New Year ~ New You
This Time For Real
1/22/2021
The beginning of a New Year is known to symbolize a fresh start, a new opportunity; a time to realign our priorities and create new routines that support our goals and desires.
Common of those is to focus on improving our health, fitness and wellness. We may even take on a Dry January, aspiring to better control our drinking habit. Inspired by the thoughts of a fresh start toward a better tomorrow, in our minds, we have no reason to believe we can’t accomplish what we set out to do.
Yet for most, within a matter of weeks into the New Year, those invigorating feelings of hope, possibility, optimism, and motivation begin to wane. We succumb to the same patterns and habitual routines that have carried on for years. An all too familiar cycle, it is why only an estimated 8% of those committing to change fully accomplish their New Year’s resolutions.
Simply knowing the dangers and potential consequences of over-drinking alone is not enough to make lasting behavior changes. Subscribing to the myth that you need to hit rock bottom before you’ll change is exactly as described - a myth.
The opportunity does exist to make a meaningful change, and to alter and overcome the downside of an imprudent drinking habit. One first must realize that it is not a one-size fits all approach. Most drinkers are “gray-area drinkers”, and they don’t necessarily want an alcohol-free lifestyle. Learning the methods to cut back, maintain control, and not feel like a drink is needed at the end of the day can be an achievable goal. Maintaining a Drink Less Lifestyle is about making empowering choices and putting an end to regret, shame and embarrassment.
Change comes from a commitment to make choices based on your clearly defined goal and having your own back during the change process. It is about focusing on moving forward and leaving the past behind, while creating a more positive identity that is in alignment with your new lifestyle.
Cheers to your wellness and creating a Drink Less Lifestyle!
Sherry B. Price, PharmD, MBA, APh, BCPS is a certified life coach, podcaster, pharmacist, and creator of the Drink Less Lifestyle program. She helps women stop the over-drinking habit and create a new relationship with alcohol where they are confident and in control.
Check out her website, www.sherryprice.com, where she offers a variety of free resources including her podcast called Drink Less Lifestyle.
Photography by Becki Freed / legacybrandimages.com