You don't have to give up your social life when you are on your journey to drink less. You probably have questions about what's it's going to be like when you are in the midst of not drinking.
Can you have fun without drinking?
How will my friends react?
Will I feel self-conscious without a little liquid courage?
The first suggestion I can offer you is that it is up to you how you handle social situations when you are early in the journey to cut back and take a break. You know you best! But, I'm happy to give you some suggestions.
Some people like to put their social lives on hold because they believe their desire will over power them. Isolation is not going to help you in the long run. And eventually you will need to learn how to navigate you life where ever alcohol is served. Alcohol is not going away. So the only thing you can control is YOU and your MIND!
I'm sure your goal is to be able to take it or leave. But give yourself some time to figure this out.
You can start by building a toolbox to help you when you're tempted to say, "yes" when you really want it to be a "no".
What are some thoughts that you can create that make you feel self-confident, or in control?
My go to answer is, "I'm not drinking tonight" or "I prefer not to drink".
Now it's not in what you say... it's also in how you say it. You can practice saying it with confidence. Remember, no one is perfect on their first try and many people practice a speech or announcement before they go into a crowd.
As you build up your self trust and reset your mind (create new neural pathways that are strong against the desire to drink) you can make a decision as to how you enter your social life.
With that said I want you to remember that the only hold alcohol has on you is what you practiced and created in your thoughts. It's a deep belief system.
You are creating your desire.
You are creating the deprivation by the thoughts you choose to have.
You might say, "I don't have any control over my desire". It might seem like that at first, however over time and with the right guidance of a step by step process you'll start to see how desire begins in your mind.
The good news is since you created your desire you can unlearn it as well.
One more thing...The social scene that you want to partake in is all about the people there... not the booze.
If you would like further guidance... I'm here for you! Remember I offer FREE discovery calls. They last 20 minutes and we can create your goals to drink less.
✅ P.S. Need a simple to follow step-by-step process to drink less? Check out my signature programs HERE.