The reason that you started drinking is something that’s personal to you. Maybe you were trying to numb yourself to something you were feeling, or maybe you just gave it a try with friends and had a perfectly fine relationship with alcohol until, eventually, it wasn’t so fine anymore. Some people manage to keep things under control for years after their first drink, sometimes a traumatic event will happen and they’ll turn to the alcohol to try to cope, or sometimes a drinking habit just gradually gets out of hand without any giant catalyst.
No matter why you started drinking, you need to find your reasons to stop drinking. There are some very broad reasons to quit drinking like improving your health (physical and mental), maintaining a healthier weight, learning to enjoy life more and to live life to its fullest, and more. But broad reasons like that aren’t always effective goals for everyone, so we’ll encourage you to contemplate and reflect on the reasons that you want to stop drinking so that you can come up with very specific motivations.
Focused Reasons to Stop Drinking vs. Broad Reasons to Quit Drinking
“I want to be healthier!”
“I want to look better!”
“I want to save money!”
‘I want to succeed at work!”
“I want to repair my relationships!”
These are all good reasons to stop drinking, but they’re also very broad reasons. The problem with programming your brain to accept these broad goals is that it doesn’t force you to recognize, and face, the true consequences of a drinking problem.
When you choose more specific reasons, you’ll feel a closer connection to them. When you think about why you’re not drinking, it will make your will-power stronger because it will feel more concrete and less abstract. To help illustrtae this, let’s turn those reasons mentioned above into something more specific, one at a time.
I want to be healthier = I want to avoid damaging my vital organs, I want to stop increasing my risks for a number of diseases and health conditions, I want to feel better when I wake up.
I want to look better = I want to look alive, healthy, and have an easier time maintaining a healthy body composure. When I{ drink alcohol, I don’t sleep well, I don’t look well-rested the next day, I’m not at my best.
I want to save money = If I didn’t spend so much money on alcohol, I wouldn’t have to worry about bills as much, and I’d be working towards a long-term goal for my future.
I want to succeed at work = I want to do my job better so that I’ll be able to accomplish my career goals. Alcohol prevents me from doing my best at work, it causes me to miss days, and it’s holding me back.
I want to repair my relationships = My addiction has an impact on those who are close to me, I could be a better partner/parent/friend if I was sober.
Your reasons can be different than the ones above, but notice how the new versions are a little more specific and actionable? It gives you more to think about. “Just be healthier” doesn’t quite hit the same as “I’m cutting my life short with my addiction, but it doesn’t have to be like this.”
The path to recovery can be different for each person, what works for one may not work as well for another. Part of the process is accepting responsibility for what you can control, and empowering yourself to make the right decisions, but part of it also involves recognizing that you need help with this. If you’ve been trying to quit alcohol on your own, and it hasn’t worked yet, please understand that seeking help is a very valid part of the process. It doesn’t mean you’re weaker, it just means that your alcoholism is a little more than you can handle all alone, and that’s okay, because you don’t have to handle it all along.
You Can Find Your Own Reasons to Stop Drinking – And Use Them Everyday!
Find your reasons to stop drinking, write them down, memorize them, think about them and let them slowly build into a fortress around you that can help protect you from those dangerous cravings that can de-rail your progress.
