Written by: Chris Janssen, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Want to change your relationship with alcohol? Your timing is perfect. These days, sober is sexy. And asking thoughtful questions or seeking support no longer requires anonymity. The big 2022 bonus? Twelve Step programs aren’t your only option.
So, what’s your relationship with alcohol? Fun? Easy? Exhausting? Complicated? If your current alcohol connection isn’t the one you want, you have the power to change it.
Here are some tipsy-free tips:
Discover what need or desire you quench with alcohol. Then brainstorm alternative methods. Create new, rewarding rituals from your answers.
Research the effects of alcohol on your physical and mental health, productivity, relationships, and emotions. (You’ll discover that alcohol intensifies anxiety, depression, memory loss, bad skin, poor sleep, dehydration, and more.) That knowledge will provide scientific rather than stigmatic motivation as you thoughtfully consider your consumption.
Recognize the marketing messages bombarding you. Although the tide is changing, plenty of cultural norms still bank on you accepting alcohol as the ideal way to connect, celebrate, or take the edge off after work. For every romanticized benefit of alcohol, there are more downsides.
Choose a mocktail and skip the drawbacks. There’s an ever-expanding world of exciting, alcohol-free options on menus, online, and in stores.
Embrace a mindset of abundance rather than scarcity. When you perceive something as gained, that mindset points you in the direction you want to go rather than lingering on lack. For example, if sobriety is the best path for you, speak and think of gaining sobriety instead of quitting drinking.
Consciously consider your choice ahead of time — be it cocktail, mocktail, or abstinence. And stick to it. Hunger, mood, blood sugar, energy level, and peer pressure often dictate in-the-moment decisions.
Many new and excellent resources are available — whether you’re living sober, sober-curious, or searching for ways to become a more mindful drinker. You are not alone! You can find a community that suits you with a simple online search. Check out these sites to help you change your relationship with alcohol:
No part of this article may be reproduced online or in print without the author’s written permission. © 2022 Chris Janssen
Look for Chris Janssen’s upcoming book, Living All In: How to Show Up for the Life You Want, available Fall 2022 on Amazon.
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Chris Janssen, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Chris Janssen is a Board Certified Life Coach with an honest, strategic style who helps her clients master habits and skills to move toward and thrive in what they love. Chris excels in working with high performers and understands the character traits associated with driven achievers. As a trained Business Coach, Chris specializes in closing the gap between where a company or individual is and where they want to be. Chris partners with her clients to access their creativity and resourcefulness necessary to achieve the sustainable results they want. She cares deeply about her clients' careers, relationships, spirituality, wellness, health, patterns, and mindsets. Chris says her clients are experts at what they do and she is an expert at the psychology of what they do. Together they are unstoppable.
