Why Going Alcohol-Free The Hack That Could Help You Achieve Your Goals This Year
(Especially if you’re a casual or social drinker)
Over seven years ago, I made the challenging decision to pursue sobriety electively (meaning it was a conscious choice rather than a consequence - as we often view sobriety in our society).
The decision to remove alcohol from my life was challenging for several reasons:
I didn’t “have a problem” by clinical standards. There was nothing extraordinary about my relationship with alcohol. I was a casual/social drinker. There were no “signs” that pointed to me needing to quit.
Alcohol is one of the most common ways to connect socially. Although the rule is typically left unspoken; it’s fairly clear that drinking is normal and abstaining is abnormal.
In my mind, the reasons to continue drinking outweighed the social “consequences” of abstaining. Sure, I was aware that alcohol isn’t “healthy”, but like most drinkers, I shrugged off the possible negative effects in order to enjoy the perceived benefits of using alcohol as a social lubricant and emotional bandaid.
And yet, at an outward high-point in my professional and personal life, I found myself feeling unfulfilled and off-track. I started to wonder if my - albeit normal - relationship with alcohol might be contributing to the “stuck” feeling.
Here’s why: No matter how many of the boxes of outward “success” I checked, internally I felt anxious, overwhelmed, and dissatisfied. A relentless go-getter, I started attacking the problem from all facets - I enrolled in therapy, engaged mentors, developed a spiritual practice - you name it, I tried it. But nothing seemed to move the needle in a meaningful way.
Finally, I got the intuition that it wasn’t so much about what I could add to my life to improve it, but what I might remove. Or as bestselling author of Atomic Habits, James Clear says, “The ultimate form of optimization is elimination. Nothing is more effective than removing the ineffective.”
I’m willing to bet that, if you’re like me - an ambitious, intelligent, capable, casual drinker - reconsidering your relationship with alcohol could be the silver bullet that gives you a personal and professional competitive edge that cannot be matched.
In my 7 years of elective sobriety, I’ve achieved bigger dreams with more ease than I ever did in more than a decade as a drinker. And the results aren’t isolated. I now run my own successful coaching business where I support other high-achieving women who want to break up with alcohol and break through to the lives they desire.
Here is a peak to what you might expect if you pursue a change in your relationship with alcohol…
If you want to achieve your goals more quickly - stop drinking for 6 months
If you have a big goal that’s on a deadline, there is no greater gift than you can give yourself than the gift of clarity and focus, which is exactly what you’ll get if you abstain from drinking for 6-months.
You’ll notice I’m not recommending you cut back for 6 months (sure, that’s not a bad idea), but if you want to experience consistent clarity, creativity, motivation, focus, and energy you’ll receive the biggest benefit with total abstinence.
Why? Because your body doesn’t process alcohol at the snap of a finger (a reality that’s only more daunting as we all age). Even though you might not feel hungover, your body is still being affected by alcohol on the days you’re not drinking. Specifically, alcohol changes the way your brain processes information and handles adversity.
Once you experience the positive effects of having alcohol out of your system, you’ll realize how much of an impact drinking was having on your performance.
If you want to consistently achieve your goals with less stress and more ease - stop drinking for a year.
Giving up alcohol for a longer stretch will have even more astounding effects. In addition to the clarity you gain from having alcohol out of your system, you’ll also be challenged to conquer situations where you would have before used alcohol as a social lubricant or emotional crutch.
Although this can initially feel confronting or stressful, each time you navigate a situation alcohol-free, your confidence will grow. As your confidence increases, so too will your sense of self-worth.
In my experience, outward confidence doesn’t always translate to self-worth. I work with a lot of successful women who have an inner track of head-trash that’s pretty gnarly. But, once you start proving to yourself that you have what it takes to handle whatever life throws at you - stress, pressure, anxiety, anger, and frustration without blurring the edges - you’ll start to feel pretty damn invincible
If you want to unlock new, next-level, wildest-dream-level goals - stop drinking altogether.
If you’re a spiritual person, you’ve no doubt been introduced to the concept of manifestation. If you’ve been skeptical about such a concept, reserve your judgments and go with me here for a moment.
From a metaphysical perspective, everything has “energy” - you’ve likely heard of environments or experiences referred to as “high vibe” or “low vibe” which is a reference to this energy. Point blank: Alcohol is a low vibe substance with a negative energy (it’s a depressant, afterall), that lowers your personal energetic vibration. With a substance like alcohol dragging you down, it becomes more difficult to pursue your higher vibe dreams and desires.
For me, this felt like I was always facing some tremendous unseen resistance; like I was always trudging uphill. Sure, I achieved a lot of my goals, but not without struggle. Although I used to have a certain level of pride in my resilience, I can also tell you that achieving my goals has become much less stressful and strenuous with alcohol out of the way.
Additionally, with alcohol out of the way, I found that I was able to dream bigger. Suddenly, I had clarity around big picture goals that seemed like mere fantasies before. I’m proud to report that, in just a few short years, I’ve made most of those wildest-dream-level goals a reality with relative ease.
Now, I want you to know that my results are not an anomaly. I’ve since reverse-engineered the processes and practices that I implemented in my own life so that I could teach them to other women who were interested in breaking up with alcohol and breaking through to the lives they desire.
If that sounds like you, I’ve included a quick list of way I can support you on your journey below.