A Therapist's Guide to Breaking Your Drinking Habit in 2024

Have you been thinking of breaking your drinking habit in 2024?

The beginning of a new year often sparks aspirations for healthier living—eating better, exercising more, and perhaps, drinking less. Dry or Damp January has been a popular trend in the past few years for good reasons.

However, did you know that a 2021 survey revealed that 1 in 10 individuals who embarked on Dry January found themselves reaching for a drink by January 3rd? This statistic highlights a crucial point: good intentions alone aren’t enough. Success in the New Year, whether aiming for a completely dry, or just damp January, requires more than wishful thinking; it demands a well-thought-out strategy.

In this guide, I'll walk you through a comprehensive, step-by-step plan to break your daily or almost daily drinking habit in 2024. Let's dive into the three key steps.

3 Simple Steps to Change Your Drinking Habit

Step 1. Identify Your Drinking Cues. First: Understanding habits. Every habit consists of three elements: Cue, routine, and reward. The cue triggers the habit; it could be a specific time, place, event, or even an internal state. For many daily drinkers, the cue might be a certain time of day or specific events, like returning home from work. Your first task is to identify the specific cues that activate your drinking habit.

Step 2. Craft an Alternative Routine. Once you've pinpointed your cue, the next step is to establish an alternative activity to drinking. The golden rule of habit change is to maintain the same cue but switch out the routine. This significantly boosts your chances of success. It's easier to replace a habit than to eliminate it entirely. The key is to find a replacement activity that is both enjoyable and fulfilling.

Step 3. Ensure a Rewarding Experience. The sense of reward is what cements a habit. Think about any positive habit in your life, and you'll notice there's always a form of reward attached to it. For your new routine to stick, it's important to find a reward that gives you a sense of achievement or pleasure. This could be anything from the satisfaction of completing a task to the enjoyment of a new hobby.

A Fresh Page: Journaling as a New Ritual

Struggling to come up with an alternative to drinking? You're not alone. It's common to feel lost when attempting to change a long-standing routine. That's where journaling comes in as a recommended alternative activity.

Why journaling?

• Accessibility. Journaling is straightforward; all you need is a pen and a notebook. It’s an activity that allows for free expression without rules or limitations.
• Stress Relief. Stress often serves as a primary internal cue for reaching for a drink, and journaling may help relieve that stress and bypass the cue.
• A Rewarding Experience. Journaling brings two-fold rewards. Firstly, the act of gaining new insights and personal growth can be incredibly fulfilling. Secondly, the physical act of writing and seeing your thoughts on paper provides a tangible sense of achievement.

Where to Start

The path to changing your relationship with alcohol is not just about abstaining; it's about understanding and rewriting your habits. With these steps and the practice of journaling, you're not just working towards a drier January; you're paving the way for a healthier, more mindful relationship with alcohol.

Let's make 2024 the year of positive change.