4 Phases Of Quitting Alcohol

Now , why is it so difficult for somebody to control their drinking ? Why do most of the population always find stopping drinking a fight ? Well , the answer is actually very simple , and it's because there are four phases that people go through when they're trying to stop drinking .

The problem is is that most people don't know that these phases exist and most people never reach it to the fourth phase , which is why we see so many relapses . It's why we see people struggling all the time . And if you're able to get to the fourth phase , I promise you right now stopping drinking will not be difficult .

It will be one of the easiest things you've ever done in your life . So today we're breaking down the four phases and I am going to get you to the fourth phase , but you need to understand all three phases before we get there . So don't skip to the end of the video .

Whatever you do , but by the end of this video you are going to get to a place that you've never been before . So everybody starts with phase one . It doesn't matter who you are , but phase one is the honeymoon period , and what I mean by this is when we start drinking alcohol , we start with this mindset that we gain something from drinking .

So what I mean by this is that we have a drink and something good happens . We feel a good feeling , we feel relaxed . And listen , I'll get honest with you right now . When I first , one of the first times , I got drunk , it was at a house party and I kissed a beautiful girl .

I mean , of course , I'm then going to start associating alcohol with being smoother and more confident and , you know , a bit daring . So what happens when we start drinking is we start to gain all these positive associations with alcohol . I'm just smiling to myself thinking back to that party now , but anyway .

But this is the thing , is that positive association still kind of exists , even in my mind ? But we all start here , right , and listen , I started drinking young , I was like in my teens . But there's plenty of people that start drinking in their 20s , 30s , 40s . But there's always a reason . There's always something that they start to get from drinking .

And if I was to approach somebody that was in this phase , or even if I was to go and talk to the young version of me that was in this phase and I said you shouldn't be doing , that , that's doing nothing for you , I would have laughed you in the face . I would have said are you stupid ? Look what I found . It's like the cheat code to life .

There is no talking to these people , there is no getting through to them , and it's okay . They're allowed to be there . Now are there people that live their entire life in phase one ? Maybe , maybe 0.1% of the population ? There aren't many at all , if any at all . I don't personally know of a single person that's still in that phase .

But when we start drinking , we think that that's how it's always going to be , and also in this phase . Here's another point that I've not brought up . But in this phase we tell ourselves that we can quit whenever we want , and we can . We do believe this , but how many people actually quit in this phase ? Isn't that a weird thing ?

We tell ourselves we can quit , but then we always get into the next phase , which is phase two . Now , phase two is when the drinking started to slowly increase . See how many of us started drinking once a week and then it's twice a week . Or we drink two drinks and then it's three drinks and it just slowly starts to build up out of nowhere .

Now the gap between phase one and phase two can be a week , it could be a month , it could be 10 years , it could be 20 years . But unless somebody stops drinking in phase one on a long enough time horizon , they will reach phase two Everybody , Because the nature of any drug is for you to take one and then take another and another and another .

Now don't get me wrong . There are people that live in phase one for 80 years . You know there's that argument of the grandma that drinks like one glass of wine . You know , every Christmas . But this is like an anomaly , right ? I hate it when people say that I just want to be able to control my drinking like my grandma does .

It's like come on , we get to phase two and what happens is , because we're drinking increasing amounts of alcohol , negative things start happening in our life . Usually people will try and stop or reduce their drinking Once they realize they start having this dialogue and they start to say maybe I shouldn't do this , Maybe I should drink less .

And it becomes this battle that people have in their mind . And this is when people start relying on willpower to not drink . Now , this is the most popular way that people try and stop drinking . They just grit through it , right , they use their own strength and they just resist the cravings , resist the urge and don't drink .

But the problem with using willpower is that it never seems to work . Now don't get me wrong , it can work . It's worked for me . It's worked for seven , eight , nine months . I just didn't drink , I just resisted . But the problem is that I never addressed the root cause . I never got to phase four , which we're definitely going to get , to just wait .

But every time I tried to stop drinking alcohol with willpower , I always felt like I was missing out on something . See , phase two is one of the worst phases to be in , because now you realise you're stuck . Now you start to think oh dear , Now don't get me wrong . Some people live their entire life in phase two .

They keep toying with the idea of not drinking , trying it a little bit , but it never gets truly bad enough to get into phase three . It doesn't need to get bad enough , right , you can still fix the issue . In fact , you can go straight from phase two to phase four . You can 100% do that .

So if phase three doesn't 100% resonate with you , just bear with me . But if somebody gets into enough pain with drinking and they keep trying to fix it on their own and it doesn't work , they can move into phase three . So in phase three , this is when we know that we're stuck .

We know that stopping drinking with willpower is not working and we know that stopping drinking on our own is not working . So we go to this new phase and this is when we're actively seeking out a solution to the problem . At this point some people go to the doctor . They say doctor , I want to help stopping drinking . What can you do for me ?

Well , let's get you to a therapist , right . Let's get you some medication , some naltrexone , so you might try that . You might go to a friend of yours that doesn't drink , and this friend is like man . Do you know what saved my life ? Alcoholics Anonymous . Come to a meeting .

Let me show you how it works , 't you drink less than everybody else and you're looking for a way out of the pain . Now many people can stop drinking in this phase . My mum stopped drinking in phase three . She went to Alcoholics Anonymous . She's been in that phase for 20 plus years .

And don't get me wrong , I'm not saying you can't get sober in phase three . Some people they check themselves into a rehab . They get out , they don't drink again . This happens , but this happens . But what society don't talk about in phase three is how , whatever method you use , you never address the root cause of the drinking .

So whatever you do , you always feel this sense of missing out .

You go to AA , you sit in a circle , you talk about the war stories , the bad things that happened , but then you're told to actively avoid going out to bars , going to a nightclub , going out with friends that drink you should keep sober company right and so what happens is we feel this feeling of missing out for a long , long time .

And for me , when I went to AA , I knew that I didn't want to live my life this way . I didn't want to go to meetings for the rest of my life and every single time I wanted a drink I had to ask God to help me and beg God to get me through this craving If I had to live my life that way forever . Listen , I'm not saying it doesn't work .

I'm saying it can be helpful for some people . It just wasn't for me . I didn't want to live my life that way . I knew there had to be another way , which leads me to the fourth and final phase , and this is the phase that will change everything for you . I am in the fourth phase , and what I mean by this is I didn't do any of those previous things .

I tried them , but they didn't work for me . But I still stopped drinking . But , most importantly , I still stopped drinking . But , most importantly , what I don't have that everybody else has is I don't have a desire to drink . You and I swear on my life , you could not pay me $100,000 to drink a pint of beer . Test me .

Because I know that that will cost me everything . Because I understand the nature of how drugs work . I also understand the nature of alcohol . I understand how it's an addictive , poisonous drug that will do nothing for me , and I have a totally different belief system to most of the population . Now , how do you achieve this ?

How do you get into the fourth phase ? Well , it's simple . You use a mental model . The way I did this is I used something called first principles thinking , Now , one way to describe this is with Elon Musk , and when Elon Musk was trying to build a rocket , he asked society how much does it cost to build a rocket ? They said $65 million .

But he broke a rocket down into its first principles . He looked at the factory , the staff , the materials , the company , whatever , and he worked out it costs just $6 million . So it was like literally saving $59 million as a result of doing first principles .

Thinking First principles is kind of a physics way of looking at the world , and what that really means is you kind of boil things down to the most fundamental truths and say , okay , what are we sure is true , or as sure as possible , is true , and then reason up from there .

That takes a lot more mental energy and in our instance it would mean ignoring the previous three phases , ignoring all of those people , and breaking the problem down into its component parts and it's studying these individual component parts of an alcohol problem and changing our belief system . So how can you do that ?

Well , you can invest in courses , invest in books , invest your time into figuring it out . See , phase four takes time . I'm not saying it's an instant fix . It will take hours of your time researching , studying , and it's painful work .

It's hard to basically say , okay , maybe what I've known up until this point isn't true , but I swear on my life this is the highest leverage activity that you can do if you're suffering with a drinking issue , Because once it's done , it's fixed .

The problem is fixed in your life , which means that you can just get on with things , Like if you had a gluten intolerance and you ate a burger and the bread gave you a bad stomach the next day . You're not going to have to sit in meetings and not eat bread . No , you just stop eating the bread . It's a problem solved and you're moving on with your life .

But with alcohol , nobody does this . They fight and fight and fight , because they're never able to shift their beliefs to see alcohol for what it is .

Now listen , if you want help doing this , I've developed a system that uses first principles thinking to help you get into a state of mind where it's almost like somebody flicks a switch in your brain boom , the problem's solved . And I know that sounds hard to believe , but I've done this for over 400 clients .

We have over a 92% success rate and right now I want to invite you to do it with me as well . I want to take you through my full system where I help you get into this final phase . You can do this alone , but it's just going to be harder . It's going to cost more

money . You want help ? What I'm going to invite you to do is click the link in the description of this video or just go to SoberClearcom , forward slash , call , answer the questions and book a call .

We will jump on a call and I will explain how we are going to get you from where you are into this new phase , and I'll explain how we can do it in as little as 48 hours . Some people take 48 hours . Some people take 48 hours . Some people might take a week . It doesn't matter . It's different for different people , but it's possible to do it quickly .

Thanks for checking out the Stop Drinking podcast by Sober Clear . If you want to learn more about how we work with people to help them stop drinking effortlessly , then make sure to visit wwwsoberclearcom .