping me look at my drinking behaviour in a whole new way.

I gained back control of alcohol, my health (both physical and mental) improved and I was so inspired by the whole approach that I went on to train as a certified This Naked Mind coach.

I didn’t want other people to go through the years of struggle – and feeling alone in that struggle – that I had.

Looking to make a change

If you’re worried about your drinking and want to try a new approach, This Naked Mind is running its Live Alcohol Experiment in May and I’m excited to be one of the coaches on the program.

I’ve provided more details in the box below but feel free to email me if you want to ask me anything about the program.

If you want to register for the LIVE Alcohol Experiment or find out more, click here to go to the site.

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