152. Test Drive

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Hello, and welcome to this episode of the Drink Less, live better podcast. This is the podcast that helps you to see that

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drinking less doesn't need to be stressful, lonely, or boring. I'm your host, Sarah Williamson, and I decided to have a year

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alcohol free as a little life experiment and haven't looked back. I'm a best selling author, expert speaker, corporate workshop

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facilitator, and life coach. I'm here to support you with your alcohol free or drink less adventures. Keep up to date. Follow

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me on Instagram at drink less, live better, and head to the website drink less, live better.com where you'll be able to sign

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up to the 5 day drink less experiment, find blog posts, and you can choose to join the email club, where I share resources,

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wisdom, insights, and glimmers of hope and joy. I hope you enjoy today's episode. Let's get straight to it. Test driving.

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2,024 me is different to 2019 me, and also 1999 me and 1989 me, of course. All different versions of who I and who I was.

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I'm here to tell you that 2025 me and beyond are also going to be different. We're We're human. We're supposed to change.

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When someone says, oh, you've changed, we tend to see or receive that as negative. Well, not anymore, kitten. Not anymore.

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How do we change? There are many, many more ways than I can squidge into a 5 minute podcast, but here is one idea for today.

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Test driving. My teens were falling about laughing at my old passport photo from 1994 this week. They fully enjoyed seeing

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my goth mode activated, and I looked a bit like Morticia Adams. That was a test drive moment, which was unfortunately caught

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on camera for the next 10 years of my life. More recent test drives of mine have included pottery classes, wearing bright

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pink lipstick, and moving from cowboy boots back to DMs. I mean, nothing life changing here apart from it absolutely is. Trying

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on a new outward identity helps me to get closer to the inward identity. That truly brings me calm, peace, fun. Guess what?

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It's not clubbing 5 star hotels or designer handbags. It's altogether quieter activities. I've been on a decluttering mission

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recently and shedding some of the clothing, equipment, and resources resources of pursuits and lifestyles I no longer engage

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in has been really freeing. It's been making room for the new things. I love test driving with my family. I've got a long

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term wish to spend time in a beaut in beautiful cabins, so we recently holidayed in a log cabin and I've booked another one

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for later this year, test driving for me and also seeing who else is up for the ride. Test driving outward ways of being are

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important to me. I've shared most of my grey, black, navy clothes from pre 2019. I love vibrant, colored, and patterned sweaters.

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That purple hair I had, it's gone. Pink hair now, and I won't ever say sorry for it. Approximately once a day somebody out

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and about will say something like oh, I love your hair or oh, pink hair, that's interesting or wow, that's a brave choice

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I might say thank you or I know right or it's not brave it's just fun. Occasionally I'll get into a lengthy conversation about

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it. I love those ones. Oh, why did you do it? How do you do it? Oh, what do your kids think about that? I love it. Anyway,

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that's an example of test driving an outward way of being, and it did start out as a test drive. If I didn't like it, I could

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go back to purple hair or brown or, shh, my actual normal color, gray? Test driving inward ways of being. This is a work in

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progress here, aren't we all? Over the last few years, I've become much more conscious of my internal narrative. How do I

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speak to myself, and what do I say? Could I try to bring a bit more compassion in? Could I try to test whether what I just

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said is actually true or not? What has helped? Well, some brilliant coaching and therapy has been really useful. I've been

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able to say out loud some of my thoughts and feelings that I never would have spoken before. I've had my words reflected back

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to me, which has helped me decide whether I want the words, whether I need them, or whether I like them. I've often said,

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right, I'm going to say the next thing out loud to try it on for size and then I'll decide if I'm keeping it or not. I love

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that opportunity to say something out loud and then say, no, actually not that. That was wrong. I'm not keeping that. Test

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driving. See? I'd love to know what you're test driving at the moment. What's been a short term test drive and what are you

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sticking with as a result of a successful test drive? What have you tried and then left? For me, stiletto heels. No thanks.

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Thanks so much for listening in today. Come back again next week. I'd massively appreciate it if you could subscribe, rate,

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and review the podcast. Well, do that if you love it, obviously. If you didn't love it, you wouldn't still be listening, so

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I think I'm alright asking for your support at this point. Check out the show notes for a link to a hidden podcast episode

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that will help you with your 5 PM cravings and details about my one to 1 life coaching and sober coaching programs. And PS,

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I believe in you.