164. The Introvert Hangover

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Hello darling heart, and welcome to this episode of the Drink Less, Live Better podcast.

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This is the podcast that helps you to see that drinking less doesn't need to be stressful, lonely, or boring.

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I'm your host, Sarah Williamson, and I decided to have a year alcohol free as a little life experiment and haven't looked back.

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I'm a best selling author, expert speaker, and life coach.

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I'm here to champion you with your alcohol free or drink less adventures.

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Give me a follow on Instagram at drink less, live better, and head to the website drink less, live better.com, where you will

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

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share resources, wisdom, insights, and glimmers of hope and joy. I hope you enjoy this episode. Let's get straight to it. I've got an introvert hangover.

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Now, it's the only kind of hangover that I'm likely to have these days, and in many ways, I'm delighted about that.

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I could perhaps also reframe it as social burnout, but I think I prefer the term introvert hangover. What is an introvert?

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The most basic explanation is that an introvert gets their energy from spending time alone or with a limited number of people.

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And an extrovert gets their energy from spending time with other people.

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I used to assume and think that I was an extrovert.

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All of those stories I could tell you about being first on the dance floor, last off the dance floor, the final one ordering

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the tequila shots at the bar surrounding myself with plenty of people on nights out, dinners out, clubbing nights, all of

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the things, would have led an outsider looking in to assume I was an extrovert.

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I loved being at the centre of it all and being around other people.

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Now I know myself better, those kinds of situations

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a time a time, having depth y conversations. Or guess what?

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Sitting in silence doing an activity alongside each other is great. I love walking with other people. I love brunch dates.

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I love things that ultimately look a lot less exciting, again, if you were an outsider looking in.

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But I'm not an outsider looking in at my life. I am me. I am the inside. I am the outside. I am all of me.

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As an introvert I am not shy and I'm not socially withdrawn.

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I actually always say when I am on a stage standing talking to loads of people at a time that no one is more surprised than

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me to find myself in this situation surrounded by lots and lots of different people.

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But in that situation I still get to tell my story, share my wisdom and my insights to a large number of people at a time,

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but I don't have to absorb all of their energy. And that feels great.

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At the moment, I am mackered, physically and emotionally.

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I am craving some quiet space and some time alone, where I can give myself the opportunity to focus on how I am actually feeling

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at the moment and what I am thinking about, the last few weeks have been a bit of a blur.

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I have been to various different in real life local networking events and I haven't really done that in the years since my business has been in operation.

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I've been working online with people that I love around my business but not in person.

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And I've enjoyed some of the things that I've done in real life over the last few months, and I've pure hated others of them.

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I know what I will go back to, and I know what I absolutely won't.

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I've been doing some in real life training with people and really actually enjoying that because that's been in small groups.

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Did I mention that I'd been to Buckingham Palace?

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I'd love to tell you that that garden party was an intimate little affair with, I don't know, a couple of 100 people there, but it wasn't. It was huge.

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It was glorious, but it is the most people I've been around for a long, long time.

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I've done some in real life training as well as networking, and I've really enjoyed that.

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I've really enjoyed meeting the new people that I've done through that.

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That was one of the main purposes, so that can only be a good thing.

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I'm just back from B wild, the most glorious wellness and well-being weekend surrounded by about 60 to 70 other people who

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are all at different phases on their sobriety journey. We were listening to inspiring speakers.

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I suppose I should mention that I was one of them, although I wouldn't label myself as inspiring.

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We were doing outdoor crafts, there was artistic activities. There was singing. There was yoga. There was sound baths. It was so lovely.

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Driving away from there, I really appreciated the time in the quiet in the car on my way back, just having the opportunity

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to reflect on what a fabulous time it had been.

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Tomorrow, I'm at the Mind, Body and Spirit Festival in Olympia, London, speaking on stage, again about sobriety, and I can't wait.

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I will be surrounded by thousands of people there but I'm really looking forward to it. I've resourced myself.

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I know what I need to do before.

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I know what I'll be doing afterwards.

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So how has my introvert hangover shown up this week?

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Well, I've struggled to make a few decisions.

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I haven't been thinking as clearly as I do ordinarily, and I've actually found making small talk really quite tricky.

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So I know that what I need to do is spend a bit more time by myself.

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I'm really looking forward to my train drive up to London tomorrow in silence, all by myself.

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I'm going on a long walk by myself this afternoon.

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I've also got an appointment at the dentist, which doesn't sound like much fun, but I'm going to go for a cup of tea by myself before that. And this evening, I've got yoga. An introvert hangover is no joke.

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We need to find our way out of it as gently and as softly as we can do if we are people who recognize that we do get energy from time spent alone.

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And that is a really good realisation to come to. Thank you for listening in today. Come back again next week.

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Check out today's show notes and find out about the ways we could work together.

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Let's get you some forward focus on this next bit of your glorious life. And, PS, I believe in you.