Why quitting alcohol without a plan beforehand usually fails

Recently I’ve spent a bit of time in various Facebook groups aimed at those who are trying to quit alcohol and get sober. Im just over a year sober now myself, and I want to share how I did it as I took a very different approach than most. I had no relapses, no cravings, and just left alcohol behind me and moved to the next chapter.

The first reason why many people struggle is that they dont have a strong reason to do so. They know what they are giving up, but they don’t fully know why they are doing it. It feels like you are surrendering something without any clear benefits. I will go into this wider in my other blogs, as want to keep them short!

The second reason is that they dont have a clear plan how to quit. Once Ive picked my date I decided to go sober, I tapered down first, making my withdrawals not as severe. I was very strategic and took a few days off to go through the worst, without having to worry about the work.

But the third reason is the most important one - they dont have a clear plan what they are going to do in sobriety. And when they go sober, reality kicks in very quick. They go through withdrawals, which is hard on its own, but then the reality kicks in and their only joy to escape it is not there anymore. Its not enough just twiddling your thumbs and count the days you’re sober, unfortunately. What I did before stopping is I got excited about my new life and had a plan what I will do in  sobriety. Even though I didnt do much in the first couple of months, I still did some thinking on my plan and was excited enough to wait it out to jump to action.

I found this super helpful. I had a good reason to stay sober. When you get sober, life hits you - you realise in what a mess your life turned into. And you cant escape it. Its chaos in all areas in your life. It gets overwhelming, and its hand both physically and psychologically. 

Hence I address this issue. first thing in my course, before even trying to actually quit - you need to take stock of your life, organise it, simplify it, download all your thoughts on paper. You need to create a vision that you are excited about and a realistic plan to get there. Only then you can worry about other steps that follow that, where I go in detail how to follow through to sobriety.

If this resonates with you in any way, check out my free course, there is no signing up needed. Its open to everyone. What do you have to lose?

So, to sum up, trying to quit drinking from a place of chaos doesnt work. At least it didnt for me. You need to be more strategic Im afraid. 

Take care,

Liam