246. You can start today

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Hello and welcome to this episode of the Drink Less Live Better Podcast. I'm your host Sarah Williamson.

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Be sure to follow me on Instagram @drinkleslivebetter and head to the website drinkleslivebetter.com where you can sign up

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for the 5-day Drink Less Experiment, download my free Habit Tracker and join my email club for regular inspiration, ideas

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and resources to help you live better.

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Today's episode is called youd Can Start Today and yes I really do mean today and right now.

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I want to talk to you and I mean just you, you listening to me right now, who perhaps has been thinking about making a change.

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Maybe it's drinking less, maybe it's stopping drinking for a while, Maybe it's shifting another habit you've held onto for

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years but you keep hesitating, you keep telling yourself I'll get round to that soon, you keep waiting for the right time,

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the perfect moment, Monday or the first of the month or of course the first of the year.

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And let me remind you of something powerful, you don't have to wait for any of that, you can start today.

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We love a big declaration, a grand reset, a bold announcement that this time everything is going to be different and sometimes that helps.

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It creates energy and gives us something to rally around but so often all that build-up becomes pressure and pressure becomes procrastination or permanent inaction. Sad story but.

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True. Most of the meaningful changes we make in our lives don't come from big dramatic moments, they come from small quiet

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decisions or small actions repeated over time.

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They come from a gentle recommitment to ourselves.

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They come from noticing what helps us feel better and choosing that again and again. Habits.

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The ones that really support us are built over a lifetime, not a month.

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Not in one single leap, not in a shiny New Year's announcement.

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They're built in the ordinary moments, the private moments that nobody will even know if I do this moments.

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And actually, Those moments are the perfect moments because when you choose something good for yourself quietly, without the

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need for applause or approval from anyone else, you're strengthening your relationship with you.

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You're proving to yourself that you matter, that you are worth supporting, that you can create change.

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And that brings me nicely onto alcohol.

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This time of year the messaging is everywhere.

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Celebrations, parties, cozy nights in, festive bottles, you deserve this, treat yourself, go on it's Christmas, don't be a

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party pooper, ugh I could go on.

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The pressure to drink can feel relentless and because it's so normalized it's easy to think that drinking is just what you're supposed to do right now.

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And I want you to hear this very clearly: you: can choose differently, you're allowed to do what feels right for you and you don't have to join in.

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If alcohol has been feeling all too present in your life lately or for a long time you don't have to push yourself through

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December with a plan to sort it out in January.

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You don't have to wait for New Year's Day, you don't need.

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A fresh calendar to begin a fresh choice. You can have a dry December.

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You can start all of this before the 1st of January. You can begin today.

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My last day of drinking several years ago was the 7th of December.

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I worked out I didn't need a first of the month or year date to make a change.

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I figured out I had never had a New Year's resolution that I'd seen all the way through to Jan from January to December. Ever.

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There's something very liberating about deciding quietly for yourself that you are ready to feel better now, not later.

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Not after one more round of social obligations, not once this period has calmed down, but now.

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Starting today doesn't mean you have to overhaul your whole life, you don't have to tell everyone you've ever met that you're

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doing a dry month, you don't need a public declaration or a perfectly written social media post, you can simply begin.

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Here is what starting today might look like.

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Maybe tonight you choose a different drink.

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Maybe you say no to something you would usually say yes to.

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Maybe you go to bed earlier and wake up feeling a tiny bit more like yourself.

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Maybe you make a plan for the next 24 hours, just 24 hours and you commit to that.

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Maybe you decide that this December your well-being gets to matter more than tradition, pressure or expectation.

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You might feel a mixture of motivation and resistance, that's normal.

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Change almost always comes with conflict, part of you wants to make a shift and part of you is frightened of what that shift might mean.

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I see you there holding both sides at the same time.

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And I want you to know you can still begin.

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You don't have to have perfect confidence.

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You just need a bit of willingness.

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Let me remind you once again: you: don't need to wait.

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If you're thinking of drinking less, start today.

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If you're thinking of taking a break from alcohol, start today.

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If you're thinking of giving yourself a calmer, clearer December, start today.

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Your future self will be so glad you didn't put it off.

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If you enjoyed this episode please follow, subscribe, rate and review Drink Less Live Better wherever you listen to your podcasts

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and if you'd like more support in learning to trust yourself and live with greater confidence and calm visit drinklesslivebetter.com

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Check out the show notes for a link to a hidden podcast episode that will help you with your 5pm cravings and details about

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my one-to-one life coaching and sober coaching programs.