To My Friend: 11/19/2022 Why wait until Jan 1, 2023 to start a new habit? Why dig the hole you are in any deeper? The pull to drink alcohol is in you. You hear the voice. But there is a voice in there too that wants you to change. If you do nothing, you know where this path will lead. When you hear “Now is not the right now time - we have the holidays coming” Which voice is this talking to you?
No rock bottom. Just a desire to be free of the repeating behavior of drinking more than I intended followed by empty promises for change. From the time I wanted to quit to my last drink was about 3 years. How did I know 3 years ago it was my last drink? I had no idea. I had quit and started drinking again so many times. But I knew that my time between was quitting was getting shorter.
The best advice I heard and verified in my own life is the following for quitting something. Keep quitting until you have quit. Step 1: Decide that you are going to make a change. You know without a shred of doubt that it is bad for you. Step 2: Never doubt the decision. Step 3: (if needed) If you fail, repeat steps 1 and 2. How To Track Your Way to Success!
I started my journey in the summer of 2016. I wanted to change my relationship with alcohol. I was not sure exactly how or what I needed to do and I think I did what most people do when they think they might have a problem with something, they take a break from it. So that is what I did. I started with a 30 day personal challenge. 2016 and 2017 I would repeat a pattern.