Take a Break

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? Neither, and here’s why.

Taking a break from drinking during the holidays may make you feel like you’re stuck at the kids’ table. Here’s why—and how—to challenge those beliefs.

You and your friends split a bottle of wine. Everyone fills their glass, but there’s still a little left in the bottle. You can guess what happens next—but why isn’t “enough” enough?

The demonization of alcohol use can be a common refrain from those who no longer drink, but here’s why that’s not an effective way to change your habits.

When your decision not to drink is met with resistance or disappointment, here’s how to stay committed to changing your habit.

Learn why counting drinks sounds like a useful way to curb your drinking, and what to focus your energy on instead to actually change your relationship with alcohol.

Discover what it takes to become a normal drinker, and why it’s not really about the alcohol.

Everyone’s relationship with alcohol is different, and the only way to change your habit is by finding an individualized approach. But how? It starts here.

If you struggle with spending time by yourself, you may be more likely to look for a distraction—like a drink. Find out how to enjoy this time without a drink.

Whether you’re trying to drink less or stop altogether, you’ll need to be prepared when someone asks if you want a drink. Here’s what you need to know.

If you’re constantly thinking about alcohol, you may be stuck. Find out why your brain is devoting energy to these thoughts and how to quiet them.

Learn why our society’s one-size-fits-all, shame-based approach to drinking is preventing you from truly examining your relationship to alcohol.

If you find yourself drinking to treat pain, you may experience short-term relief but you’re also causing long-term damage. Discover how to break the cycle.

If you drink to find freedom from expectations, you may be teaching your brain that alcohol is required to cope. Learn why that won’t help you dismantle those ideas.

Have you ever had a drink because you were bored by what you were doing or who you were with? Find out what your brain learns when The Hourglass archetype is activated.

If you drink to help feel less nervous in social situations, you’re not alone. Find out what really happens when your brain learns to associate alcohol with confidence.

If you tend to use drinking as a way to escape your negative feelings, listen in to discover the cycle this behavior leads to and why.

Find out what the brain learns about treating yourself and relaxation when it associates drinking with these things.

Discover what your brain learns when you associate drinking with creating, strengthening, or maintaining emotional bonds.

Discover what your brain learns when you pour a drink to enhance certain situations.

If you always drink more than you plan on, should you just stop drinking? Listen for an unconventional take on overindulgence here.

If you always drink more than you plan on, should you just stop drinking? Listen to an unconventional take on this question.

Hear from author Kara Loewentheil about how socialization and sexism may play a role in your drinking and the desire to escape how you feel.

Do you keep putting off taking a break or even just committing to drinking less? This episode explains why this happens and the perspective shift needed to start taking action.

Learn what to do when a craving strikes and you start thinking to yourself, Who cares? When you discover the hidden tension behind these words, the excuse will never sound the same again.

Discover why this excuse is so insidious and the best way to combat it. After listening, you’ll never hear the excuse, “I’ll be good tomorrow,” the same way again.

Have you ever thought, “There’s no point in stopping now” after you’ve started drinking? This episode takes apart this common excuse and shows how it can interfere with your efforts to change your drinking habits.

Ever used “It’s a special occasion” as a reason to drink? This episode explores how to handle this common excuse effectively when drinking less.

Have you ever looked at your life and thought, “This isn’t what it’s supposed to be”? This episode explores why this thought is common and what it really means.

After drinking too much have you ever thought, “Why don’t I just have more self-discipline?” This episode will help you discover why willpower isn’t the ultimate solution to drinking less and what you can do instead.

Have you ever thought, “Screw it. I’ll start over on Monday”? This episode will help you understand how to stay motivated when it comes to drinking less.

Is wanting a treat at the end of the day a bad thing? Discover why your love-hate relationship with rewarding yourself with a drink is getting in the way of your goal.

Woke up hungover? Learn the real reason hangovers feel so bad and what you can do to cope.

Discover why you must be willing to pay attention if you want to drink less and the unexpected obstacle keeping you on autopilot.

Not taking action doesn’t mean you’re in denial about your drinking. It means you’re missing a key piece of the puzzle.

Learn how to move past any shame or regret about your drinking.

Explore The Remedy archetype and learn what to do if you use a drink to manage insomnia or physical discomfort.

Delve into The Release archetype and find freedom without needing alcohol.

Discover The Hourglass archetype and why boredom and drinking often go hand-in-hand.

Explore The Mask archetype and learn what to do if you use a drink to ease social anxiety.

Doing Dry January this month? Skip these two most common mistakes.

Considering Dry January this year? Avoid the most common pitfalls with these five easy steps.

Discover The Escape archetype and navigate overwhelming times without relying on alcohol.

Learn about The Reward archetype and what to do if pouring a drink has become a way to treat yourself after a long day.

Learn about The Connector archetype and what to do if it’s hard to separate drinking from your social activities or bonding with the people in your life.

Learn about The Upgrade archetype and why certain situations feel less enticing when you say no to drink.

Discover your unique blueprint for change. Without knowing this, even the most motivated person can find it hard to say no to temptation.

When you do this work of changing your relationship to drinking and getting drunk, you might be surprised by how easy it is to say “no.” Here’s why.

Learn why the end of the year is a great time to work on changing your relationship with drinking, and why addressing the lack you feel is key.

The urge you feel to drink at the end of the day can be lessened with the one important tool I’m sharing this week: being where you are.

Sticking to your commitment to change your drinking can be hard when everyone around you is having a good time drinking. Tune in this week for strategies to deal with this situation.

It’s normal to think “it doesn’t matter” the moment you take a drink after saying you wouldn’t. Here’s how to respond instead.

Listen in to learn how to continue your path to changing your drinking habit even in the face of bottomless mimosas or other free drinks.

The urge to drink is no different than any other urge you have, and like those urges, you can learn to master it. This episode will show you how.

Discover how truly enjoying a drink and finding pleasure in it is the key to shifting your relationship with drinking.

Water might feel boring when all you want is a beer or a cocktail. Discover how water can help you unveil your unconscious drinking habits.

Learn how you can celebrate, find pleasure, and cultivate joy without a drink, and how to teach your brain to seek other types of pleasure.

Contrary to what you might believe, alcohol and food are not your friends. Learn why it is important to recognize this in this episode.

Alcohol and meeting new people seem to go hand and hand. This week, learn how to interact in social settings without a drink.

If you doubt your ability to change your relationship with alcohol, the one simple tactic shared in this episode will help.

Scare tactics aren’t always the best way to change your relationship with drinking. Find out what else you can do to create change.

Do you believe it’s easier to drink when you feel stressed? This is what happens in your brain when you have this thought.

You don’t have to become defensive when other people comment on your drinking. Learn to use the comments of others to your advantage today.

Nothing has gone wrong if you feel like you have just one excuse after another. Stop avoiding and start learning from your excuses today.

There is one key aspect holding you back from making a change with your drinking. Find out what it is today.

It may come as a surprise that your glassware can impact your relationship with drinking. Learn why this week.

Choosing to say no can lead to some awkward conversations. What you’ll learn in this episode will help you thrive in these moments.

Navigating desire, particularly unfulfilled desire, takes practice and management skills. Discover how to work with your desire to drink.

Mistakes and discomfort are a window into how to change your habits. This week, discover tools to help you say no, tonight.

Identifying why you want to change can sometimes be more important than what you want to change. Learn how to identify your why.

There are thought habits that keep you turning back to the bottle time and time again. Learn to notice and break the cycle.

Are you ready to break free from black-and-white thinking? Discover a new way to look at your long-term relationship with drinking.

Emotions are linked to all actions. Learn why even “good” emotions can impact our habits in a disruptive manner.

No one wants their freedom restricted. Creating commitments, not rules, allows for true change. Find out why.

Failure is natural, and we are all bound to fail at some point. But how you respond to your slip-ups changes everything, here’s why.

Moderation is a skill that takes time to develop. Learn why practicing, re-writing beliefs, and accepting failure are necessary to redefine your relationship with drinking.

There is no need to fight your urges. This week, discover how to master your restlessness and extinguish your urge.

There are three reasons you drink too much. Find out what they are, and what you need to do to combat them this week.

It’s okay if you are not sure what to change about your drinking or what your end goal is. Nothing has gone wrong. Here’s why.

It’s easy to make rules around your drinking but challenging to know how to follow through. This week, learn how to make rules that stick.

Anyone trying to change their drinking habit will encounter backsliding eventually. Learn how to prevent the backslide from hindering your progress.

The moment after you take a sip you didn’t plan on having is critical. Learn how to regain control of your commitment.

To understand why you struggle to keep your commitment, you need to go back to the split-second moment before you took a sip. Here’s why.

Taking a break from drinking yet find yourself reaching for a drink? Learn how to make a lasting commitment to change your drinking here.

Blaming yourself for struggling to say no to a drink doesn’t help you change the habit. This week, learn how to end the self-abuse and shame.

If you’re ready to change your relationship with drinking, you need to ask yourself this one important question.

It’s normal to want a drink after a bad day. Discover how to handle having a bad day without drinking, and what to do instead.

When you’re taking a break from drinking yet you keep slipping up, real habit change seems impossible. This incredibly useful skill will help.

If you’re trying to stop drinking or drink less, there will be a time when you lose motivation to continue. Here’s what to do when it happens.

Wondering how to know if it’s possible for you to change? Discover the truth about your ability to change your drinking habit.

Conventional wisdom says that removing alcohol from your house also removes the temptation to drink. Let’s explore if that’s true.

Were you expecting Dry January to be more fun? Listen in to find out how to infuse more fun into your break from drinking.

There is one thing you need to do to change your relationship with alcohol and drink less this year. Find out what it is.

Your goal to change your relationship with drinking will include some discomfort, and that’s a good thing. Listen in to find out why.

If you are ready to change your drinking for good in the new year, you need to start with this crucial first step.

Learn how to narrate what’s happening when you have the urge to drink and why doing so will help you take control of your desire.

Contrary to what you currently believe, it is possible to change your drinking permanently. This episode will show you how.

Can your personality truly can predict your overdrinking habit? Learn the truth about personality and drinking in this episode.

There are four things you can start doing right now to make it easier to drink less during the holidays. Here’s what they are.

The holidays create the perfect storm for overdrinking. Learn how to stay out of the storm this holiday season here.

Many people have a to-do list that seems to never end. Discover why your never-ending to-do list is affecting your drinking habit.

No one is perfect, and on the path to change your drinking habit, you will slip up. Here’s how to prepare for those moments.

You might think that your commitment to not drink is binary. Either you fail or you succeed. But that’s not exactly true, and here’s why.

If your goal is to be able to drink in moderation, you need to hear this. Find out if it’s even possible and if so, how to do it effectively.

Discover why conventional wisdom is so wrong, and the truth about changing your drinking.

Overdrinking and overeating are two habits that are closely intertwined, and Katrina Ubell’s new book helps you address both.

If you’re trying to drink less, but keep feeling like you’re missing out, you won’t make lasting habit change. Listen in to change that.

Here’s what you need to know about Sober October and how to make this temporary break lead to lasting habit change.

Find out why you keep giving in to your urges and reaching for a glass even after you’ve learned how to handle the urge to drink.

Grief expert and master coach Krista St-Germain is here to break down why you might drink to cope with grief and what you can do instead.

Discover how to stop reaching for a drink whenever you feel emotionally overwhelmed, and what to do instead.

Most people want to avoid feeling deprived, so they end up pouring themselves a drink. Here’s what to do instead.

If you want to have a normal relationship with alcohol, there is one thing you have to start paying attention to. Find out what it is today.

Drinking after a stressful day can feel good momentarily, but it isn’t the best way to decompress. Tune in to find out what is.

The resistance you feel to not drinking can work to your advantage as you try to change the habit. Find out how.

Some urges will present themselves loudly, others will be subtle. Discover how to overcome the quiet, subtle, under-the-radar urge to drink.

Some people can leave half a glass of wine on the table and some people can’t. If you’re someone who can’t, listen in this week.

There’s nothing like kicking your feet up of an evening and pouring a drink. Find out why this could make it harder to change your habit.

If you’re struggling to make progress on changing your drinking habit and you feel stuck in a rut, you need to listen in this week.

Deciding to change your drinking habit can be overwhelming. This episode will show you how to cope so you can keep making progress.

So many different things can derail your progress as you work on changing your drinking. Find out how to avoid these obstacles this week.

If you think a sip of wine means you have to drink the whole bottle, think again. Here’s why you have the power to stop whenever you want.

When you focus on the numbers, you lose sight of what really matters for changing your relationship with drinking. Here’s why.

If you’ve failed to change your drinking in the past, you might not know if it’s even possible for you. Here’s how to find out.

Your mindset about drinking affects everything and how you think about your drinking matters. Learn how to shift your mindset this week.

If your compelling reason for changing your drinking habit isn’t working, you don’t want to miss this episode.

It may surprise you to learn what is actually getting in the way of your habit change. Find out what it is here.

Find out what’s happening when you learn exactly how to change your drinking habit and know what you should be doing, but don’t do it.

A glass of wine might feel like it’s helping with your anxiety, but it can’t provide real relief. Discover what’s really going on when you reach for a drink to feel less anxious, and what will help you feel better in the long-run.

There are different phases in this process that will lead you to changing your relationship with alcohol. Here’s what they are.

If you’ve struggled to say no in the past, you may think drinking less is not possible for you. Find out if that’s true in this episode.

Being offered a free drink can feel exciting or even annoying. How you respond to it says a lot about your habit. Find out why this week.

Every time you drink, you teach your brain something. Find out what you’re currently teaching it, and how to teach it something new.

Want to know how to make sure that the changes you’ve made to your drinking are sustainable? Here’s how.

If you’re worried about people judging you for taking a break from drinking, you need to hear what I’m sharing in this episode.

If you feel like every time you make progress on your drinking habit you end up backsliding, this episode will show you how to stop for good.

Find out why other people’s doubts about your ability to change your drinking habit have no real impact on your success.

The questions you ask yourself matter, and they have the power to help you change your drinking habit or perpetuate it.

You’ve tried every possible way to change your drinking, but nothing has worked. Find out the one thing you haven’t tried.

For some of us, self-care includes drinking. Here’s how to find out if using this form of self-care is serving you.

On one hand, you want to stop drinking, but on the other, you really want to drink. Find out how to navigate these competing desires.

Feeling defeated is a normal part of changing a habit. Find out the 3 steps you can follow when you feel defeated to begin to build momentum.

When you always drink with certain people, it can feel like your connection is based on drinking. But this isn’t true. Here’s why.

Drinking might feel like your most reliable source of pleasure, but this episode shows you why that’s not the case.

Learn how to see failure as a part of the process of changing your relationship with drinking and stop seeing it as a bad thing.

Find out why living powerfully is more effective than willpower in changing your relationship with drinking.

Find out why you might feel terrible and as though you’re being punished when you say no to a drink, and how to stop feeling this way.

Do you look back at your old days of drinking with fondness? Here’s how to make sure the memories don’t impact your decision to take a break.

When it comes to changing your drinking or helping your clients change theirs, it’s about so much more than just “fixing” your behavior.

Find out the real reason you reach for a drink and where to start if you want to change your behavior around it.

The holiday season is not a lost cause, and it is completely possible to change your relationship with drinking. Here’s how.

Overdoing it the night before doesn’t actually mean that you failed. Discover what the purpose of your overdrinking is, and what it isn’t.

Discover why saying no to drinking doesn’t make you a good person and why saying yes doesn’t make you bad.

There are so many better ways to spend your mental energy than worrying about your drinking habit. Here are some of them.

Discover how to examine your desire to drink and what scratching the surface of your reasons for drinking can tell you about your habit.

How many drinks is enough? Find out why asking this question is so powerful and what answering it can tell you about your drinking habit.

If you take your drinking habit and your break from drinking really seriously, I invite you to stop. Here’s why.

You don’t have to worry about future drinking urges anymore. Learn how to stop feeling anxious about your urges to drink.

Who you spend time with when you’re taking a break from drinking matters… or does it? Find out in this episode.

Understanding your urges takes time and practice. Learn how to practice responding to your urges differently than you ever have before.

The fine print on a bottle usually says something like “drink responsibly”. Learn how to (finally) enjoy drinking in moderation.

Drinking more than you want to be drinking is a result of deeper belief systems. Learn how to change the habit by asking, “what’s really in my glass?”

Discover what unproductive optimism is and why having positive thoughts might not necessarily help you to drink less.

Feeling behind is common when trying to change your drinking habit. Here’s why feeling like this can get in the way of you making progress.

There might come a time when an old urge sneaks up on you. Here’s what to do when an urge you haven’t had for a while suddenly shows up.

After a night of drinking, it’s normal to have some physical and/or mental side effects. Discover why we choose to drink in spite of these.

Drinking can often feel like a reflex; it just happens. Learn how to take responsibility for your drinking habit without beating yourself up.

When you decide to take a break from drinking, the people around you will have opinions about it. Here’s how to deal with them.

Whether your goal is to stop drinking altogether or to simply cut back, this exercise will help you achieve it.

We are taught that saying no will break the habit of drinking, but saying no won’t change your desire. Here’s what will.

It’s harder to say no to a drink when you think it’s the “good stuff.” Learn why deeming some alcohol as “good” impacts your desire to drink.

Have you been blindsided by unexpected news and suddenly feeling the urge to drink? Here’s how to handle it.

When it comes to figuring out how long it’s going to take to change your drinking habit, there are two questions you need to ask yourself.

Viewing a hangover as a punishment could actually be making it harder for you to change your habit. Here’s why.

Whether you decide to drink mocktails and non-alcoholic drinks or not, understanding your reason for that decision is key.

Alcohol can teach you a lot about yourself and your habits. But only if you’re willing to become its student.

It can be frustrating when the urge to drink won’t go away. Find out how to get relief from urges that seem to go on and on.

If you don’t take credit for all the times you make the decision not to drink, you should. It is vital to changing the habit. Here’s why.

Learn what to do when you know it’s time to change your relationship with alcohol, but can’t seem to follow through.

If you think that alcohol and creativity go hand in hand, this songwriter’s experience of taking a break might change your mind.

You may think that your streak of the number of days not drinking is a sign of progress, but what if it’s not?

If the idea of never drinking again sounds terrible to you, then why are you trying to make that decision?

Do you use alcohol as your excuse for getting out of what you don’t want to do? This could be making your drinking habit harder to change.

No matter how old you were when you started drinking, you still have the power to change your drinking habit today. And here’s how.

Find out why the days, weeks, and months leading up to your decision to drink are critical to changing your relationship with alcohol.

Discover what it’s like to get coached on your drinking habit and how listening to others getting coached can benefit your progress.

You are not doomed to struggle with alcohol just because you have family members who did or do. Here’s why.

How feeling shame and regret about things you’ve done while drinking is preventing you from moving forward and actually changing your habit.

You may see your brain as the problem, but your brain can actually be a powerful ally in changing your relationship with alcohol.

Even if you aren’t experiencing the urge to drink, you still have everything you need to learn about your habit and how to change it. Here’s how.

It’s normal to want to reach for a drink when you’re grieving, but what if there was a more helpful way to cope with your pain?

If you think taking a break from drinking is impossible for someone like you, this sommelier’s story of changing her relationship with alcohol will make you reconsider.

Learn how changing your relationship with alcohol can lead to greater intimacy, fewer inhibitions, and increased pleasure in bed.

Beating yourself up for drinking won’t help you change the habit. Discover what’s actually required in order to shift your relationship with alcohol.

Why you might be dreaming about alcohol during your break and how your dreams can shed light on the habit.

You can start to figure out why you drink more than you want to by asking this question.

When you’re focused on what other people will think about your decision to take a break from drinking, you inadvertently divert your attention from crucial information that will help you change the habit.

A simple tool you can use if you’re struggling to say no to a drink, despite promising yourself you would reign it in.

When you’re alone and bored, it’s easy to reach for a drink. Learn how to use this information to change the habit and your relationship with alcohol.

Drinking habits reside in your unconscious mind. If you want to change, you need to grab a pen and paper and start bringing full awareness to how the habit is unfolding.

You can’t change your drinking habits just by saying no. You have to understand the real reason you keep saying yes to a drink.

Learn why trying to wrestle the urge to drink into submission leads to inadvertently handing over your power to it.

The reason you’re struggling with your commitment to say no to a drink is that you’re focused on the wrong solution to changing the habit.

Learn about the role that rituals play in our lives, why it’s so uncomfortable when our holiday plans are upended, and how to survive without turning to food and drink to cope.

Discover the reason why shifting your relationship with alcohol goes hand-in-hand with changing your relationship with yourself.

The reason why feeling “fine” when you say no isn’t enough to shift your relationship with alcohol, and the missing ingredients to create lasting change.

Discover why so many people reach for a drink, something to eat, or other forms of distractions when they wait for news and why this is a problem.

When you find yourself constantly chasing after the desire to drink and feeling unsatisfied and wanting more, it’s a good sign you may be caught up in desire confusion.

To understand why you crave a drink between the end of the work day and dinner, you need to examine the changes to work, community, and nature that ushered in this ritual.

Why not trusting yourself around alcohol is a problem, no matter the decision you make about drinking.

Telling yourself you shouldn’t feel stressed, worried, or dissatisfied with life will only block your efforts to change the habit of drinking.

The three reasons why some people develop a habit around drinking while others don’t.

What to do when you take a break and discover that pouring a drink was actually helping you enjoy the people you were with.

Discover why it’s easy to start sliding backwards once you’ve made headway changing your drinking habits.

If you think saying no to a drink requires trying harder, you’ve got it backwards. Instead of relying on effort, you need to understand the inner workings of the habit.

Stop tallying up the room and start asking yourself two questions that will help you examine the habit of drinking from a new perspective.

Why sobriety milestones are a problem and the reason that crossing days off a calendar will never help you change your relationship with alcohol.

Why trying to balance just the right buzz will always leave you walking a very precarious tightrope.

If you believe that you can’t change your thoughts about drinking, then you’ll never be able to change the habit. Uncover the three biggest obstacles to creating a mindset shift around alcohol.

Do you find yourself going back and forth between drinking and not drinking, only to pick up right where you left off? If so, it’s because you haven’t done the mental work to change your drinking mindset.

Drinking too much can feel like a very lonely habit. In order to change your relationship with alcohol, you must first let go of the belief that the struggle is a part of your identity.

The solution isn’t convincing yourself that drinking is “bad” for you, it’s understanding how the habit works in your brain.

Why we believe abstinence or moderation is the only option, and how you actually have the power to change your desire without falling into these traps.

How to embrace discomfort and why seeking out purposeful discomfort will help you focus on results you want beyond the immediate moment.

How removing blame and shame are so important if you want to be curious about why you haven’t been able to create change.

How you might be engaging in a power struggle when you hold onto three thoughts, and why the real struggle isn’t between you and the alcohol.

The four most important and unexpected discoveries that you’ll experience when you apply the tools I teach here to your life and taking a break.

How my approach is radically different from other common approaches like AA.

Some of the most common excuses and reasons people give me for why their situation is different or unique, and why your brain will always try to prove that to you.

Why believing that changing habits is hard stands in your way and slows down your progress.

Why the ability to feel restless when you have the desire to drink is key in extinguishing the mental drama that comes up in those moments.

What getting curious about your thoughts means and why most people aren’t in the habit of doing this.

The four most common reasons you think you drink too much and the real reasons why.

What it means to acquire a taste for alcohol, how it works, and why, if you want to change your relationship with drinking, it’s necessary to see how you’ve learned to like it.

Key questions you can ask yourself to see if your coping mechanisms are producing results you like, so you can choose different thoughts that may serve you better if they aren’t.

Why positive thinking backfires, how to redirect your brain in a way that will help you move forward, and the true power of learning to manage your mind.

How letting go of willpower will help you find moments of peace and joy and come out stronger on the other side of this pandemic.

How to start creating emotional fluency for yourself, and how this is going to help you figure out a new way to respond and relate to your emotions.

How practicing the self-coaching model 10 times, 20 times, or even more and still not getting it, not understanding how to use it to change your results is inevitable.

How we often find excuses to not actually do the work required to change the habit.

How you can actually worry less, and in turn, reduce your desire to numb out using alcohol. 

What is actually going on with the person who is pitying your situation and how to look at the way you’re showing up when you’re saying no.

Why the forgiveness you think you need to feel better is never from anyone else.

The feeling of shame, how you can have less of it in your life, and how it doesn’t work in your favor when trying to change your relationship with alcohol.

The power that lies in valuing your opinion of you first, and knowing that your inner voice is your built-in expert who knows what’s right for you.

What awkwardness really means and how it’s connected to the habit of drinking.

How the thought, “I hope this time will be different,” can seem like a good thought but it isn’t actually serving you.

Discover how cultivating curiosity can help you see your think-feel-act cycle more clearly when it comes to the habit.

Why your friendship with yourself is the most important one to cultivate, and how disempowering it can be to rely on alcohol to get you through negative emotions.

How focusing on the stories you’re telling yourself is the fastest way to create change.

How you might be blocking your growth by telling yourself stories that are not helpful, and how being stuck in the habit of drinking is wasting your most precious resource.

What it means to meet your own needs and how to start practicing it.

How to get over common obstacles you might face that diminish your own enjoyment of a party.

How not consuming the object of your desire will teach your brain to expect it less, but won’t extinguish all of your urges.

How to use the concept of the forbidden fruit to break free from desire and deprivation.

The fundamental misunderstanding of this cycle of indulgence and deprivation.

Why your potential for growth is huge when your brain tells you that you can’t succeed in a certain situation.

Why taking a break from drinking and other types of over-consuming can help us get in touch with why we’re here.

Why understanding the connection between the habit of drinking and your emotions is crucial to your success.

Why none of the reasons you believe are driving your drinking are actually true.

Why learning to manage your mind is such a better approach than relying on gritting your teeth and just getting through things.

The two outcomes shame usually creates and why neither of them are ultimately good for our health.

Why we should start thinking about how we can insure our brains and protect ourselves as best we can from cognitive decline.

Health avoidance: why we tend to do it, and the impact it has on our minds and bodies.

The stress alcohol puts on our bodies and why a break can help us glimpse what’s possible for our health.

Why our brains create drama, why it can be so exhausting, and how to reframe the “problem” of taking a break as a “project” instead.

How to identify obstacle mirages and start moving past them.

Why we have to take active steps to change our relationship to alcohol, rather than rely on society’s ideas about drinking.

How to set a resolution that you can actually keep.

How to rediscover and exercise your fun muscle without depending on what’s in your glass or on your plate.

What thoughts and feelings are tied up in the thought “I don’t want to stop drinking.”

Why you have to change your relationship with failure if you want to change your drinking.

How to bring awareness to a situation that requires you to keep a promise to yourself.

What you might gain when you’re willing to be wrong about yourself and what you can achieve.

How the idea that we can only change when we hit rock bottom keeps many of us stuck with the status quo.

What to do when you notice your thoughts trending toward the negative and dramatic.

What drama is, why we create it, and how to tell if you’re creating drama for yourself.

How to recognize when you’re in the compare and despair mindset, and how to get off this mental treadmill and start to make changes in your life.

How your brain can try to turn what I’ve taught you against you (and how to stop it).

The real reason that not sleeping is a problem (hint: probably not the reason you think it is).

How to create a take-it-or-leave-it attitude about drinking.

Why the only way out of your discomfort is through it – and how managing your mind can help you get there.

What you can gain by examining your behavior with curiosity rather than judgment.

How you can picture a future version of yourself who doesn’t have the desire to reach for a drink.

How to deal with comments from others while you’re on a break.

What message you’re sending yourself when you negate all of your efforts by telling yourself that they don’t matter.

Why so many of us are ready to commit to others but not ourselves, and how this affects your relationship with yourself.

How using alcohol to numb feelings perpetuates the cycle of avoidance and sickness of your emotional immune system.

Why we stop daring ourselves and pushing the limits of what we think is possible after childhood and how you can start adding dares back into your life.

Why the words you use matter and how being curious about why our brains do what they do can be the catalyst for big changes in your drinking and your life.

How we use relationship manuals as a way to avoid taking responsibility f*or our own thoughts, feelings, and actions.

Boredom, what’s “wrong” with it, and what it has to offer us.

The difference between being prepared for difficult situations and mentally living in a negative future.

How worrying what other people will think is hardwired into our brain as a survival tool.

Why beating yourself up for mistakes and missteps isn’t the way to change your habits.

Why you don’t need any more information before you start taking action.

Four questions you should ask yourself to understand what you think drinking gives you.

How you can start to talk to your inner toddler in a way that will help you move past all the negative emotions that can come up when you have to resist an urge.

How understanding the facts around the shift in your drinking habit can help you understand how the think-feel-act cycle fits in your brain’s search for an outlet for the negative emotions you were invariably feeling at the time.

A four-step response to desire that creates space between feeling an urge and acting upon it.

Why so many of us are terrified of who we are without alcohol.

How drinking cuts off our emotional experience before the emotions can naturally dissipate.

Why it’s so hard to dream, why it can be so difficult to create a vision, and why the habit of drinking will make it even harder.

Why so many of us are still dissatisfied even when we get what we think we want.

I’m combing through the archives of the past 99 episodes and pulling out some of the most important concepts and lessons from each episode.

How to uncover the thoughts and feelings that are driving your habit, even if you swear you’re not deciding to overdrink.

Why changing requires you to show up every single day and commit to taking action.

The Turnaround technique and how it can be used to challenge six common thoughts about drinking.

Why the key to change is focusing on the process of handling obstacles over and over again.

Why the key to change is focusing on the process of handling obstacles over and over again.

Why your brain wants proof that you can succeed before you take any action and how to create evidence for your brain that you are capable of shifting your desire.

Why countering your brain’s confirmation bias that you’re a quitter is incredibly important for changing your habits.

Why uncovering the real you can be so uncomfortable and confrontational and how shifting your thoughts away from just your actions can have a tremendous impact on your journey of taking a break.

Why anxiety is not a problem and how shifting your relationship makes all the difference.

Why we numb, how to tell when you’re using a numbing action to avoid facing your negative thoughts and emotions, and why awareness is key.

How you can build the skill of motivation by taking action every day.

How being attached to a story about who you are and a story about your personality actually prevents you from knowing yourself, from growing, and most importantly, from changing the habits that you want to change.

Why you believe that you want to be normal but you really don’t.

Why we judge other people harshly – and what that means about your thoughts about yourself.

Find out how making a small change to your thinking about being perfect all of the time can help you on your journey of changing your drinking.

How to handle the situations where someone is trying to persuade you to drink to help you feel empowered rather than pressured.

How using certain kinds of language when we don’t do as we planned impacts meaningful growth and how a subtle shift can make all the difference when you’re trying to change your drinking.

The real reasons why you might be having an issue with socializing without alcohol and how regular practice can make this process easier and more enjoyable.

How to stop your impulses from running your day and manage them as they arise to achieve your goals and build a better relationship with yourself in the process.

The tools that I taught myself when it came to changing my habit of drinking.

What good emotional health is all about (and this may actually surprise you) and what gets in the way of achieving it.

How to identify those permission-giving thoughts, call them out for what they are, and teach your brain that you’re the one that has the ultimate authority over the decisions you make.

Why we as human beings need markers and transitions in our everyday life and how using alcohol as a marker can get in the way when you want to change your habit of drinking.

Why your to-do lists may not be as helpful as you think and how they can actually work against you.

Go from the thoughts that you’ve possibly been thinking your entire life to thoughts that serve you on your journey of changing your drinking habits.

Why your desire for alcohol is so strong and how to completely lose that desire.

Why your enthusiasm starts to fade once you take action and why it’s absolutely normal.

Discover how to break the cycle of not taking action, save yourself a lot of lost time, and create sustainable change in your life.

Shake free of the stories that you’re telling yourself that are creating negative results for you right now.

The important distinction between cues and triggers and which word is more suitable in a particular situation.

If you’re going to change your drinking, you’ll need to disprove thoughts holding you back.

People-pleasing, the toll takes on you, and how it can get in the way of taking a break from drinking.

If taking a break from drinking leaves you feeling like you’re sitting at the kids’ table, it’s time to look at your beliefs around alcohol and what makes things fancy or sophisticated.

Become an observer of your thoughts and emotions and begin changing them to help you take a break from drinking in a sustainable way.

Many people know that their drinking habit is creating negative results in their life, but they can’t bring themselves to sit down and write out any of the exercises I teach because they’ve fallen into the trap of believing that putting something on paper makes it “real.”

Saying no to a drink is easy; the real challenge lies in dealing with the discomfort of an unanswered urge.

Explore the ins and outs of the “in-between” time: the place where you’re shedding one identity and beginning to create a new one. Why you need to learn how to navigate it, and how you can get started.

Learn why feeling pity for others isn’t helpful, the reason no one likes being pitied, and why it’s easy to fall into the trap of feeling sorry for yourself when it comes to your drinking.

Your body is telling you a story right now about your drinking. The question is: Are you listening?

The reason we are constantly in search of a reward when something good happens and the potential downsides of always augmenting positive emotions with food and alcohol.

This week on the Take a Break podcast, I’m discussing permission-giving thoughts, how they fuel the habit of drinking, and the most common one, “I deserve it.”

Past results are never an indicator of future success. If you keep looking backwards for evidence that you can’t change your drinking, you will never be able to change the habit.

This week, we look at why you’re really not enjoying yourself when you don’t have a drink in your hand.

Your opinion of you should be your number one priority. When you focus on what others think, it will keep you stuck and unable to change the habits that aren’t serving you. 

Discover an alternative to the common belief that we should remove all alcohol from our environment to successfully take a break from drinking.

Most people are conditioned to talk about overdrinking solely through the labels “alcoholic,” “sober,” or “recovered.” These labels don’t capture the varying degrees of struggle or the nature of how habits work. Listen to the benefits of describing the habit rather than labeling the person when it comes to changing your drinking.

Find out why you’re still not taking action when it comes to changing your drinking.

Why it helps to have a compelling reason if you want to take a break, how to find one, and how to avoid the most common pitfalls and misconceptions when using a compelling reason to motivate change.

Why alcohol and food are NOT your friends and how that thinking is holding you back from creating meaningful change in your life.

Why you’re actually moving backward if you’re not growing and how changing your view of discomfort will not only set you up to have an entirely different year but how it can set you up to have an entirely different life.

Tune in to find out why you should consider not settling when it comes to your health and see how much better you may feel after taking a break.

Learn how questions can keep you stuck and how asking yourself better questions can help change your habits.

Where your rebellion around drinking comes from and why it’s crucial to understand its origins when trying to take a break.

A deep dive into the Think Feel Act Cycle and a look at how to use this tool to transform your life.

When you want to change a habit you must pay attention to the language you use to describe your feelings, especially your desire.

Learn how to have a different holiday season this year without a drink in your hand.

Discover how paying attention to the subtle emotions that you’re experiencing throughout your day can help you reduce your urge to drink.

No one ever teaches us how to celebrate ourselves but it’s an incredibly powerful skill. Tune in to learn how.

Discover why you really dislike spending time alone, and how developing this skill can help you change your drinking.

Learn about the unexpected downside of being “blessed” and how this idea can actually backfire when it comes to changing your drinking.

What you might discover if you take a break from drinking.

It’s easy to assume that certain relationships will make it difficult for you to change your drinking, but there’s a simple reason why that’s never the case.

The simple reason behind why your brain thinks changing habits is too much work, and how to overcome it.

Six things you shouldn’t do if you want to take a break from drinking, unless you want to end up exactly where you started.

Learn how labeling alcohol as positive or negative can affect how you see yourself when you’re trying to change the habit.

Humans are built for connection but if you’re not careful you might unknowingly teach your brain to outsource this skill to a drink.

Learn how your opposition to waste and certain visual cues can disconnect you from your internal understanding of when your body is truly satisfied.

An in-depth look at how the habit cycle works and how to harness it in order to change your desire.

Why you’re so afraid to look at what isn’t working and why it’s impossible to change course if you’re hiding.

Why you absolutely must stop avoiding negative emotions if you want to use the Think, Feel, Act Cycle as a tool for changing your drinking.

There’s an easy way to stop beating yourself up (and no, it’s not practicing more kindness and love).

Why you continuously need “something” to lessen the stress and anxiety you feel at the end of the day, and the reason pouring a drink to take the edge off isn’t sustainable.

If you’ve ever wondered why you sometimes feel at odds with yourself when it comes to having a drink, you’ll want to check out this episode.

Learn what happens when you escalate discomfort into chaos, and how it can get in the way of changing of your drinking.

Discover the difference between creating and consuming fun, how shifting from consuming to creating is necessary if you want to take a break from drinking and become a more interesting person in the process.

How two thoughts, “I’m no fun when I don’t drink” and “This event will be unbearable without booze,” are keeping you stuck, and how to stop outsourcing the perception of fun to alcohol.

What happens to your brain when you think, “What if I fail?” and why you need to learn to deal with this thought.

Discover a simple, yet powerful process of uncovering your compelling reason to change your drinking.

How a single thought can hold you back and keep you stuck in the never-ending cycle of feeling miserable, powerless, and probably pouring yourself a drink to escape.

Learn what creates your results in life, and how easy it can be to get into a pattern of turning to a drink (or other distractions) to feel better when you don’t like what you see.

How to understand your actions and why you do the things that you do in your life.

Learn how your emotions differ from your thoughts and why this distinction is crucial to figuring out the reason why you drink more than you want.

The think, feel, act cycle affects everything we do. In order to understand how to use it to change your drinking and reduce your desire, you must first understand the role of your thoughts.

Changing your drinking does take effort, but there’s a huge (unexpected) benefit waiting for you on the other side.

What really happens when you “fall off the wagon” and why this phrase can undermine your commitment to change your drinking.

Why it’s important to question your thoughts, the ones that you hold on to as the “truth,” to determine whether or not they are holding you back from achieving your goals.

Discover how you can get the complete picture surrounding your drinking and gain a new perspective beneficial to positive change.

Listen in as I explain why so many of us use pouring a drink to hide from perfectionism and people pleasing and why it’s so difficult to cut back.

What deprivation is all about, what creates it, and why you don’t have to constantly tell yourself, “I’m just going to have to live with this for the rest of my life”

The sticking points of cutting back when we focus on the past and what we can do to “change our past.”

Why it’s so important to examine how alcohol is helping us in our daily lives and how we use it to “solve” our problems quickly and easily.

In this episode, we’re delving deeper into the desire to drink and talking about urges – what they are and how to best handle them.

When most people decide to take a break from drinking they look forward to waking up clear headed but worry that they’re signing up for new form of suffering: always missing out.

Are you endlessly agonizing about what to do about your drinking? Here are the four main reasons you’re stuck in indecision.

If you take a break from drinking, you might be worried about how to handle people’s questions. Here’s why you don’t need the perfect answer.

Find out what confidence really is and why it’s so easy to fall into the trap of thinking that we need a drink to feel more self-assured and at ease in social situations.

Join me today as I explore why we use alcohol to unwind and what we’re teaching our brain when we do.

Learn why using willpower to try to drink less is not the answer and why it’s easy to get caught in the desire-resist cycle. 

Welcome to the very first episode of Take a Break from Drinking. This podcast is for you if you are looking to slow down, or even quit, drinking but don’t know how.