Sobriety is not a punishment!!

It seems alcohol is back in the news again. Its seems for once I am going to have to agree with the BBC and their ever-negative view on life!!

It’s interesting timing for me as I enter another and maybe final phase of sobriety in the coming 12 months. I am no longer ashamed to admit that alcohol has caused me issues over the years and has certainly cost me financially, professionally and emotionally.

Let’s be clear, I have never woken up wanting to drink vodka or whisky and not needed a drink every day. I did however spend too many years "Networking/Drinking" in the pubs up and down Greek Street.

But that’s the past and that’s where it will stay. Over the past 2 years I have gone from 1 week to 1 month and recently a 9 month period of no drinking. I allowed myself a return for my summer holiday and now return with a new desire to live a sober life.

People do Dry January and October now and I applaud those who do. The one point I will make is that I think people may be missing the point. The first month is hard, mentally and physically and the real benefits come after 6/7 weeks. You feel brighter, you sleep better, your relationships with those close change massively for the better and without doubt your mental well-being goes to a different level.

Taking a month off is almost like a punishment! Every day people almost seem to count down the remaining days and forget to create a mind-set that life without the booze can be OK and believe it. I have changed every aspect of my life whilst in sober stages and I know the next 12 months will allow me again to create and execute many more goals which are in me. I am not saying that taking a month off will not do you good … it will! However from real personal experience, setting a longer timeframe and then working hard on your mind-set around alcohol can bring far more enjoyable results.

For me it’s a generation issue, as many 18 to 25 years olds now see alcohol very differently and are tee total and have no intentions of drinking. Talking about alcohol and the issues you may have with it is simply still a taboo subject in the professional world, but I am now looking at changing the whole of the recruitment industry, becoming an international motivation speaker. So if I am not brave enough to talk about it, how on earth can I expect others to start to open up and realise it’s not a crime to have had issues with it!

I work at the highest level in the search & select recruitment world and now coach and speak to people and organisations about motivation and achievement and personally I don’t think I could do that with all my heart if I was hiding behind the mask of alcohol when things got hard.

I am not a drinks councillor in anyway, however, I am achieving great things in life now because I eventually faced my issues that came from alcohol and if anyone did ever want to talk about their concerns around alcohol I would always be happy to just chat (confidentially of cause).