Alcohol Mastery Podcast

Lingering habit memories are a fact of life, whether you’re quitting drinking or not. They are going to come up, you just need to understand that, expect them every so often, let them slip over you and move on.

On Stop Drinking Alcohol Week 41 I talk about what I want to get out of not drinking. Apart from your health, money in your pocket, a bright future, self respect and dignity, a clear mind, and the admiration of all around you, quitting alcohol actually does nothing for you at all. Seriously though, to fill the void left by quitting drinking requires a little thought and planning. Depending on how much time the booze took up of your life, the bigger the hole you’re going to need to fill.

Alcoholic Cardiomyopathy is another condition that can be caused by heavy alcohol use. This is just another reason why you should not drink alcohol.

Stop drinking alcohol week 40 is all about habit memories. I had a really strong one during the week. It involved a phone call with an old drinking buddy of mine who I’ve stayed in contact with since leaving Ireland. A few factors combined to create a huge momentary craving. Watch the video for more.

In my opinion, you’re asking for problems if you try to carry on visiting your old drinking haunts and hanging out with your old drinking buddies. At least in the beginning. It’s hard for you on a number of different levels, not least being the drink. Steer clear for a while, get your head around your new non-drinking lifestyle, allow your new habits to embed themselves in your brain. See how you think about things in a couple of months.

This is week 13 of my journey into alcohol mastery! I lost another couple of pounds, bringing my total so far to 30 pounds, just under half way to my goal... I took a week off to read this week but I’ll be back to normal next week. Your brain is your greatest asset, but it can also be your greatest enemy. A lot of the beliefs you’re walking around with today, were engrained into the fibre of your mind long before you were aware that you even had a mind. You need to break those beliefs that are stopping you from achieving things. If you can do this, all your dreams can be made reality, there’ll be no stopping you!

Welcome to the Thursday Tally number 12 where I'll be talking about the end of the Johns Hopkins 20 questions - My tip of the week is to stop looking for instant gratification.... (0.16) The site this week (1.31) Tip of the week (0.32) The site next week This is Alcohol Mastery, my name’s Kevin O’Hara and welcome to the Thursday Tally number 12. The Site This Week On the site this week, I finished the Johns Hopkins 20 questions. I didn’t think that they’d take me on the journey that they did. Even though I answered the questions after I’d given up the alcohol, I still had to search inside myself for the answers. My own personal answers! A lot of those answers took a lot of digging around inside, and dragging out emotions and different things like that. I think I understand my drinking problem a bit better because of doing that.   Not only did I gain a bit more understanding about my drinking problem, but it also gave me a bit more understanding about what clicked in my brain this time around. Why I feel that I can go on this journey now, without having another drink for the rest of my life. I was struggling with that before; I’ve got a lot more understanding about that now thanks to doing this series of articles. Stop Looking for Instant Gratification My tip of the week is to stop looking for instant gratification. It’s only superficial, it’s gonna lead you nowhere, and it’s definitely not going to give you happiness. We try and buy our way into happiness by eating food, or taking drugs, or going shopping. And we’re addicted to so many things in society these days. It reminds me of the old version of Willy Wonka, with Gene Wilder, and there was a girl in there called Veronica Salt [Verruca Salt], and she was really spoilt, “I want the world” [attempts to sing!] And that’s what people are like today. They just want everything now, and it’s all surface stuff, it doesn’t mean a damn thing. The thing is, you’re never going to find happiness in instant gratification. There isn’t a magic pill! I woke up one morning, I was in my mid-forties, I was sixty pounds overweight, I was unfit, my business was going down the chute, and I had a serious drinking problem. I had no life outside drink at all. I didn’t do any sport, that was it. It was just going out and drinking and looking forward to the next session when I could go out and drink. And even though I didn’t drink every day, I knew that I was on the slippery slope. So I thank God that I woke up that day and I got the realization that I had to stop. And the only way to move down another road was to go away from the drink altogether. When it boils down to it: life is short! The only happiness that you’re gonna find is inside yourself. The answers are all in here. You have to treat yourself well. You have to think positively. You have to eat good food, drink plenty of water, get exercise. And within a short space of time you really, really will fall in love with it. You’ll get out of that lifestyle that you’re in and you’ll move into something that is so much better.   I encourage anyone who drinks and has got any way, shape, or form of a drinking problem to stop, give it up, and move on with your life.   The Site Next Week   Thanks for watching. If you wanna subscribe, just click on the button over here. If you wanna contact me in any way, if I can help you, if you have any questions, you can go to the site and leave a comment, use the contact box, or you can send me and email at kevinohara@alcoholmastery.com. Next week on the site I’m not going to be doing much. I’ll do a Thursday Tally video. I’ve gotta do a bit of work on the site. I did a post on the site a while ago called 100 health risks from drinking alcohol which I want to try and put into some sort of a download for you guys.   So, that’s the Thursday Tally 12, thanks for watching.

This is one of those questions where the answer is no, not to an institution anyway, but it’s held in place with a piece of sticky tape with the words “There but for the grace of God go I!” This is the final question in the series. I enjoyed writing the articles and doing the videos… they also exposed a lot about my drinking, made me think of the physical and mental consequences of all those years in the wasteland… I’m so, so glad to be out the other side…Onwards and Upwards….

It’s so easy to start drinking to escape low self-esteem or to build up your confidence. There have been a lot of times in my life when I’ve needed a drink to cope with a situation where I had to meet other people; at least I thought I did. As I’ve got older, the times when I need self-confidence the most are the times when it would be totally inappropriate to drink... Like going in to see my son’s teachers ... scary... Like going to meet a new client... A lot of the day to day stuff any adult is supposed to do. That’s when I had to develop my backbone and start facing life...

At first, I thought this was going to be a question I could answer no to… At last! Nope… when I think about my visits to the doctor over the last twenty years, they’re ALL alcohol related. Broken bones, busted head, ulcers…

My memory of important personal events has been one of the biggest losses to me. Alcohol has stolen so many of my most precious memories. Many people drink to forget and I was one of those drinkers. Those memories are usually of traumatic events, highly charged emotional times we’d rather forget about. Things we’ve done or said, bad parts of our lives.

We drink alone because we feel alone or because we like the solitude. Most heavy drinkers drink alone because they want to get drunk, and it’s easier to get drunk at home on your own than it is to get dressed and go out. It’s a lot less embarrassing too!

The only way that drink is going to solve YOUR problems is if you drink yourself to death. Your problems will then be someone else’s… usually the “someone else” who cared about you the most! Problems and troubles and worries are a part of life, without them you cannot be. They’re our way of learning... you make mistakes, learn from them and move on... Also, read about how my fears liberated me!

There are many long and short term methods to stop cravings. Some are physical like eating good food, getting exercise, or curling up at night for a good night’s sleep. Others are mental fixes. One of the best things that worked for me was playing the movie of my drinking in my mind.

This is week 10 of my journey into alcohol mastery! On the site this week we had three more questions from the Johns Hopkins series. I take a look at my ups – losing more weight… and my downs – still feeling the effects of the pesky flu. The tip of the week is not to wait to give up alcohol, you’ll never find the perfect time. Just do it NOW!