BTW - If you didn't already know, I'm Sarah - Drink Less; Live Better founder, best-selling author, expert speaker, life coach and, as you already know, podcast host!
We don't have to hit rock bottom, we're allowed to want something different and we can CHOOSE to improve our lives from this point onwards.
I work in the magic space where doubt, hope and action meet... oh.... and
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Transcripts
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Hello darling heart, and welcome to the Drink Less, Live Better podcast.
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This is the podcast that helps you to see that drinking less doesn't need to be stressful, lonely, or boring.
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I'm your host, Sarah Williamson, and I decided to have a year alcohol free as a little life experiment and haven't looked back.
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With my experience and training, I now help other people with their alcohol free or drink less adventures.
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You can find out more and sign up to my 5 day drink less challenge at drink less live better dot com.
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I'm here to tell you that you can relax, connect and have fun without alcohol in your life.
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Join me here each week to find out how.
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Today we're going to talk about excuses.
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Excuses, excuses oh they are many and varied.
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What it really boils down to though, I think, is a case of being stuck because you have a fear of trusting yourself and a
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lack of clarity around what you really, really want for yourself, both in the short term, the medium term and the long term.
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Definitely, in my first summer sober I had all of the excuses around festivals, weddings, barbecues, pub gardens and my reasons
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were absolutely based around the fear of both not trusting myself and also what other people were going to say.
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I knew that if I gave myself the tiniest, tiniest window of opportunity not to stick with the goal that I'd set myself.
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It was all over, and it would have been all over before it really began if I didn't really stick clearly to my guns?
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To get clear on what you want it might be best to think about the long term first.
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Who is the person that you're becoming?
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What are your longer term goals as far as your family is concerned, your work is concerned, your finances are concerned?
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There are so many different areas in life where alcohol has a massive impact.
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If that's too big for you, roll it back a bit.
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What are you looking for yourself in the next year or so?
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And if that's too much, then bring it right down into the present moment.
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What are you looking to get out of this week in your life?
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How can you make your life better this week without alcohol in it?
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Do you have a history of things not working out?
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Are you the person, like me, who said a a 1000000 times before, I'm never drinking again?
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And that worked really, really well for as long as the hangover lasted.
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For me, I'm never drinking again was said as a joke at the end of my drinking days.
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Absolutely nobody believed me when I said it out loud.
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And, of course, I didn't believe myself either until the moment where I really, really did mean it.
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And that moment was when I got totally clear on what I wanted.
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My original goal was to be alcohol free for a year. It was a massive stretch.
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I knew I could almost certainly do a month alcohol free.
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I thought that probably if I could do a month, I could do something like 3 months, but I had no idea whether that year long goal was going to be achievable.
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But I have got a history of things working out in my life.
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So where stuff hasn't worked out before I tried not to use any of that evidence and I used the evidence in my life of knowing
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that I had met my husband at a particular point in my life that it worked out beautifully.
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I've had children in my life when it worked out really beautifully.
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Mostly, the right jobs have crossed my path in the moments that I've been looking for them and really, really wanting them.
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I have lost out buying houses, and it's felt awful at the time.
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And I've also done incredibly well buying houses when it's worked out perfectly in the moment that it felt like it was supposed
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to, even if it didn't seem like it there and then.
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So I refer to my history of looking out where things worked out well and applying some of that learning to my year of being alcohol free.
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I knew that if I focused on the smaller goals, the bigger goal would become available to me.
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That clarity about 1 year alcohol free was broken down into smaller steps, and through that 1st summer sober, I was able to
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see each event as a stepping stone to the next one.
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Once I'd got free through an alcohol free wedding, I knew I knew I knew in my heart I'd be able to do an alcohol free festival.
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Once I'd got through an alcohol free festival, pub gardens were going to be an absolute walk in the park or a picnic in the
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park that were often used to be boozy and no longer are for me.
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Getting totally clear and then trusting your self helps you to see those excuses for what they really are, helps you to put
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those excuses aside and say, these are not my stories. This is not who I am.
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I'm clear about what I want, and I totally trust myself to go for it.
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If you can't a 100% trust yourself at the moment, who are the people that you can gather around you?
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Who will be able to cheer you on?
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Who will be able to hold you accountable?
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Who do you need to share your story with so that they understand how much this means to you? Let's do it. Let's take those excuses apart.
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Let's get clear and let's face that fear of trusting yourself. You trust yourself this summer. You can do the hard things.
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Check out the show notes on this podcast or any other episode.
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You'll find details about the drink less, live better 2023 retreat.
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You'll see the link to a hidden podcast episode to help you with your 5 PM cravings, and you'll be able to read about my one to 1 coaching program.
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I'd love it if you could follow and download the podcast.
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And if you feel inclined to leave a review, that'd be lovely as well. Thank you for listening in today. Come back again next week. And PS, I believe in you.
