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Make The Commitment To Quitting Drinking Alcohol! | What Does It Take?

by | Stop Drinking Alcohol | 12 comments

Where’s your commitment to quit?

Do you have a commitment to quit?

Are you committed to going at this balls out until you’ve got the job completed?

Today I want to talk about having the commitment to quit.

I mean serious commitment to quit.

I think it’s going to push you through all your barriers, it’s going to push you through anytime that you’re feeling it’s tough going on, anytime you’re coming across hurdles…commitment to quit looking back on that.

There are two forms of commitment to quit.

The first one is when you’re starting out and you’re going through your whole preparation process, and you decide that this is the day that you are going to begin a new journey.

The first commitment is actually stepping across that starting line.

You’ve told the people that you need to tell, you’ve got your day ready…and now it’s time to actually do it, make that commitment.

The second type of commitment is the long term one, where no matter what happens in the future, no matter who offers you a drink, no matter what situations you get in, no matter what your life throws at you, you’re going to carry on.

My wife died a few years ago, but that was a different story.

I just turned to the bottle big time and I tried any drugs that I could get my hands on.

My father died lately, a couple of months ago, and that hit me hard.

My dad was my biggest hero in life, and I miss him lots.

But, three and a half years on and I didn’t think about drinking once. It just didn’t enter my head.

It was a non-starter.

This is all part of the learning process.

We have to go through this. It’s something that you will get used to day after day.

The more you go through this, the more committed you’ll become.

The more days you have behind you between you and your old life, the easier it’s going to be and the more reason you have to go forwards.

That big goal is very important, the one that you’re aiming towards, the one that is pulling you away from the alcohol it’s very important. ;When you’re having a bad day, it gives you a reason to carry on. It’s your reason why.

Victor Frankel said that

give a man a big enough reason why, give a person a big enough reason why and he’ll put up with almost any how.

This is so true. When it’s easy, it doesn’t fucking matter, that kind of stuff, it doesn’t matter.

It’s very easy to remain committed to something that you enjoy doing, that you like doing.

That’s one of the biggest problems, when people focus backwards.

When they look at what they’re missing out on, they pine for these things that they think was delivering them from benefit.

The only reason it was delivering benefits at the time, the alcohol, is because you didn’t focus on anything else.

That was your thing.

I’ve been there, I’ve done all these.

When I used to drink, I was so involved in alcohol, so involved in the whole thing. That was almost becoming my life.

And when alcohol becomes your life you’re screwed.

You still could turn back but…

When I talk about having the commitment to quit, it’s not really a commitment to quit…that’s not the right frame of mind to have.

It’s sort of a fixed mindset where you’re still being dragged back to the alcohol.

Your commitment to quit should be all about growth.

You’re committed not to quitting but to achieving a better life, achieving something in your future, achieving a big goal.

Whether that goal is to be more healthy, get a better life, a better job, or a million in the bank, or religious, whatever it is that you what you want to be.

You have to be committed to that.

Above all, be committed to yourself, to your health and wellbeing.

And once you’re committed to a goal like that, anything that is trying to pull you back is the enemy of that.

There will be a lot of people who will try and pull you back,

and not for any vindictive reasons, not because they don’t want to see you doing well but mostly because they find it difficult to change themselves and they see your change as affecting them.

Especially when someone wins a lot of money, say on the lottery or something like that, people see that win not from your perspective, but from their own perspective.

They see it from ‘I wish I could’ve had that, I wish that was me’.

Most people will be very generous about it and say ‘I wish you all the best of luck, good for you, couldn’t’ happen to a better person’, all that kind of stuff, but at the end of the day, most people are going to think about these things, initially at least from a personal perspective.

So I think it’s one of the best ways of finding that commitment, is to commit to yourself, to your mental, physical health, commit to changing your environment.

Then you can start looking after other people.

You can’t do that unless you’re healthy yourself in all those senses.

Focus on the future, focus on the long-term goal, focus on what you’re going to achieve in your life now that you don’t drink alcohol anymore.

I guarantee you, anybody who’s been at this stuff for a year, there’s nobody who’s going to turn around and say ‘my life isn’t better now’,

because, we’re all adults, we’re all capable of achieving things, we’ve all got a lot of experiences in life, we’ve all had jobs, we’ve all had relationships, so we’re not stupid.

The only thing that’s been holding back is this lifestyle.

This alcoholic lifestyle.

I hate the word ‘alcoholic’.

Just, the overall lifestyle.

It’s not about the alcohol, it’s about that lifestyle, that framework that alcohol has played a part in.

You get rid of that and you start using your mind, you start using your time and your money in better ways, then your life is going to improve drastically.

A year later, once you’re achieving those goals, once you’re moving away from the alcohol, you’ve gone a year without alcohol, you won’t want to ever look back again.

That’s what I want for everybody who wants to quit drinking that they get to that one year, two years and they think ‘there’s no chance I’m ever going back there because of what I’ve achieved in my life.

It’s good life. It’s really a good life.

It’s a shitty life when all you’ve got is drinking and getting drunk and recovering, and drinking and getting drunk and recovering,


that repetitive, depressing, horrible shit cycle.

If you have any comments about that, give us a shout in the comment section. Come on over to the website if you want to download an audio of this. You can go to iTunes as well. There’s a transcript on the website as well.

Until next time, have a great day, keep the alcohol out of your mouths and stay healthy.

COMMITMENT IS THE GLUE THAT BINDS YOU TO YOUR GOALS

Until next time…
Onwards and Upwards!

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12 Comments

  1. Mark

    Hey Kevin its Mark.. your videos are the best most helpful thing I’ve tried!! the worst thing is an AA meeting!! they suck!! I’m up to 76 days so far and doing good! thanks for alcohol Mastery.

    Reply
    • Ron smith

      I do agree, I been to many AA meetings in the past and they all just bring you down. They reinforce that you will never recover and will always be diseased. Bullshit!

      Reply
  2. Pav

    Mate as always inspiring stuff.I have viewed lots of your videos but still on the wine,put the music on at 4 in the afternoon and drink a bottle of red plus sneak another half.This is done whilst feeding my dog and a little garden work.Four hours after going to bed wake up feeling like shit trying to process the poison.I have been doing this every day,even when I was working for 40 years.Last night I stopped after talking to my wife discussing your videos.She said I was being selfish,that my family wanted me around for years to come and they needed me to be focused and help them.The boss is right drinking is a selfish indulgent shitfest.So far 40 hours without grog and I feel like hammered shit,I will let you know if I have taken that step in a week.Cheers from Downunder Pav

    Reply
    • Kevin O'Hara

      Looking forward to hearing of your first week Pav

      Reply
  3. Mark

    I think the point about getting to a year without alcohol and realising that life is so much better is an important one. I’ve been off the booze for a short while now and won’t go back thanks to wisdom and support from people such as Kevin, but there have been plenty of times when I’ve made it to one, two or three months and for some stupid reason have decided to have a few drinks, only to slip back down again into a pointless cycle of drink, worry, abstain and drink again. Life is so much better without alcohol, and I don’t know anybody who is long term sober who says that life was better with drink in it. Not one person. It just takes a little while for the habit to break and the haze to lift – but life ALWAYS gets better over time as the body and mind learn to exist without a constant dose of poison. Thanks Kevin – what you do is brilliant.

    Reply
  4. Mick

    Hi Kevin, another great video, loving the idea of commitment being the driving force over willpower. Obvious now you pointed it out. Maybe thats why its such a strong message.

    My mind sometimes was making me think of past events when I thought I was getting benefits from drinking and creating imaginary future events where I would struggle not to drink, events loaded with multiple triggers etc. My answer to both these thoughts is F off thought I am a man on a mission, a man with commitment. I truly believe I have got this thing beat. I know I have a few life problems, who doesn’t, but I have an edge, that edge is I don’t drink.

    I am very committed to being a none drinker. To-day is my 12th day booze free and I had to check my diary to get that figure, I am not counting the days, I just want to know when Ive done my first year. (I was a few pints followed by couple of bottles of wine drinker, but still worked full time, still did normal life, sort of)

    Any body reading this comment and not sure where to start, I strongly recommend “Alcohol Freedom” by Kevin, get it as audio book, put your head phones on and go on daily walks and really get the words into your head. I have read a lot of books on quiting the booze this is the most practical and easy to digest book I have come across. sorry if that sounds like an advert, its not meant to be, I just want to share the benefits of combining listening with walking.

    Reply
    • Kevin O'Hara

      That’s the trick…being committed. Without that you’re like a fish out of water, all the time trying to get back. Thanks for the plug 🙂

      Reply
  5. Teri

    I just want to second Mick’s point about the audio book. I started with Kevin’s ‘How to stop drinking’ and it made so much sense, importantly it wasn’t condescending. I also bought ‘alcohol freedom’ I really connected with these two books. When I find my mind wondering and thinking how nice a drink would be, I put my headphones on and listen. Doesn’t matter that I’ve heard it before, it sort of re-sets my thinking.
    Tomorrow will be my first 2 weeks without booze, I feel great and have already had people telling me I look much better.
    Onwards and upwards indeed!

    Reply
  6. Margaret McDonnell-Snyder

    Thanks Kevin. Committment!! A state of being dedicated to a cause. Loyal, responsibility, obligation, duty, pledge, promise, oath. Day 4 and thank you again.

    Reply
  7. LORRAINE

    Kevin. Day 13. Starting to loose track. You are My Inspiration. I find when I am doing chores such as Ironing, when I would have a Glass of Wine, I watch your Vidoes instead. I am going to purchase your audio books so I can listen whilst I am doing other things where Internet is not available.
    I am sleeping, eating, and can actually clean my teeth in the morning without wretching. I am feeling more positive, happier and finding I can be funny realising I don’t need Wine to give me confidence.
    I can also walk and balance much better. I realise this is because my body and brain can now deal with my condition rather than focus on getting rid of the poison in my body.
    I am keeping a daily calendar on my IPad as to how much money I am saving. I am treating myself on Fiday with Ozone3 Back Pain Relief. It really is amazing, to just imagine, pouring that money down my throat when I am now putting it to good use.
    I used to go without, in favour of a Bottle of Wine.
    I know don’t look back, maybe a few more weeks and I won’t beat myself up so much.
    Thank You.

    Reply
    • Kevin O'Hara

      Glad to hear you are doing so well Lorraine 🙂 Keep it up!

      Reply
    • Sue

      Lorraine my story exactly. Like looking into a mirror reading your story. Day 3 for me with no desire to go back. Let’s see what happens.

      Reply

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