Imagine seeing your drinking up on the big screen, in a cinema.
The opening scene looks fine – pretty harmless in fact.
A bottle gets opened and you promise to just have one drink…
But one leads to two… and you can guess what happens next…
If you’re feeling tempted to drink during the festive season, stop and do this quick exercise with me first.
I’ll walk you through it in this video:
Key points:
Playing the movie to the end
The opening scene might seem so innocent and appealing. But what would happen in the middle of the film? What would the closing scene be? Remember, your drinking movie is always 24 hours long because that’s how long alcohol affects your body and your life for.
Draw on your own experiences
Christmas comes around every year. The chances are that you already know what happens when you have ‘just have one drink’ on Christmas eve. You already know what it’s like to be hungover on Christmas day or say things you regret at your work party.
Let me know: how does your movie end?
Brutal honesty is required for this. If you’re tempted to drink tonight – or at a festive event that’s coming up soon – tell me about that in the comments below. Play it forward and write down how that movie ends. Make yourself think about this in detail.
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Alcohol seems to be everywhere at this time of year.
When booze is piled high in shops and flowing freely at Christmas parties, it’s easy to feel as if you’re missing out.
If you’re tempted to drink, there are four things to remember as we head into the coming weeks…
I explain them all in this video:
Alcohol is not magic joy juice
It’s not fun in a bottle, it is not liquid happiness. Alcohol does not have the power to transform a boring or bad situation into a good one. How do we know that? Because of all the times when you’ve drunk loads and you haven’t had a good time.
If you want the festive season to be memorable, you’ve got to be sober for it
If you want to create magic moments and make special memories, don’t drink something that makes you mentally absent. The last thing you want is a hangover interfering with your plans, making you so ill you wish the hours away.
Sobriety is worth the awkwardness!
Yes, it can feel uncomfortable to turn down the offer of an alcoholic drink or have people asking questions. But that discomfort is relatively short-lived. It’s nothing compared to the weeks of discomfort that you’ll go through if you drink and break a promise to yourself.
Alcohol doesn’t fix your problems – it keeps you stuck with them
At this time of year, we often become more aware of what we don’t have. It’s tempting to paper over the cracks with alcohol, but that’s also a trap. When you’re drinking, you’re less likely to take action and more likely to decide you’re unable to change.
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Before I quit drinking, I had a hundred “What if?” questions.
What if I try to stop and can’t? What if my sobriety makes other people uncomfortable? What if they assume I’m an alcoholic? What if I never have fun again?!
I didn’t know it at the time, but my “What if…” questions were keeping me stuck.
I was worrying about problems that hadn’t actually happened yet.
If you’ve caught yourself doing the same thing, today’s video will help:
Key points
The problem with “what if” questions
Your brain is trying to solve fictional problems – things that haven’t actually happened yet. However, by dwelling on this stuff, they can start to feel very real and overwhelming. It’s easy to reach a point where you’re not sure you even want to try any more.
What if the worst doesn’t happen?
This is the first thing to consider. So often your greatest fears don’t come true. When alcohol is a big deal to you, it’s easy to lose sight of what you’re capable of. You forget that other people might react in a much more reasonable way than you’re anticipating.
Stay present
If you’re unhappy with your drinking right now – and you’re curious about what your life would be like if you took a proper break from booze – then that’s what should be informing your actions. That’s more important than something that hasn’t happened yet.
What if the worst does happen and it’s all ok?
Right now, you’re trying to find solutions to problems that haven’t yet happened, based on how you feel and what you know right now. But what if quitting drinking leads you to change and grow as a person? That version of you can probably figure out how to manage some of these worst case scenarios!
Looking for help and support to create an alcohol free life that feels amazing? Click here for details of my online course.
Download your free Wine O'Clock Survival Guide!
(It’ll help keep you on track tonight)
As well as the guide, we’ll also send you helpful and inspiring weekly emails with free resources, tips & advice, plus details of our awesome products and services. We’ll take care of your data in accordance with our privacy policy and you can unsubscribe at any time.
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Before I quit drinking, I spent several years trying to stop.
I’d be good for a couple of days or sometimes a couple of weeks.
But at this time of year – with the holiday season fast approaching – I’d convince myself it was impossible to be sober.
It felt too hard… so what was the point in even trying?
If you can relate, this video is for you.
Key points:
Thoughts about it being “too hard”
Watch out for this: “It’ll be too hard to navigate the festive season without drinking. It’ll feel horrible to try and fail. So why don’t I just give up now, forget about it all, and then I’ll get back on the alcohol free wagon in January? That’ll be easier.”
There’s nothing ‘easy’ about staggering through the next 6 weeks feeling bad about yourself, knowing that deep down, there’s a part of you that wants something different. There’s nothing easy about drinking too much and doing things you regret.
A calendar with a difference
Don’t let a couple of events or challenges dictate the next 6 weeks. There’s a lot of white space in between this stuff!
👉 Fill out my calendar here 👈 with the boozy events you have coming up – the parties or gatherings where it will be a challenge not to drink.
Count up how many days are blank. Are you surprised by the number of normal, typical, doable days there are? There are 84 time slots on the calendar (daytime and evening). As a percentage, how many of them are filled with challenges? How many aren’t?
Handling the challenges
Get a different coloured pen. Next to each event on the calendar, write down what the point is. People might talk about meeting up for drinks or getting drunk, but that’s never what an event is really about.
The point of a work party might be to spend time with people you don’t normally get a chance to have fun with. The point of a family gathering might be to catch up on everyone’s news. Remind yourself that you can still have these experiences without alcohol.
Remember…
The festive season is just a period of time with some days where we eat particular foods, do certain things and speak to certain people. That’s it. Everything else is just a story. You can focus on things that create a feeling of peace and control around that… or you can focus on the things that make this feel too hard.
Looking for help and support to feel great about alcohol free living? Click here for details of my online course.
Stay sober tonight - listen to my free pep talk!
As well as the audio, we'll also send you helpful and inspiring weekly emails with free resources, tips & advice, plus details of our awesome products and services. We’ll take care of your data in accordance with our privacy policy and you can unsubscribe at any time.
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