What To Know
- “I’ll just quit for a month and we’ll be all good” Something I use to say to myself quite often to “reset my body” and “become a normal drinker” HA.
- Generally, when times get tough and we do it on our own, we have no one to go to, no one to lean on, and usually, our only way to cope is to go back to old habits.
3 Minute Read.
“I’ll just quit for a month and we’ll be all good” Something I use to say to myself quite often to “reset my body” and “become a normal drinker” HA! yeah, that wasn’t happening.
Getting sober is tough, and I’ve seen and tried so many tactics in my life while I attempting to get sober, and so many either just don’t work, or aren’t supportive enough in creating long-term sobriety. We do things to get sober that often leave us not overly committed or minimise the devastation that addiction is actually having on our life.
In this article, i’m going to highlight four key things people continue to do to kick their addiction, that quite frankly don’t work, and really only serve as a weak band-aid to our attempts in getting sober.
Getting sober doesn’t mean doing it on your own
One of the biggest mistakes people make in getting sober for good is doing it all on their own. People who live alone, are introverted, or don’t like failing in something are especially susceptible to this (which was exactly me back in the day).
We can never quit on our own, and we must seek the support of others and get accountable. Generally, when times get tough and we do it on our own, we have no one to go to, no one to lean on, and usually, our only way to cope is to go back to old habits.
If you are not getting accountable and burning your bridges, this is the number one place to start.
You quit for a short time and then everything is “all good”
A very common lie that every addict say to themselves after a period of sobriety is “I got this” or “I think the addiction has passed now”, This is, and will always be, your addiction lying to you.
I’ve relapsed countless times because I thought I was all good, I even rewarded myself with a month of sobriety, with booze.
Cravings can also really throw us off judgment with this one, and do you know what one of the first steps for conquering them is? Burning the bridges.
You deny and minise
Excess of anything, especially something like alcohol always has us questioning whether we have a problem. It can be hard too because the severity of a deep-seated addiction can often distort your perception of what is normal.
Addiction distorts our life, and from an internal perspective, it can be hard for us to see the chaos going on, hindering our attempts in getting sober.
My advice for this one is to look at the ripple effects that happen when you give into your addiction, who suffers when you selfishly revert back to your old habits.
Secondly, ask your peers, because often you can’t see it, but to your friends and family, it’s clear as day.
You don’t look after your body
Most often, people attempt to quit their addiction, but there is no attempt to look after their body, which just sets us up for failure.
To create a long-lasting sober life, we must ensure we’re exercising adequately, staying hydrated, eating well, and not pounding the pavement on next to zero hours of sleep.
Sure, the act of quitting can seem easy, but if we don’t stop throwing junk into our gaping maws, and sit around doing nothing, it’s going to be a lot harder to stay motivated and quit for good.
The Takeaway
If we don’t implement long-lasting tactical strategies that work towards keeping us sober, we will always be fighting an uphill battle. Of course, there are always challenges no matter the approach, but if we use ones that are most effective, we vastly increase our chances of living an addiction-free life, without limits.
If you have any feedback regarding this article, reach out. Help Clarity reach more people and quit addiction by following us on Instagram, it’s also the perfect place to message us and ask questions!
All the best in health,
Former Drinker & Clinical Nutritionist
Stephen Brumwell.
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Former drinker, Nutritionist, Biohacking enthusiast, self-experimenter, research fanatic, and self-taught writer, Stephen immerses himself deep into the literature of human optimisation and better understand the nature of addiction. His goal is to help people take control of their addiction, reset their cravings, unscramble their broken brain circuitry and use actionable strategies that work ten times better than anything else.