Ep. 35: Break Your Habit of Drinking in Four Steps - Change Your Cue, Craving, Response + Reward Cycle

Have you been trying to break your habit of drinking using willpower, positive inspiration or negative, fear-based motivation by trying to avoid negative consequences? 

If you haven’t been successful in your attempts to stop drinking using this approach it’s actually not your fault. Instead you've likely just been trying to make a long term behavior change in all the wrong ways. 

There are easy ways and hard ways to break a habit, and research into the science of behavior change shows that willpower just doesn’t work in the long term. 

In this episode I’m going to talk about how to break your habit of drinking in four simple steps - without relying on willpower or hating the process. 

We’ll dive into:

• The four laws of how to break a bad habit and how to build a new one, as outlined in Atomic Habits by James Clear.
• Why understanding your personal habit loop of cues, cravings, responses and rewards is critical to helping you stop drinking without relying on willpower or hating the process. 
• How creating and sharing an implementation intention is fundamental to succeeding in change where you have stumbled in the past.
• Why environmental design is key to achieving your goals. Making small changes to your physical and social environment will make it easier to break the drinking cycle. 
• What has likely tripped you up in the past and practical and specific ways to set yourself up for success, not self-sabotage. 
• What you should learn from times you’ve tried to stop before, without shaming yourself for going back to drinking. 

There are four laws of how to break a bad habit and how to build a new one

First, start with your implementation intention. It’s a stated plan to solidify your plan to be alcohol-free for a specific amount of time. 

• The first law of how to make a new habit stick is to make it obvious. The more visible and available a habit is, the more likely you are to stick to it. 
• The second law is to make it attractive. The more appealing a habit is, the more likely you are to feel motivated to do it. 

• The third law is to make it easy. The easier, simpler, more convenient and frictionless a habit is, the more likely it is to be performed. 
• And the fourth law is to make it satisfying. The more satisfying, enjoyable, and pleasurable a habit is, the more likely it is to stick.

Atomic Habits links and resources mentioned

Grab a copy of Atomic Habits by James Clear

Episode 34 - The first episode on using Atomic Habits to Quit Drinking with Identity Based Habits

Podcast episodes on how to prime your mindset, physical and social environment for success in quitting drinking

Episode 2 - 5 Mistakes Women Make When Quitting Drinking

Episode 3 - 7 Strategies To Get You Through Your First Week Without Alcohol

Episode 10 - 10 Things You Need In Your Sober Toolkit

Episode 23 - Feeling Bored In Sobriety? Things To Know + What To Do

Connect with Casey McGuire Davidson

Grab your  Free Sober Girls Guide To Quitting Drinking

Get support during the holiday season from women who are on the alcohol-free path with the guide on How to find and join my Favorite Private Sober Facebook groups

Website: www.hellosomedaycoaching.com

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