I’m a husband, dad, and 38 year old accountant who has made a career helping clients stay in control of their finances, yet spent decades in a secret battle to stay in control of my drinking.
My life didn’t look like that of someone who was hopelessly addicted to alcohol. I didn’t fit into my own cardboard cut out view of an alcoholic. I wasn’t pouring vodka on my cornflakes. I didn’t spend the day drinking cider on a park bench. I didn’t even drink every single day. I couldn’t have been an alcoholic.
What I definitely did have was a life that had been narrowed by drinking. A life where I made it through work, got to the end of the week exhausted and reached for a drink. A lot of drink. I started the next week sluggish from the weekend, limped through it and then repeated the cycle.
Going sober, and then 99% sober helped me start living again. Everything improved. I started to see my life through clear eyes, rather than through the blur of a drinking session or the fog of a hangover. I had tried and failed for the best part of a decade to change my relationship with alcohol. My previous attempts were all based on moderation or abstinence using sheer willpower. Willpower is finite. It runs out. It’s rare that willpower alone works for anyone. What does work is focusing on what you’re gaining.
But if you don’t know what you could be gaining, about how much better your life could look without, or with a lot less booze, then you’re stuck thinking “alcohol is amazing, I need it, my life will suck without it”. You’ll always feel like you’re giving something up.
I want to help people try and break that cycle, and let them see what a 99% Sober life could look like.
Patrick@99percentsober.com
Instagram @99percentsober
2 Responses
Love this blog post! You are so right, it’s totally about what you’re gaining and once you switch your mindset to focus on that it becomes a whole new adventure!
Thank you for reading and commenting, really appreciate it! I know, it’s like a new world opens up once you make the mindset shift!