Worried about how much you’re drinking but quitting alcohol seems too extreme?
You may have tried to moderate but cutting back is not as easy as you thought it would be.
Sound familiar?
This was my experience and it was so frustrating!
I talked about this in my interview with Maz Compton on her podcast Last Drinks.
The following is a sample of that conversation where I talked about my decision to take a three-month break from drinking and my fears around doing so.
What was your approach?
Me: I decided that I was going to look at it a little bit differently (than previous times I’d taken a break). This time around it was a mindset shift for me.
I thought, I’m going to test this out – test if I really can go out or destress at the end of a busy week without drinking?
After all the back and forth – trying to moderate and telling myself that I couldn’t give up as that was too extreme – I realised I was asking myself the wrong question.
I was asking: “Surely I’m not bad enough to give up?”
The questions should have been:
- “Is it going to be better without alcohol?
- “Am I going to stop thinking about it all the time and beating myself up because I’m drinking more than I should?”
This whole mental ping-pong game that goes on in your head is insane.
It was a switch and I began to realise that not drinking was actually better.
And that was key for me.
Another way to look at it
Maz: Another way of framing it is: “Is this good enough for me?”
- If your life is spiralling.
- If you’re hungover all the time.
- If you look like crap, if you’re eating crap.
- If you wake up every weekend dreading what you’ve done the night before.
Is that good enough?
Is that your best life? Is that your best self?
If it’s not, then that gives you an opportunity to choose better.
Is the behaviour that you’re doing on an equal footing to the self worth that you have?
Because you are enough.
To listen to the full episode click here or search for Last Drinks with Maz Compton on your favourite podcast app (my interview aired on 2 November 2022).
Need support?
If you want support to take back control of your drinking (either to cut back or take a break) you can book in for a free 30-minute discussion call (it’s like a mini-coaching call – no cost and obligation-free!).
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