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 this episode of 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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I'm here to support you with your alcohol free or drink less adventures through 1 to 1 coaching.
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Follow me on Instagram at drink less, live better, find resources on my website, drink less, live better.com, and buy my book, drink less, live better.
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It's available in all the places you might buy a book.
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I hope you enjoy this podcast episode. Let's get straight to it.
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I've been away, and it's been wonderful.
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The dog, Martha, was the most pleased to see me upon my return.
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The rest of the family had missed me.
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They just chose not to show it by leaping all over me and licking me, which is probably just as well because that would be weird.
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While I was away, I had some fabulous conversations.
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I got a chance to tell some people a story I don't get to say out loud very often, and I also got to really deeply hear other
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people say things that they might sometimes get shut down for.
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Today I'm here to share 3 freedoms I felt after I told a difficult story out loud last weekend, and, of course, you might
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feel these freedoms too if you get a chance to tell some of your difficult stories out loud.
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But first, how did I come to become a storyteller last week?
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Well, I was away with some other coaches, and we knew we were going to each have an opportunity to talk about some of our
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personal and professional situations and circumstances, and the night before we met for the first time I had a semi sleepless night.
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First up, I need you to know that when I am away from home I usually sleep really well.
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This is because at home I'm often woken by a medical alarm for a family member in the night, so when I am away I think my
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brain fully switches off alert mode and I sleep deeply and well.
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On this particular night I didn't sleep well because I was mentally rehearsing what I wanted to say to the group the next
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day when it was my turn to talk.
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Why was I rehearsing you might ask? Well, me too.
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Here are a couple of answers I thought about.
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I was practising my story so that it gave me the freedom to listen very carefully to other people as they talked about their situations and circumstances.
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I think my thinking was if I had rehearsed well in my head then I could give my attention and energy to other people too without worrying about my story.
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I wanted to get what I wanted to say in the right order.
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I didn't want to mess it up.
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I wanted to express the depth of my feelings about the story, but I also wanted my audience to understand why I felt how I did.
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It's a story about a bit of my life that I recognize other people feel discomfort around and I knew this opportunity was going
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to be a good chance to speak it out without anybody asking me to stop.
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I knew that if I was vulnerable in this situation, I'd still be okay at the end of it.
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I got to say what I wanted to say the day after my semi sleepless night.
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It was mostly in the right order. I did mess bits up.
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I got to express my anger and my sadness truly.
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It was deeply uncomfortable for me and also those listening in parts, and at the end, I was also okay. What felt freer for me afterwards?
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Well, number 1, I felt physically lighter.
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I did also feel emotionally wrung out, but the lighter bit was good.
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Number 2, I felt a shift in how I had been framing the story.
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I had told the story to an audience that were prepared to see my discomfort and not try to change anything for me.
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This supported me to see I don't need fixing. Number 3, I heard myself.
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I heard the tone of my voice. I heard my tears.
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I chose words quickly, then slowly, then carefully, and then whatever came naturally. I got into a rhythm.
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I heard how I paced the story.
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I heard my pain, and I was okay.
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I was okay with my story, and I was okay with how it was received.
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I deeply understand how important it is for a storyteller to tell a story out loud, to process, to understand, to order, to
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make peace with or not, to look for meaning, to make sense of it, and to be heard, really heard.
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Being listened to carefully is so important.
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Being given the floor, being uninterrupted, being allowed the opportunity to run with your truth is liberating.
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I regularly see people in my coaching practice who have not found the right audiences for their stories, their words, who
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have been unable to say what they want and need to, who have been dismissed, undermined, belittled, and even ignored.
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Unfortunately, I'm not surprised because this has been my experience too.
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Now I'm about to have a teeny tiny rant, so skip ahead if you're not keen on ex exasperated monologues. Some people cannot hear us.
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They might invite us to be heard, but they either never could or never intended to be able to listen.
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Some people can only hear us through their own filter.
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This might be okay if they can see and understand their filter, but might be less okay if they start to advise or offer their opinion through their filter.
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Some people are desperate to respond, just desperate.
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They want to tell you what they did after that exact same thing happened to them, or how they coped, or what you should do next.
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Some people are not great at being in the audience.
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They just prefer a main part in the performance.
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If I hear someone say, you've told me this before, I shudder.
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I physically shudder if I hear those words. What?
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The telling of a story is a one and done thing? No. I'm afraid I don't think so.
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The more I hear someone tell what seems like the same stressful tale, the more I hear them unravel it for themselves, and
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that is a very good thing in my opinion.
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If you'd like the opportunity to tell your stories out loud, to be deeply heard, my 2025 coaching programme is now available.
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It's a one to one coaching programme.
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I'll pop the link in the show notes. 12 months of coaching with me for a £1,000. What? Wait.
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Did you say a whole year with you Sarah? Yes, I did. For £1,000. Amazing. If you're ready, I'm ready too. Thank you for listening in today.
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Please come back again next week, and PS, I believe in you.
