Take a Break from Drinking

The hidden influence of "drinking the good stuff" is shaping your relationship with alcohol in surprising ways. As you upgrade your drink choices to fancy wines, craft beers, or top-shelf spirits, you might notice thought patterns around waste and value that are driving overconsumption.   Our beliefs about what constitutes "good" alcohol trace back to ancient times, when Greeks first established w...

When you're out with friends and everyone orders drinks, you might have thoughts like, "Well, you only live once. I want to enjoy it!" Despite wanting to drink less (or not at all), you order yourself a drink too.   You might think that having more discipline in moments like these would help you resist, but I'm here to tell you that discipline, willpower, and scare tactics aren't the solution.   I...

When someone successfully moderates their drinking or says no to alcohol in situations where they previously would have reached for a drink, they tend to view it as a fluke and go back to worrying about when they'll slip up again. But was it a fluke?   As humans, we often attribute our wins to external factors - the circumstances, other people, or pure luck - rather than acknowledging our own role...

Have you ever woken up after drinking too much and immediately thought either, " I f*cked up" or " I must be f*cked up ?" These two seemingly similar thoughts actually reveal deep-rooted societal beliefs about drinking problems that might be keeping you stuck.   It doesn't matter your age, gender, education level, or socioeconomic status – these thoughts show up consistently and create major roadb...

Have you ever set a firm intention not to drink, only to find your good intentions fall apart later in the day? It's a frustrating cycle that can leave you wondering what's wrong with you. But here's the truth: your good intentions aren't failing because of some personal flaw. They're failing because they're missing a crucial element.   On last week's show, you learned why good intentions are just...

Do you start each morning with the best of intentions for your drinking only to watch them crumble by evening? That frustrating cycle isn't a sign of personal failure—it's evidence that you're missing a crucial element in your approach to change.   The truth is, those morning intentions aren't the problem. They're genuine and meaningful, but when you tell yourself "I won't drink tonight" or "I'll...

Do you set strict rules about when and how much you can drink, only to break them and feel worse than before?     When most people try to change their drinking habits, they immediately look for external parameters—only drinking on weekends, limiting to two drinks, or never drinking before 6PM. But these arbitrary rules completely bypass the most important question: why do you want to drink in the...

Have you ever found yourself envious of people who seem to drink with ease?   If you're changing your relationship with alcohol, envy toward "normal drinkers" might feel familiar—but it also holds surprising insight into how your habit formed, and how you can begin to change it.   In this episode, you'll learn how understanding envy helps you uncover limiting beliefs, sheds light on your drink arc...

Have you ever felt so overwhelmed by your emotions that you'd do anything to forget what's bothering you?     In those moments, reaching for a drink—and then another, and another—can feel like the only way to escape. But this pattern of using alcohol to numb difficult emotions creates a problematic cycle that actually decreases your emotional resilience over time.   Tune in this week to learn abou...

Have you ever set rules for yourself around drinking, only to find that they don't work? You have the best of intentions, but somehow you always end up right back where you started. What's going on here?   As it turns out, there's a very good reason why your drinking rules aren't effective - and it has nothing to do with a lack of willpower or discipline on your part.   In this episode, you'll lea...

If you're constantly rushing through your days, checking off endless to-do lists, and using alcohol as a reward, you might be living in a "pleasure desert."   When you're constantly focused on getting things done and denying yourself small pleasures, it's no wonder you feel the need to fill your evenings with alcohol. But what if there was another way?   Listen in this week to learn why the Reward...

Have you ever taken a long break from drinking, only to find yourself eventually going back to it?     So many people find themselves stuck in this frustrating cycle of stopping and starting again, wondering why they can't seem to make the change stick.   Listen in to hear one of our Take a Break coaches, Adriana Cloud, explore this common struggle. We discuss how the health benefits of not drinki...

How often do you declare to yourself, "I'm just someone who…" fill in the blank? Can't moderate your drinking? Has an addictive personality? Is broken and has no willpower?   It's easy to turn your frustrations with drinking into sweeping declarations about who you are. But what if these thoughts aren't as true as they feel, and there was an alternative explanation that had nothing to do with you...

Do you ever feel like you're stuck in a cycle of cravings and excuses when it comes to drinking? It's easy to believe that the only way out is through sheer willpower and discipline, but sometimes, all you need is a new thought to prevent yourself from pouring a drink.   In this episode, you'll learn four powerful "breakthrough thoughts" that can help you quickly change your perspective on drinkin...

Do you ever find yourself inconveniencing yourself without even giving others a chance to say no to your requests?     This habit of not asking for what you want can have a bigger impact on your life than you might think. In fact, it could be contributing to your drinking more than you'd like.   In this episode, I share a personal story about how I caught myself falling into this pattern and the r...

Do you find yourself reaching for a drink when you're around certain people who get on your nerves?   It may seem like alcohol is making the situation more tolerable, but is it really?   Sobriety coach Adriana Cloud joins me this week to discuss the common struggle of feeling like you can only stand someone if you're drinking. We explore the underlying boundary and mindset issues at play, and offe...

Did your Dry January not go as planned?     Don't worry, you're not alone. Research shows that more people fail at Dry January than succeed. But have you ever considered how every seeming failure might just be the next step on your journey to changing your relationship with alcohol?   In this episode, I share a powerful mindset shift that can transform how you approach any goal related to your dri...

Do you ever feel like your cravings get out of control?   What if you could transform your relationship with cravings from something you dread to something you actually look forward to?   In this episode, sobriety coach and hypnotist Adriana Cloud shares a genius analogy that will change how you view your cravings. Listen in to discover how making one simple mental shift can help you more easily s...

Are you mystified by your own drinking behaviors? Do you struggle to understand why you can occasionally easily moderate, while other times you spiral out of control?   Sobriety coach and hypnotist Adriana Cloud is here to share her decade-long journey with daily drinking. Although Adriana never identified as an alcoholic, she knew something about her relationship with alcohol felt off. And in thi...

So you've got your compelling reason—your rationale to go after change in the face of discomfort. The only problem is, it doesn't seem to be helping you drink less or stop altogether. Is it not compelling enough?   Maybe that's part of it, sure (and that is easily fixed, as I'll share). But perhaps you're putting too much stock in that compelling reason. You could be expecting too much from it. In...

It's almost here: Dry January. You know you want to take a break, but you're not sure how. Even worse, maybe you've tried this before and either couldn't stick with it or didn't see any changes.   You might not realize it, but your plans to focus on not drinking may be setting you up for failure. Instead, you need to shift your thinking about the substance and focus on becoming a person of substan...

It's easy to see why you might pour yourself a glass of wine when things aren't going your way, but what happens if your life seems to be working out fine? Why are you still reaching for a drink?   You've been tricked into thinking happiness must be obtained, which is why, in order to change your actions—using alcohol for quick relief—you must first change how you think. The truth is, negative emo...

It's around this time of year that you start thinking about making changes, but what happens when you decide to stop drinking and you're not happy? Is the answer to go back to alcohol or simply settle for a lackluster life?   That's what alcohol does to your brain—it applies a thin veneer to a harsh reality. But it may interest you to know that there's a third choice. You can upgrade your life.   ...

If you're taking a break from drinking this holiday season, you might feel like you're stuck at the kids' table at every gathering.   The reality is, we have been socialized to view alcohol as a sophisticated, adult activity. Those thoughts—implanted by TV, movies, and marketing—create desire and fuel a vicious habit cycle.   Tune in to explore how your brain learned to outsource certain beliefs a...

Picture this: You and a few friends have decided to split a bottle of wine. Everyone fills their glass, but there's still a little left in the bottle. You can probably guess what happens next.   But did you know that the decision to finish the bottle might not actually be your own? It may be a pair of mental blocks preventing you from tuning in to the sensation of having had enough to drink.   Lis...