How I Quit Drinking Alcohol

In another article I described the reasons I stopped drinking alcohol, and how much my life has improved ever since then. To summarize, back in mid-December I was developing a list of new year's resolutions, and I suddenly realized that my alcohol addiction was the main reason I hadn't accomplished my goals years before. It had sapped my time, energy and money - and it did so morning, noon and night.

The sudden revelation that it was alcohol that was sabotaging my efforts to accomplish my goals made me very angry ... at alcohol, not myself. I determined to do something about it, and to change from the man I was to the man I wanted to become. I was also immediately aware that once I removed alcohol from my life, it would logically become easier and easier for me to achieve my goals. And it has. I've lost weight, I have more energy, and I feel much healthier. I also think more clearly, I'm genuinely enthusiastic about my future, and I'm on pace to more than double my income this year as compared to last year.

However, you may be wondering why you should listen to MY advice - someone you do not know, and who does not claim to be an expert on addictions - instead of your doctor, or someone else who's opinion you trust. My answer is that you should be open to ALL ideas to overcome alcohol addiction, because you just never know if and when some little "crazy idea" will work wonders for you, until you actually try it. What worked for me can work very well for lots of other people, including you. Just give it a couple of weeks, and you'll be living an alcohol-free lifestyle.

In a way, I AM an expert ... at least, in my own little world! In the mid to late 1980's I had a serious gambling problem ... losing nearly $150,000 at the Atlantic City casinos over the span of about 5 years. Plus, I also smoked cigarettes a fair amount at that time, a habit that many struggle to overcome. And yet I quit both of these bad habits fairly easily using the exact same 5 steps I've outlined below. The steps that I used to stop gambling AND stop smoking were the exact same ones that I've recently used to stop drinking alcohol. So, I know that these steps work based on my own personal experience.

Now, let me tell you the 5 steps I used to stop drinking alcohol:

The First Step: Remember the Bad Times
It is essential to constantly REMIND YOURSELF of all of the negative experiences you've had while drinking alcohol. Remember the vomiting, the headaches, the stomach aches, and wasting your money. Remember getting in fights, or saying stupid things, or hurting others - emotionally or even physically. Dwell on and RE-LIVE the bad feelings that were CAUSED by alcohol. All of these bad things WERE in your life BECAUSE of alcohol. Let the NEGATIVE feelings grow inside of you at the very mention of the word alcohol. Begin to hate alcohol for what it's done to you in the past. Let the NEGATIVE feelings about alcohol OVERWHELM any positive feelings you USED to have about alcohol. I can tell you for a fact that there is NO ONE who is more of a positive person than I am, and yet I can also assure you that by being deliberately negative about alcohol you'll quickly want NOTHING to do with it. You will soon identify it with EVERYTHING that ever was NEGATIVE about your life.

The Second Step: Have a Dirty Mind
Visualize the most disgusting images you can involving alcohol. If you see a glass of beer PICTURE it as really someone's urine. Say the word URINE to yourself when you see someone drinking a beer. If you see a glass of wine PICTURE it as blood. Say the word BLOOD to yourself whenever you see a glass of wine. Attach the most vile and disgusting images to whatever your favorite drink was, and in a couple of days it will become automatic. Alcohol = _______ (fill in the blank with the most ugly, disgusting words and images you can come up with). You will soon, naturally, be repulsed by the sight of an alcoholic drink. Use the power of your imagination to attach negative mental imagery to alcohol.

The Third Step: Focus on the Positives of Now
This is the opposite of the first step. Simply put, constantly remind yourself of how you NOW feel better, look better, have more money, think more clearly, and will LIVE LONGER since alcohol is out of your life. Notice even the little positives, such as how you now spend more time with your kids, or exercise more often, or eat healthier. Life is made up of the little things.

The Fourth Step: Act the Part
Act (and think and talk) as if you've been sober for years, even if it's only been a day or two. Something mysterious happens to you when you do this, and yet it's also quite simple: you become the type of person that you act like today. The reason this works is because when you "act the part" you sub-consciously begin to adapt the habits and thoughts required to become the type of person you wish to become. And the more you "act the part", the more you become your ideal you. Basically, acting the part makes it easy to walk the walk.

The Fifth Step: Be Thankful for What You Now Have
Above all, be truly grateful for the many blessings in your life. There are so many things, both big and little, that you could be thankful for if you would take a few moments and think about them. Whether it's your family or friends, or the country you were born in or where you're living at now, or the physical or intellectual skills you possess, or your ability to see or hear or talk, or the many freedoms you enjoy. There is so much that YOU have that a lot of other people DON'T. Cherish these blessings, and focus on them often to realize how lucky YOU are to have been given these gifts. When we are truly thankful for what we ALREADY have is when we open ourselves up to even more of life's blessings.

So that's the 5 steps:

• Remember the bad stuff that happened to you involving alcohol
• Mentally visualize negative images and descriptions about alcohol
• Focus on the positives of being sober, and how your life is getting better
• Act, think and talk like someone who has been sober for years.
• Be grateful for what you have been given by your Creator.

These 5 simple steps are nothing more than teaching yourself a new way of thinking, talking and acting around alcohol. This might sound hard to do, but remember that new habits can take hold in as little as 3 weeks. After 6 weeks the habit becomes as solid as a rock, and you no longer even have to think about it.

So, I implore you to TRY this easy 5 step program to overcome alcohol addiction for at least 3 weeks. It truly worked wonders for me, and it can do the same for you.