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One New Year’s Eve, I drank so much at our ‘pre-party’ that I fell asleep at the table during dinner with my wife.
With New Year’s Eve upon us, I felt it appropriate to talk with you about alcohol today:
The Big Picture 🖼️
Explain It To Me Like I’m 5 👦
Physical Effects 🤢
How I Approach Alcohol With Clients 🍸
A Celebratory Toast 🎊
Parting Zen 🧘♂️
The Big Picture 🖼️
I’ve consumed more than enough alcohol for multiple lifetimes.
I’ve drunk myself sick, out cold, embarrassed, stupid, and dangerous.
I’ve also gone cold turkey (for a whole year) and drank responsibly for extended periods.
There are many different reasons we drink:
To celebrate happy occasions
To avoid feeling feelings
To model role models
To fit in with friends
To validate a story
To self-destruct
While most are negative, I am not declaring any as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ reasons.
If there is any judgment to make, they are all good reasons to drink.
‘Good’ because we need negativity to create positivity.
We need pain to grow.
We also need the awareness and courage to learn our lessons.
In my opinion, one of the most important aspects of enjoying alcohol is our intention.
When conscious of our intentions, we make decisions with open eyes.
Explain It To Me Like I’m 5 👦
Today’s topic, as simply as possible:
“Drinking alcohol is always a choice.”
Physical Effects 🤢
I promise I won’t list out all the physical effects of drinking alcohol.
There are too many.
Let me say that I’ve been wearing my Whoop fitness tracker for four years, and without fail, every single time I drink, it drastically messes with my body:
Guess which night I consumed alcohol :)
One of my favorite tips to mitigate the effects of drinking:
Alternate every drink with one glass of water.
How I Approach Alcohol With Clients 🍸
It depends.
You have to be ready for an honest conversation.
For example, if you’re frustrated about not losing weight and are not willing to reduce your average weekly number of alcoholic drinks from 10 to 2 total, then we need to talk about how badly you want to lose weight.
You might not be ready for that trade-off yet, and that’s OK.
On the other hand, I have never told anyone that ‘they should quit completely’ or ‘go cold turkey.’
Some people can handle that, but remember from last week:
No key area of your health exists in isolation.
This includes being social.
You don’t have to drink to be social, but you do have to be ready for the tension that comes from abstaining if you’re new to it.
A Celebratory Toast 🎊
You have a lot to celebrate.
I’m deeply thankful that I’ve launched and written this newsletter for you since July and that you’ve read it.
You have your health and the opportunity to make it better.
You have your friends and family, whether many or few, near or far.
You’ve been reading, which means that you care about yourself, that is something to celebrate.
I wish you a Happy New Year and look forward to helping make it your healthiest yet.
Parting Zen 🧘♂️
A simple word, phrase, or thought to take with you:
I haven’t been drinking any alcohol since September, when I got super focused on growing my coaching practice and this newsletter, thus …
A strong sense of purpose can replace the emptiness we try to fill with other things.
Happy New Year!
Coach Matt
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