Making the decision to cut back on or stop drinking alcohol all together isn’t always sunshine and rainbows.
The sunshine, rainbows and good times are the end goal, but to reach that goal we are often disrupting a lifetime of ingrained beliefs, societal expectations and habitual behaviours.
Even now, 18 months in, I still have my moments and challenges.
But there were a few things that I found helped me immeasurably in those first fresh, new scary months that I believe really set me up for success.
-
The Alcohol Experiment
A free 30 day online course that aims to change how you think about alcohol. I often tell people I was brainwashed, because after the month of daily reading and exercises, that’s how I felt. Alcohol no longer held power in my life and I learned that without drinking I was enough. Confident enough, interesting enough, strong enough. Annie Grace worked it all out and condensed it down. Made it easy. After a couple of years of me battling with moderation and counselling, 30 days was all it took. There is now an app which makes it even easier!
-
Becoming a mentor
As soon as my 30 days were up, I put my hand up to become an mentor within the Alcohol Experiment Community. I was able to share my experience of those 30 days with those just starting out. It kept me engaged with the material and the learnings front of mind. Community here is key.
-
Tracking App
I began with I Am Sober. A tracker app that has a community aspect to it. As well as keeping track of your sober days, you are connected with a community of people from around the world that are on the same path as you. I made friends with a girl in Seattle, helped her when she needed it and vice versa. I ditched the app about six months in. Now I use NOMO to track major milestones.
-
Find your tribe
I began with the The Alcohol Experiment Facebook group after finishing the Alcohol Experiment. It is a great community of people on the same journey from around the world who can all relate to one another. I eventually got to a point where that was getting a little repetitive, but that was about the same time as I started wading into the Instagram sober community. This is the place to be. All manner of accounts that cover every facet of sober life. I started my own account to share drinks reviews and here we are!
-
Quit Lit
I bought a lot of quit lit, but to be quite honest, I am a bit shit at making time to read. So after I took a couple of months to finish Quit Like a Woman (I was blown away), my other purchases (This Naked Mind & The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober) sat gathering dust. Reading other’s honest and raw accounts of their experiences certainly makes you feel less alone and on the outer.
-
Podcats
The same goes for podcasts. In the beginning I mainlined This Naked Mind podcasts. Each episode is a personal account of everyday folks’ journeys with alcohol. I laughed and cried along with people’s terrible drinking tales and felt very much not so alone. There is something comforting about the realisation that you are certainly not unique in your alcohol related awfulness. We have a plethora of home grown pods at our disposal too:
-
How I Quit Alcohol
-
Joyful Sober
-
Sobah Life Podcast
-
Sober Awkward
-
-
Notes in my phone
I used the notes section in my phone for everything. Inspirational quotes. Observations about myself. Different emotions as they were coming to the surface. So many epiphanies and emotional breakthroughs are still stored in my phone. It is nice to reflect and have these things to fall back on in times of crisis. A few months in, the other thing I was storing in my phone was…\
-
Alcohol Free drinks
As I began my trial and error relationship with alcohol free drinks (on the hunt for a good AF Red!) I kept photos and notes in my phone, so I didn’t make the mistake of buying the same shit twice. That was the origin of Dry but Wet and what has kept me on track to this day. AF drinks are not for everyone. But if you know that you are going to be ok and not triggered, they are an incredible tool for keeping your social rituals alive and feeling included amongst society. It’s nice to still be able to enjoy a great tasting wine with your dinner too… sans booze.
How about you. Did you have anything else in your sobriety toolkit?
X
