Why People Get Weird When You Say You Don't Drink

Here's something that's gonna happen to you when you stop drinking.

Now, almost always happens the moment you start telling other people that you don't drink.

If they're drinkers, their brain is gonna go into justification mode.

Not justifying to you, but to themselves.

They'll say stuff like, "Ah, sure, I only drink at the weekends.

I just have the one or two here and there." Or the famous one, "I could stop whenever I wanted." Now, it's not something that you asked these people.

You just said, "I don't drink." Now, there's a few reasons for this.

One of the biggest is that your decision to stop drinking, your decision to change, it holds up a mirror to them.

You've done something they've thought about doing, but haven't.

You know, every drinker has got up in the morning and thought to themselves after a, a night before, and they've got a hangover, they've thought about stopping.

So the hangovers, the regrets, the shame.

When you start saying, "I don't drink," it reminds them of all that, even on a subconscious level, and it makes them feel uncomfortable.

But listen, this is not your problem.

Right? I've been teaching people to leave alcohol behind for the last 13 years, and what I've learned is that there are some challenges in this journey that help you, that make you stronger, that just make the, the journey so much easier, make your life so much easier, and there are some things that we might see as challenges, but they're really obstacles that we've put in our own way.

Caring what other people think about you stopping drinking is one of those.

It's an obstacle that you've put inside of yourself.

You don't owe anybody a bloody explanation, right? Nobody else is affected by your drinking but you, right? You know, people can be affected by your actions, but nobody is affected by the alcohol going into your system.

Nobody is poisoned by the alcohol, the same alcohol that goes into your system.

You also don't need a sob story.

This isn't a decision or a journey that you should be ashamed about.

It's one that should make you feel excited by the possibilities, by the potential that you're opening up for yourself.

So don't put the stuff inside your mouth, and you're free.

When somebody asks you, uh, "Do you wanna drink?" Just say this.

Keep it really simple.

"I don't drink." That's the complete sentence, right? Full stop.