So Much for Dry January…Now What?

Are you one of the people who is counting the days till the end of dry January? Maybe you identify with Chris Evans who said this week…’I don’t care if I’m two stone lighter, I’m miserable, every day feels the same!’

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I work with Chris at Radio 2 and in fact worked with him years ago, when we were both at Virgin Radio as it was then (in fact he owned it for a while!). He was always a guy who could hold his beer and be discerning about a fine wine so it’s probably not surprising that he is finding dry January taxing.

So I wonder how Chris will ‘celebrate’ on Feb 1st and if you have also given up the booze for January what will February and the rest of the year look like for you from a drinking perspective?

Many people fall into a cycle of ‘binge-detox-binge’ which can be bad for us emotionally and physically. Dr Max Pemberton wrote in The Mail

 “I disagree with the underlying premise of dry January – the idea that you can make up for drinking too much over Christmas. It seems that the first month of the year always sends people a bit weird. They tend to forget everything they’ve been told about basic biology and nutrition”

He believes a few weeks of abstaining doesn’t make up for over-indulging the rest of the year. His recommendation is to do a detox only if it will have some meaningful impact on your health, most of us are aware of the damage too much alcohol can do, and there has been campaigns lately to encourage us to ‘love our liver’ but still we are far from being a temperate nation.

The reality is that none of us really know what to believe about alcohol, there are SO many different studies and reports. The Government recommendations of the amount of units we should drink across a week are really just a guess, we read reports that say alcohol in moderation is good for you, then a recent report from the Journal of American College of Cardiology says that drinking just one drink a day can be bad for your heart, they say one glass of wine or beer increased the risk of abnormal heart rhythm by eight per cent.

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One thing is for certain, we live in a drinking society, it’s very social to drink, there are pubs on every corner, it’s part of our culture, and for those of us that do drink it’s not going to go away.  So how would it be if we could drink with confidence, drink if we choose to, but ‘manage’ the alcohol rather than the alcohol ‘managing’ us?  There is a big difference between an addict and someone who has got caught up in a habit, and for most people who drink too much it’s exactly that – a habit.

No human being was born with a taste for the hard stuff, we ‘learned’ to drink, and just as we learnt the habit we can ‘unlearn’ it or at least take control. We drink for many reasons – stress, boredom, anger, loneliness, fear, to communicate, to numb ourselves from sadness or grief, and when we established a habit of drinking, our unconscious mind which acts like a kind of reference library, ‘filed’ that action under …’that made me feel better quickly’.

Come February or any other month when you have woken up wishing you hadn’t tried to handle your drink like a fruit fly (apparently they have an astonishing alcohol threshold due to their genetic makeup), you will no doubt be saying to yourself…’I will have an alcohol free day, or I will drink only one glass of wine or have only one beer’, only to find yourself tapping away on the computer at 9pm astonished at where that bottle of wine went…. Thinking …’What happened to my resolve? ‘

Typically, you then enter into another spiral of waking during the night berating yourself for not having enough willpower and vowing to do better the next day and so it goes on….

How would you feel if I told you that nagging feeling you have that’s it’s all going to go pear shaped again once February comes around, can be changed forever? There’s no magic ‘I don’t like the taste of alcohol anymore’ pill of course, but there absolutely is the most amazing Hypnosis programme created by world renowned hypnotherapist and top selling author Georgia Foster.

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Georgia is also an international speaker and creator of life changing programmes, she uses hypnosis, the window of the ‘between awake and sleep states’, where your mind can absorb at a much faster state, the alpha and theta state to train the unconscious mind, she believes we all have an incredible mind, and whether you want to learn how to drink less alcohol, improve your self-esteem, calm your mind or find love, she believes she can help. She has created the ‘7 Days to Drink Less’ online programme and it’s really effective.  She won’t be trying to convince you to give up alcohol, in fact she says it doesn’t matter how much you are drinking… you can trust your phenomenal mind.

At her workshops, she encourages anyone who had a boozy night planned not to cancel, she believes you can make changes, and with hypnosis you can make these changes so much faster, you can shape your emotional relationship with yourself. Instead of allowing those inner voices – our inner critic to come in and convince us that we really do need our third or fourth drink because last time it obliterated the feeling of what was really going on….she recommends we listen to one of her recordings, a twenty five minute session which can be done anywhere, (but you must be stationary and preferably lying down), and over time (hopefully over seven days) you will have a different attitude, which is not linked to struggle or willpower but to the intuitive healthy confident part of you that recognises that doing irreparable damage to your liver, and embarrassing yourself because you are hungover is probably not the best form of ‘self-care’.

Georgia, who has featured in The Mail, The Times, and on Sky News believes we need to shut off our ‘inner critic’ so instead of the feeling of being ‘radio crazy’ with a constant inner dialogue of…’I must have another drink so I feel brave enough to…. I’d better load up on some Dutch courage before I make that phone call’…  You listen to positive thoughts and suggestions which ‘re-programme’ your unconscious mind to know it’s safe to drink less alcohol.

She suggests we get back in touch with the healthy intuitive confident part of who we are.

This is not a ‘quit the drink for good’ programme, no sir. With my imperfectly natural approach that’s why I love it! – Georgia having once been a heavy drinker, who has ‘been there and got the T shirt’ still drinks now, and she doesn’t suggest you stop either, (unless you really want to). She believes you can train your mind to keep the ‘fun’ bits of choosing to drink alcohol but not the bits that cause you emotional grief, or the sense of...I have a drinking problem,’ – when it starts to impact on your life.

What we now know is that the brain is adaptable to change, Georgia says ‘remember it’s a thinking problem not a drinking problem’. The great thing about Georgia’s 7-day programme is that not only does it impact on your drinking, it makes you feel more calm and confident also.

Georgia and I are going to be doing some work together developing programmes (watch this space) so I love the fact that she believes ‘you need to honour the authentic you’.

If you know intuitively that you are putting a strain on your body, trying just a bit too hard to ‘hold your beer; or keep up with the lads, or drown your sorrows’ now is the time to take back control.

http://www.georgiafoster.com/7-days-to-drink-less-2/

My gift to you (and I hope you will come back to me and tell me how liberating it was for you) is to jack you up a 25 per cent discount on Georgia’s 7-day programme – I’M NOT ON COMMISSION!!  I’m offering this because I can see the benefit so clearly and I know there are people who after just a few days of listening to this hypnosis audio will think differently about their desire and ‘need’ to drink too much.

You can get 25 per cent off Georgia’s ‘7 Days to Drink Less’ online programme HERE>>

Do You Need a Digital Detox?

If you see a piece called ‘New Year Detox’ you probably think I’m about to wax lyrical about dry January, giving up chocolate and carbs, drinking only juice and doing lots of exercise…. while all that sounds very worthy, in fact that’s not my take on the start of a new year at all.

Eminent nutritionists and holistic health experts believe that actually the Autumn is the best time to ‘detox’ by eating only cleansing foods and give our systems a rest from the ‘heavier’ foods, and Winter is the time to eat nurturing foods.  If you crave warming soups and hearty winter casseroles and roasted root veg that’s probably because that’s exactly how we are meant to be nourishing ourselves in the dead of Winter.  So, what do I mean by detox?  Well I believe it’s the other stuff that needs to be eliminated for a while, we need a break from people and things that drain our energy.

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying Some people are drains, some are radiators’ …we all have those people in our lives, be they relatives, colleagues or friends who always take the negative view, who dismiss every creative thought we have and make us feel worthless. Of course, I’m not advocating that we have a big falling out with family and friends but we can make the decision to spend more time with those people who ‘radiate’ a good energy, meet with the colleagues and friends who you know support you.

The other thing that you may need is a digital detox.  For some people, it’s become a burning necessity such is their addiction, but for most it’s simply that we know how much more we could actually achieve if we set aside our phones or tablets and got on with the task in hand.  If you know you are one of those people who can’t go five minutes without checking your phone, it’s the first thing you do when you wake up, and the last thing at night, you find yourself surreptitiously sending a text in meetings, in the cinema – a digital detox January could be just the thing for you.   

A recent study in Japan found that if you want to get more work done you need to not only turn off your phone but move it out of sight, the mere presence of a phone is distracting.  The study also found that when in conversation with others, placing a mobile phone in view has a negative effect on the quality of face to face communication.

So, have a digital detox and a ‘negative friend’ detox, just for a couple of weeks…I look forward to seeing just how productive you are!

What’s Your Vision For 2017?

It’s that time when many of us are busy joining gyms, vowing to go on a diet (starting tomorrow), giving up alcohol for the month, promising ourselves we will get up earlier, be on time….whatever it is we feel we ought to change, this is the month for setting ourselves up to fail.

My suggestion is NOT to try and set resolutions, instead focus on getting more of what you want – and what you want to give.  Ask yourself what’s my vision for the future? Most of the people I work with are ‘heart centred’ business owners, that means they aren’t coming from a place of wanting to earn fortunes, or run an empire, they often have a skill, a gift, they know that their product or service can make a difference, and they really genuinely want to serve.  All good, right?  Well yes, so long as they have also looked at what they want – what’s the big dream? 

Often those of us with holistic businesses, especially those of us who are passionate about sharing our message with a wider audience forget to look after ourselves; and our own needs and desires, sometimes we even forget why we are doing it all! The start of a new year is a great time to review what you have been doing, get real clarity on what you want for your life and your business, and ask yourself – as a key person of influence what do I want to achieve this year – and importantly why?

I speak to lots of clients who – without realising it, are aiming too small, when asked what they really want for their work, their answer will be …I want to earn enough to give up the day job…or I want to reach more people because I know I can help them…. Sadly, neither of those statements give a clear message to the fairy godmother / genie / universe – of exactly what outcome you want.

Be specific; create a vision board instead of a set of resolutions, remember the left brain right brain connection and use both words and pictures.

Check out my post on how to create a vision board HERE>>

questions

Here’s some questions you can ask yourself to get you started…

How can I get in touch with and ‘own’ my YOU-nique Brilliance?

(Yes, I do believe in singing your own praises – not playing small)

Have I got clarity on my brand message, and which parts of my story I want to share?

(Often the personal bit that you don’t want to share is actually your ‘gold’. I love the saying ‘Let your mess be your message’)

Who are my ideal clients, if I want to focus on attracting and helping one ‘niche’ to start with, who is that person and why?

(You may think your product or service is genuinely perfect for everyone, but for your first ‘project’ choose one specific client group)

If I could have one big wish for 2017 for my business what would it be?

(Be specific, think big)

What can I do right now to move towards this outcome?  Do I need to contact someone or get more training / investment / a joint venture?

Remember you don’t have to get it right…you absolutely DO have to get it going…

 

If you’d like help getting clarity on your unique vision… spend 60 mins of ’1 to 1′ with me for a power visioning strategy session to get the clarity you need to move you and your business forward in 2017.

powervisioning500

Check out the testimonials here and see what it can do for you>>