Are You Drinking Like It's Your Job?

I’ve been there. Drinking like it’s your job. Because you’ve been told that drinking with clients is just part of the job. It’s not just expected but encouraged. Soon you’re caught up in the culture of drinking and on the fast track to heavy drinking?just as quickly as the fast track to your next promotion. How do you end up drinking like it’s your job so easily?

Drinking Culture

Many companies have a strong drinking culture. It’s common to see alcohol as part of the culture in every industry. From the service industry to advertising, sales, and even the healthcare field – alcohol seems to accompany it all. Peruse the schedules for any major conference or expo and there is usually a party attached to it as well. Often with a complimentary drink ticket or two. Alcohol lowers your inhibitions and can grease the wheels for an easier sale, so don’t be surprised if your favorite salesperson offers to pick up the next round. He’s planning on making that money back! In recent years, the drinking culture at work is starting to be discouraged.?Alex Charfen?has some great insight on why that is.

Stress

We’re conditioned as a society to believe that it’s normal and even healthy to grab a few drinks with coworkers and friends after work. It helps us relax and unwind. Then you might enjoy another glass or two once you’re home and trying to settle down after a busy day. You deserve it. Unfortunately, those one or two drinks suddenly stop having the same effect and you find yourself needing a bottle of wine at the end of the night to shut your brain off. Alcohol doesn’t relieve stress – it just makes you forget about it for a little while. That stress will still be there the next day and it will bother you more with the pounding headache you now have.

Anxiety

The pressure to do your job well, meet deadlines, and sales goals, and still maintain your life at home – can all contribute to crushing anxiety. We’re told it’s natural to have a drink or two to help you. What is terrifying is that alcohol causes anxiety, so by drinking, we are feeding the very monster we’d like to quell. It’s like trying to lose weight by eating fast food.

Your Job Could Be Why You’re Drinking Like It’s Your Job

As I said earlier – where you work could be why you’re drinking like it’s your job. If you work in the service industry, you’re twice as likely to struggle with alcohol. Construction, sales, marketing, and entertainment – all have high rates of addiction attached to them. In these fields you can often find yourself drinking while on the clock – and able to expense it all in the name of business. Daily drinking as part of the job causes you to build a tolerance and suddenly you find yourself drinking more than you ever planned to.

Drinking To Deal With It

Most careers force us to emotionally detach ourselves from our lives, the lives of those we work with, and the problems we are faced with. It can be hard to maintain a professional appearance and detachment when dealing with personal problems or while being faced daily with extremely difficult emotional situations that one might encounter in the medical or legal fields. You find yourself needing a drink or two to cope with the emotional overload at the end of the day. We are designed to feel and being told we cannot and should not isn’t healthy.

Stop Drinking Like It’s Your Job

You can stop drinking like it’s your job and still be successful. Many of us have found success beyond our wildest dreams once we left the booze behind. Give it a try and see what you’re truly capable of.

If you wonder about your career-centric drinking and are looking for an intelligent, science-based, way to reverse the trend start reading for free now.

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