One of my readers asked me if I had any thoughts about helping him to improve his life by reducing the amount of alcohol he drinks.
Whether you feel that you’re drinking excessively, or just want to cut down, or indeed if you want to reduce any other habit (e.g. smoking, eating biscuits, playing computer games to excess, etc), I hope this list helps – maybe one of the ideas will be the one for you?
- Why are you drinking? Is there something you are avoiding or hiding from or blanking out? If something bigger needs fixing – a relationship or a worry that you have – then you have to work on that first. The drinking is only a symptom, not the cause.
- What is the benefit you’re getting from drinking? Relaxation, risk and excitement, socializing, having a laugh, – and think about how you can get those things in other ways.
- Focus on the benefits you would get from giving up the booze. They might be money, time, health, relationships with others – what’s your top one?
- Can you do something instead – take up exercise, or reading, or a social activity, so you don’t miss the drinking time.
- Remove the temptation: don’t go the pub at all, or don’t have tempting bottles in the house. Don’t buy it in the first place.
- Avoid the situations that lead to you drinking. Is there a pattern? Is there a situation that tends to trigger it? Can you avoid that situation / person / combinations of factors?
- Get a buddy to help you – do you have a friend who also wants to cut down or give up? Or get your friends generally to help you. And avoid the ones who do the opposite: “Oh go on, just have one, it won’t hurt you” – they aren’t really friends they’re just trying to keep you down in the hole that they are in!
- Declare to everyone that you’re going to do it – then there’s no going back.
- Plan and know the exact words for saying no so you don’t have to think: “No thanks, I’m on a health campaign at the moment” or whatever you feel comfortable saying.
- Decide whether you are going to go for small steps or cold turkey and quit in one go. I don’t know what the stats say but I suspect that both methods would work, it depends on your personality. If one hasn’t worked for you in the past, try the other.
- Measure how much you drink and keep a chart so you can monitor progress. Set goals along the way and reward yourself when you reach each one.
- Motivate yourself by thinking about the money you’ll save (it’s a lot!) and what you’ll spend it on. Actually put the money aside each time you don’t go out drinking – real notes in a jar so you can see it piling up. Think about what you’ll spend it on: holiday, car, whatever will motivate you.
- What you say to yourself. Replace your inner script of “I can’t resist drinking” or “I always seem to end up drunk” with positive scripts, set in the present, like “I can easily say no to drink and I do” or “I have given up drinking” or “I don’t drink any more and I feel so much better” – design and repeat a phrase that you feel comfortable with, which sums it up for you. Say it enough and it becomes true. Your inner dialogue becomes your thoughts which become your feelings and beliefs which control your actions.
- If all else fails, or if you don’t have the willpower to do any of the above: get professional help. This could be your doctor, or join Alcoholics Anonymous. They are the experts, and it’s known to be easier to quit if you have people helping you.
onwards and upwards!
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