On The Site This Week
On the site this week, there was a couple of videos posted, Should I Try To Lose Weight When I Quit Drinking? Which took a look at the dangers of attempting too much at once.
And, Quit Drinking Alcohol for Health Reasons which as it says takes a look at the health reasons to become alcohol free.
We sent out copies of the new Alcohol Mastery Progress Chart with this weeks newsletter. I’ll be putting it up on the website for free download for whoever wants to use it. It’s a simple, colorful way of checking off the first few days and weeks, giving you some essential feedback to how well you’re doing. If you need to use it as an hourly chart, there’s more than enough room to tick of the hours. One thing is to congratulate yourself often, to pat yourself on your back, and reward yourself throughout the day, especially in the early stages. I’m not suggesting you have a bar of chocolate every hour or you use it as an excuse to munch a whole box of donuts. Remember that whatever you put into your body at this stage has got to be dealt with later on. Give yourself the energy and nutrition that you need to fuel your body and brain through the early days of your change.
You Must Believe That Change Has Got To Happen
Today I wanted to look at one of the fundamental principles of any change. In this case, to become alcohol free you must believe that change has got to happen, it must happen.
One of the first steps in making these massive improvements in your life is to believe that change must happen. If you start out your journey with the belief that change can happen, you have a much better chance of success. There are two sides to this belief.
Part One – You’re Doing The Right Thing
If you want to become alcohol free, the first thing you have to believe is that what you are doing is the right thing for you to do, the right direction for you to go, that stopping poisoning your body with drugs has to happen, that these changes just have to happen, that you have to make the sacrifices and have go through the discomfort to make sure that the changes happen.
If you believe you OUGHT to quit drinking, you really SHOULD stop pouring alcohol into your mouth, or that if only you COULD stop poisoning yourself things would start to get better, nothing will happen. Ought to, should do, or could do anything doesn’t get anything done. Must or have to is a different story.
Part Two – You Are Truly Capable of Massive Achievements
The second element is to believe YOU are truly capable of never putting another drop of alcohol in your mouth again, you must understand and believe that this is a great thing, you’re not depriving yourself or anything, and that from this moment on is the start of your new life. You must KNOW that drinking alcohol is never going to happen again. You have to believe that you don’t need alcohol, you need clean arteries, you need an unfogged brain, you need a working liver. You need your family, your friends, you need your pride and your confidence. If you don’t really believe that you can do it, it will not happen.
The How To
How do you get that belief in yourself that you must change and that you’re capable of changing? You have to get to a place that you know for sure that your life depends on it, that your family depends on you being alcohol free. You need to get to a place that KNOWS the consequences of continuing to poison yourself. You need to get to a place that is so painful for you to think about that you have no other choice but to stop. You need to get to a place where your intelligence is just can’t handle the hypocrisy any more.
Get Inspired
You can get to that place through visualisation and inspiration.
By listening and watching other people who were in EXACTLY the same position as you. All these other people know what it’s like to use too much alcohol to the extent that it was ruining their lives, taking away their freedoms, and threatening to rip away the people who are most precious. I’ve been there, everyone who is watching these videos has been there. We know what it’s like.
Those Who Have Succeeded Before You
There are millions of people who have successfully extracted themselves away from this madness. Many of them are only too happy to help, to help you overcome all your fears and frustrations, to help you with ideas about how to get past the first few weeks, or the first few months. They’re going to be only too willing to help you by telling you their ideas and their suggestions about how to proceed.
Awesome! – Awesome! – Awsome!
The other side is awesome. Life without drink is awesome. If you’re looking for inspiration, come over to the forums where you will find a growing community of people just like you and I, all making the changes happen.
Thanks for visiting the site.
Until next time…
Onwards and Upwards!
Kev
Previous Posts That May Help You
Stop Drinking Alcohol Week 59
Stop Drinking Alcohol Week 60
Stop Drinking Alcohol Week 61
Outside Links
Alcohol Mastery TV on YouTube
Alcohol Mastery Shorts on YouTube
Alcohol Mastery on Facebook
Alcohol Mastery on Twitter
Thanks Kev
I have given up drinking for months on end
the problem I have is that I keep relapsing(about 5 times in 3 years)
could you give us any advice(,does acupuncture work) also I live with my brother who has Alcohol and gambling problems
could they be related?
Hey Rob, not sure about acupuncture, anything’s worth a go. If it gets your mind into the right space then it’s working. Your environment, including other people, is a definite influence. At the end of the day, it boils down to how you let them affect you. My partner drinks every day, not overboard, but it’s not my body, so I’ve no rights or say over what she does. The same with most of my family, they drink – it’s their business. My business is my body and my mind. You need to get into a headspace where drinking again will never happen, no matter what. Only you can figure out what will motivate you to do that. if it’s not your own health, perhaps it’s for the sake of your family or your job. Everyone is different in what they respond to. You know you can quit for months on end, so you staying away from alcohol is not the problem. You have to look at what triggers you to go back. There’s always a reason, even if it’s as simple as being completely bored and figuring one won’t hurt. Find your triggers and work from there.
Kev
Very positive and up building affirmation. One of my favourite quotes that puts things in perspective for me is,” Do or do not. There is no try.” -YODA. Your so right. We have to make the choice to put alcohol down our throat. We either do or don’t. We can’t be indecisive and sit on the fence about it. Indecisiveness IS the fence. We have to pick which side we want to be on. In this case the grass is really greener on the other side.
I love the yoda quote.
Hi Kev,
I am currently off the drink for the first time in a couple of years, but I can still tell I’m on the fence about where I want to wind up. I’m not struggling with cravings much, which surprises the hell out of me. I tell my friends and myself that this is a vacation from drink. I know that I never ever want to drink daily (or weekly) ever again. I already feel better and younger than I did a month ago. But I still hold onto the idea of drinking very occasionally after a prolonged break. Whether or not occasional is possible for me, I don’t know for sure. My question is about what changed for you between the time you took the 11 month absence, and the time you made the decision to just stop, full stop. Especially when I hear about all the incredible benefits that you experienced in some of your videos at, say 7 months this time round. Did you experience those things the time before? I know you say that the difference is the mind-set–that you planned to go back the time before. But I’m still surprised that even at the 8 month-mark last time round, you didn’t just decide to stop forever. I ask, because I’m still searching for the conviction, and am having trouble with that I guess. I wonder whether some people need to just cut-back only to wind-up back at “square one” a certain number of times before it finally sinks in? Thanks for the vids. – D.
Hey Derek
At the 8 month mark last time, I couldn’t wait to get stuck back in. I felt good last time, I felt all the same things, I just didn’t equate them to quitting drinking – not consciously. The conviction to quit is going to be different for everyone. I think there is a massive reason inside everyone of us to quit, something that only we can do. For me that was being a father. No-one else could take my place if I died tomorrow. I realised that by drinking myself to an early grave, I wasn’t doing that one thing to the best of my abilities. I wanted to spend the rest of my life being an inspiration to my son. Everything else stems from that. You have to find your reason for being alive. What is it that only you can do? Once you find that, look at how much drinking is stopping you from doing that one thing to the best of your abilities. Hope that helps Derek!
Allthe best
Kev