Welcome to the Stop Drinking Podcast , where we help you make stopping drinking a simple , logical and easy decision . We help you with tips , tools and strategies to start living your best life when alcohol-free . If you want to learn more about stop drinking coaching , then head over to wwwsoberclearcom .
There is something that happens to every single person that drinks alcohol almost every single person , 99.9% of drinkers and when it happens , they need to stop drinking . I'm not saying they should stop drinking . I'm saying they need to stop drinking , and if they don't , it becomes dangerous . It's a bit like Russian roulette or rolling a dice .
If you ignore what I'm talking about in this video , you are taking a gamble . Sadly for a lot of people , they're gambling with their life , so in this video , we are going to break this down .
This is something that happened in my own life and of the 400 people I've worked with in the Sober Clear coaching program , it has happened to every single one of them as well . In fact , there's not a single drinker on the planet who has successfully stopped drinking alcohol and not done what I've said in this video today .
So before I explain exactly what I'm on about , I need to ask you a question have you ever done something that you have known that you shouldn't do and there was like a pinpoint decision moment where you knew , hmm , I shouldn't do that , but then you did it anyway .
Then , at the same time , have you had that voice in your head and you've kind of been at a crossroads and you know there was something that you could have done that was wrong and gotten away with it , and then there was the right thing to do that nobody would have even known that you did the right thing . And then you did the right thing .
See , one example for me is it's a bit embarrassing , but I might put my hand in my pocket to get my phone or , you know , my card holder , and then I pulled my hand out of my pocket and then a receipt will fall on the floor and there's a split second moment there where I know I'm on my own , nobody's seen it , and I look at the receipt and it's like
this inner dialogue of like pick it up . And then there's this other part of me that's like , well , just walk off , nobody will ever see it . And then I go to pick up the litter . Now that might be a bad example . I don't know if everybody actually has that voice in their head when it comes to litter in school .
What I'm basically saying is that when we do something we know that we're not supposed to do , there's this dialogue that goes on in our head . And I've just had a friend that came over Him and his wife came to stay and we got talking about alcohol at one point and he said I can't remember the last time I drank .
And he said I went out for dinner about a month ago and I got offered a drink and I said no . And he said I think the only time that I drink is when I really don't want to be impolite . So he might do it at a Christmas dinner , have one glass and then that's it . And I thought to myself , I thought he does not have this inner dialogue .
He does not look at that drink and think , hmm , you know what ? Should I do this , should I not ? He just will probably pick it up . And then of people having dessert , and you know they're all eating chocolate muffins and I just don't eat one . But then at Christmas dinner I'm with my family and everybody's eating chocolate muffin .
I'm like I don't want to be the odd one out , I'll just have a chocolate muffin . There would be no voice in my head saying is this the right thing to do ? With alcohol , it is a completely different story . Back when I drank alcohol , this voice would often come into my head Leon , you know you shouldn't be doing this Drink anyway .
And I had this inner dialogue that was telling me this isn't really the right thing to do . I knew in my heart , I knew I could feel it , because the thing is is , if I never had that inner dialogue , I'd have never questioned it the same way that my friend has never questioned it , the same way I wouldn't question eating a muffin .
But the fact that I had that inner dialogue telling me Leon , what are you doing ? And I ignore it and I drink . This is what we need to pay more attention to . We cannot ignore this inner dialogue . Listen , some people they're going to call this God , some people are going to call it their conscience .
But I know one thing for sure this inner dialogue , this voice of reason , this conscience , this God force , whatever you want to call it , it comes and it goes . It's not there all the time . The voice kind of fluctuates . There have been times in my life where I've been drinking alcohol and I don't care .
But if you'd have told me to stop drinking , I'd have told you to off . I just didn't care because the voice in my head wasn't loud . It is kind of just settled . I was kind of just coasting , coping . There are times in my life where that voice has been so loud I felt so sick with alcohol .
There have been times where it feels like it's screaming at me don't drink . And the trick is is that when this happens , there is a window of opportunity that opens up . When that voice is screaming at you to do something , when it's really saying should I be doing this ?
There is a point where that voice in your head gets so loud that a window of opportunity opens for you to solve the problem . But you know what ? This window of opportunity does not last forever . It comes and it goes . I've spoken to people before . They want help stopping drinking . They're ready to pull the trigger . They're ready to pull the trigger .
They're ready to join the program and they say do you know what ? Leon , give me one week to make sure . I definitely want to do this . I've had phone calls from those people six months later thinking damn , why didn't I do it then ? These windows of opportunity don't come around every single day .
But when you start hearing that voice in your head telling you it's time to change , you can't keep doing this . Don't ignore it . You've got to do something . For my mum , that voice sent her to an AA meeting , saved her life . For others , they do stop drinking on their own and they never look back . That didn't work for me .
For some people they're going to go to a therapist , get some medication . But when that window of opportunity opens up , you need to start going deeper . You need to start finding something that works for you . Some people 12-step programs . For some people it's doing the Sober Clear program . For some people it's reading some books .
I don't know what the exact answer is for you , but you know what you'll probably feel is , if you decide to take that step in the right direction , in the direction of removing alcohol from your life , it's going to feel uncomfortable . There's going to be a level of resistance and a level of like am I really ready ?
Am I going to be able to live my life without alcohol ? Am I going to enjoy myself ? There's going to be this feeling of resistance , existence , but that feeling doesn't last forever . One of my mentors said when you feel pain , when you can feel a sense of , oh , this is uncomfortable , this doesn't feel right .
He says nine times out of 10 , that's where the growth is . For example , the first time I made a YouTube video , it was so uncomfortable , it was like , oh , I didn't want to do it . I wanted to watch TV and hang out . But that decision of facing the discomfort and going towards the pain changed my life . The same way that it's going to feel with alcohol .
Those first few days , that first week , it's all going to feel alien . But if you just grind through it , on the other side is freedom . On the other side is a life where ah , it's going to be insane . You'll be healthy , you'll be happy , you'll be confident . Everybody will want to be around you . So do not ignore that voice .
When the window of opportunity opens , take action , do something .
