How to FIX boredom when quitting alcohol

One of the biggest problems people face when they don't drink alcohol is boredom . When they drink , they have so much time that's filled with drinking whether they're actually buying alcohol , drinking , the alcohol being hung over from alcohol . When they finally stop drinking alcohol , they've got all of this free time and they don't know what to do with themselves .

And in this video today , I'm going to show you how to fix this boredom forever . And no , listen , I'm not going to tell you to sign up to some yoga class or go to some CrossFit class or learn a language .

No , we're actually going to fix the root cause of the problem here , and that will actually explain why I'm here right now , why I'm in this beautiful area with the ocean , with this whole villa behind me , because I also suffer with this problem . I suffer with boredom . But this video is not going to be what you think right .

I'm not going to give you any generic advice . We're going to go to the root cause of the problem here , and this is going to change everything for you . At least , I hope so , because I'm applying it right now in my own life and I can already see the effect . So we're going to dive deep in this video today .

When we drink , what a lot of people do is I mean , this is what I did in my own life as well is that we'll feel any kind of emotion and immediately associate that emotion with alcohol . So , for example , you know , a lot of people think that they drink because of pain , right , they feel depressed , they feel sad , they feel lonely , so they have a drink .

But it isn't just that . You know , a lot of my top clients will say that they actually drink when it's a time of success , a time of celebration . So , you know , they sign a massive client , they raise money and then , boom , they're having the champagne .

So it's not always that we drink because of pain , but usually we drink because of feeling pretty much anything , and we don't want to feel that way . So what we do is we drink alcohol to escape the emotion , right , because it's like that instant hit of relief . Now , I'm not here to deny that alcohol is effective at a moment , moment of relief , right .

It can help us for a few minutes , there is no question about it . The problem is the consequence of that relief , right ? What is alcohol ? Alcohol is a drug , and it's not just a drug like I don't know , some like really low , addictive drug that you could probably take once and never take again . No , alcohol is . Alcohol is a totally different beast .

It's one of the most addictive drugs on the planet and the nature of this drug is for you to drink one and want to drink more . So whilst it can give us that moment of relief and relieve us of whatever we're feeling and it can be good at that the consequence is just insane . It can lead us to death . Right , that's what would happen to me .

I've got no question about it . I'm not saying I'm an alcoholic or anything like that . I just know from personal experience that whenever I have one drink , I have another and another , and another and another , and I'll keep drinking for months on end until I've got nothing left .

So we've got to be clear on that that , whilst it can be effective at that moment of relief , it ain't worth it , right , it's never worth it . So , going to boredom we experience boredom , right , everybody experiences boredom , and it's the same as every other emotion , right ? If we're sat there feeling bored , what goes to our head ?

Oh , I'm bored Might as well . Have a drink , right , might as well . Go out Might as well . Go for a dinner and have a bottle of wine Might as well , why not ? We're bored . And listen . That feeling of boredom when you stop drinking alcohol doesn't go away .

In fact , it probably feels a little bit worse because while you used to escape that emotion , you no longer have that drug to use to escape the emotion . So what should we do instead ? Well , sure do you know what ? Finding some hobbies , doing some positive activities is probably a good thing . You do need to find things to fill your time up with .

On this channel , I'll always talk about having a vision . Right , when you stop drinking alcohol , you want to have a vision for your life . You want to have something to go towards . I mean where I am right now . This kind of stuff . I had it on vision boards years , you know , literally on day one of stopping drinking , and now I'm living it .

But this is what I wanted . I've always been working towards something . So , while to fix this problem , so when I was like 18 or 19, . I was actually a chef . I worked in a restaurant . I have a professional cooking qualification . I cooked Italian food .

I was very lost at the time , and drugs and alcohol was a big part of this , but I worked as a chef and I was never bored . When I worked as a chef , right , it was just action , action , action , right , if I wasn't doing this , I was cleaning . If I wasn't doing this , you know , it was just nonstop all day and I never suffered with boredom .

However , since starting SoberClip , since doing YouTube , since doing a lot more computer work and a lot more work that requires a lot of focus , I've started suffering with boredom a lot more , because you know , I have to now . Now it's my business , right , I'm the leader . I have to be the person that's driving things .

You know , no one's telling me what to do anymore . No one's saying hey , leon , go and cook this or go and clean up this fillet steak . It doesn't work like that anymore . Right , I've got to be the one making all the decisions . So going back to boredom is I do suffer with boredom more Now .

Here's the problem In this day and age , boredom is we just live in a world filled with distractions . So in the past I might have felt bored and had a drink . Nowadays I feel bored . And what do I do instead ? I pick up my phone , right , I go and scroll on Instagram .

So what our brain does is that whenever there's a really important task , like writing something , like you know , anything that requires a lot of thinking power , anything that requires a lot of knowledge , like goal setting , like having an awkward conversation with a loved one , our brain doesn't want to do that thing , even though that thing could make our life better .

It never defaults to it . What it always does is it defaults to the path of least resistance .

So if you've got your mobile phone there and you've got 10 notifications popping off , all these comments and all these messages and everybody wants your attention and then you've got a blank screen with a Google Doc open and you need to write a thousand words for a book that you're trying to write , what do you think you're going to do ?

You're going to pick up your phone , right ? Unless you're some superhuman , disciplined person that I'm not , you're probably going to go on the phone . So I'm getting to it . I'm getting to why I'm here right now . It'll all make sense in a second . But boredom is an emotion that we want to escape .

But what I'm doing right now is because I suffer with this so much . Right , I'm always going to that path of least resistance . I'm not superhuman , sure . I don't drink alcohol , but I escape boredom . What I'm doing right now is I'm actually on a seven-day fast . I don't know if I'm going to publish this video .

If I do publish this video , that means I was successful . It's day one right now , and if I don't publish it , then whatever . But right now I'm on a seven-day food fast . Now , the food fast was just because I wanted to reset my eating habits . You know I snack too much and I just really wanted to have like a harsh reset .

But part of this fast is me doing a technology fast . So the only thing I can do is right , I've got one of these remarkable notebooks . I don't know if you've seen them . They're quite cool . It's like a digital notebook . Don't worry , it can't go on the internet , so it's not that bad . But what I'm doing is I'm not going on my phone .

I've turned my phone off and I will not turn it on for seven days . I'm not going on my iPad and I'm not going on my computer . I can make videos , because the videos aren't addictive , right , I'm sharing things . I enjoy doing this , but what I'm trying to do is I'm trying to reset my relationship with boredom .

So I am not okay being bored , right , if I'm looking for something to do , I'm going to listen to some music , I'm going to I don't know watch a movie , I'm going to do something . But the problem with that is that I use that escapism to not sometimes do work . And in my head , I know what I need to do .

But I know what I need to do to grow my business . I know what I need to do to make my life better . But rather than , like you know , do the thing and then get bored and be okay with being bored , I escape that boredom .

So I've done this thing to reset my relationship with boredom , and I think when we don't drink alcohol , when we stop drinking , is we will experience a higher level of boredom . But the trick here is what we want to do , right ? Sure , at the beginning you know what Escape the boredom , do whatever , right , it doesn't matter that boredom never goes away .

And then you just start escaping it through different things . But what I want to do is throughout this seven day fast , and technology fast is . I want to totally reset my relationship with boredom and I want to feel totally okay with being bored . I want to remember I can't remember where I read it .

I think I read it in some book a few years ago and he said something about his grandpa . I think it was a book on writing , and he said that what this guy would do is he would lock himself in a room for four hours every day .

There would be nothing in that room except a pen and paper and what he could do , all he had to do was go in this room for four hours a day and he either had to write or be bored . There was no alternative .

And I thought that is absolutely brilliant , because if you sit in a room with nothing to do no books , no phones , no TVs , nothing there's nothing to distract you , but you've got a pen and paper there eventually you'll be like I'm so bored , I might as well write .

But then you start finding enjoyment in the writing and I think the problem that we face these days is that technology is so addictive and so interesting and so stimulating to our brains that actually doing work is boring . Well , it's not . Yeah , it feels more boring and less stimulating than everything else .

So my idea with this seven days is to do this hard reset , is to truly reset my relationship to boredom . I mean , some people call it a dopamine fast , but I think that that's . I don't think they work , I think that that's kind of a bit of a dud . But resetting my relationship with boredom makes sense .

So here's the thing If you want to stop being bored with alcohol , when you stop drinking alcohol , I should say , is the trick isn't to just replace it with other things At the beginning ? Yeah , sure , but I think the answer to this is to truly reset our relationships with boredom . It's to be okay with being bored . It's to dedicate our time .

You know to have serious time blocks to working on our most important projects in our life and we're either doing that thing or being bored . We're not pulling out our phone , we're not being distracted .

You know , if you tell yourself you're going to write for four hours , you lock yourself in a room , you get the pen and paper or the Word document open and you do nothing else but that thing , or you sit there and daydream . I mean , that's powerful . I truly believe that , me in my own life for the next evolution of my business .

This is going to make all the difference , and this is I don't know . Listen , maybe I'm on my own here . If this is useful to you , leave me a comment , because I don't know if I've lost the plot or I genuinely think this is going to be a game changer . Obviously , it's day one right now . I will definitely report back on this .

Or maybe you're going to see the results . Maybe you're going to see the growth . I hope you do . Thanks for checking out the Stop Drinking Podcast by Sober Clear If you want to learn more about how we work with