You need a strategy – without that you will fail
You need to want to quit alcohol – that might take some thinking about but hopefully you are already at that stage and are fed up with carrying on as you are. If you know you want to quit, then you are already nearly there!
You do have the strength of will because we all do. You have quit things before whether this be a bad habit, a bad relationship; you have got over the grief of losing someone or a broken relationship; and you might also have achieved something you thought you were too scared or unable to do e.g. learn to swim, learn to drive, pass an exam, get that job. There are countless examples of things you have been able to do and do well. Quitting alcohol is no different. If you have given up smoking successfully or if you know someone who has, then this is far far easier than that.
You need to set a date and that should be now or tomorrow morning. There is absolutely no point in putting it off as doubts will creep in. Waiting until after the next wedding or party listed in your diary ensures failure. Be strong and say now – today!
You must determine to quit alcohol forever. Nothing else guarantees success. So get over it. Say you are going to quit now and forever, and just do it.
Yours strategy should include writing down the one big reason you want to lose alcohol from your life. This must be some big reason that you can think about if you feel weak or are tempted by others to break your resolve. It might be for the sake of your partner, your children, your health, your life even. Write it down. Keep that reason with you and take strength from it. Let it constantly remind you.
It helps to also write down all the little reasons for quitting as well, even just so you can refer back and see how much you have achieved at various milestones.
You have to believe life without alcohol is going to be better, because it is a million times better. You will not miss alcohol. You might think about drink because it has become a massive habit, but you really will not miss it at all after a very short while.
You need a success star chart or a calendar to record your success every day and to be proud of the fantastic progress you are achieving. Use the spreadsheet on my website as an example to record how much you are saving as well. Add your weight now and weigh yourself weekly. You will lose loads of weight unless you replace the sugar in alcohol with sugar in fizzy drinks. Drink water instead. It is not called Adam’s ale for no reason. That is all early man and woman had available and they coped without booze!
You are not alone. Millions of others have been able to quit and are so amazingly delighted with the fact they would never ever go back to drinking. Countless millions more people in the World don’t take alcohol for religious reasons and they cope – and so can you!
You will be able to cope with so much more in your life without booze. All alcohol does is hide the pain, the stress, the grief, the burden or whatever ails you. The problem doesn’t go away, but without drink you will be able to resolve all your issues with a clear head, a fresh mind and clear good sense. You don’t need an escape and alcohol isn’t a solution, it just compounds the problem.
You need a strategy that will keep you busy for the next few weeks doing things with all that time you will have not drinking and to give you something else to think about. Hopefully this can include exercise if you are able, as you will be further helping your body renew itself after years of alcohol mis-use and ruination. Join a group to learn something new or take up a new hobby. The enjoyment from a walk in the park or country gives your brain the same lift that it gets from alcohol but with zero side effects.
Go for a drive if you feel tense, you wouldn’t be able to do that if you had been drinking – or at least not legally. That knowledge will help you realise you are doing things that you couldn’t do as a drinker.
Avoid friends and situations that might tempt you to drink if that concerns you. Some friends you might have to say goodbye to, at least for a while.
Share what you are doing to create yourself a fan club. Not only will this give you support but it will act as a blocker to thinking you might fail. You don’t want to let others down.
Believe in yourself. You are a strong person. Alcohol is no more than a habit despite what you might have read or have been told. Every habit can be got rid of or replaced with another habit. Your new habit will be not drinking, and you will be so proud of yourself you won’t believe the new you!
You CAN do this, but remember - it has to be forever. If that sounds too difficult then you don’t really want to quit at all and are only kidding yourself and playing with the idea. You will be stuck in a land of drink induced misery forever with only yourself to blame. How crap is that! So, DO IT and good luck! You can discover more free advice and videos at my website www.idontdrink.net