When contemplating taking a break from drinking or cutting back, most people focus on how hard it will be. They anticipate struggle, discomfort, and missing out on fun.

Our brains are actually designed to avoid hard things. We’re wired to seek pleasure, avoid pain, and expend the least amount of energy possible. This motivational triad helped humans survive thousands of years ago when daily life required immense effort just to find food and shelter. But in today's world, where survival is relatively easy, this same wiring can keep you stuck in patterns that no longer serve you.

This week, you’ll hear how, whether it’s changing your relationship with alcohol or any other challenging goal, choosing to do hard things forces you to grow and stretch beyond what you think you're capable of.

Find a personalized approach that helps you change your habit in my new book, The Ultimate Guide to Drinking Less, here: https://rachelhart.com/guide/

Discover alternative approaches to drinking less inside our membership program, Take a Break: https://rachelhart.com/tab/

Get the full show notes, transcript, and more information here: https://rachelhart.com/428

Ever felt like you just need a drink to handle discomfort? In this episode, you’ll hear how a terrifying bus ride through Alaska’s Denali National Park helped me realize that discomfort isn’t the enemy – it’s the chaos we create around it that trips us up.

Through a narrow, winding road perched over sheer cliffs, fear consumed me. I reacted, resisted, and distracted myself, escalating the discomfort into a mental spiral. But when the journey turned back, I chose a different approach: staying present, feeling the discomfort, and observing it. That’s when everything changed.

Tune in to learn how you can apply the skill of staying present through discomfort to urges, whether it's alcohol or any challenging emotion. The key to breaking habits is focusing on the discomfort, not escalating it into chaos. Letting the discomfort be there without reacting is the first step to regaining control and shifting your relationship with alcohol – and life.

Find a personalized approach that helps you change your habit in my new book, The Ultimate Guide to Drinking Less, here: https://rachelhart.com/guide/

Discover alternative approaches to drinking less inside our membership program, Take a Break: https://rachelhart.com/tab/

Get the full show notes, transcript, and more information here: https://rachelhart.com/427

The hidden influence of "drinking the good stuff" is shaping your relationship with alcohol in surprising ways. As you upgrade your drink choices to fancy wines, craft beers, or top-shelf spirits, you might notice thought patterns around waste and value that are driving overconsumption.

Our beliefs about what constitutes "good" alcohol trace back to ancient times, when Greeks first established wine as an elite drink compared to the beer consumed by common people. These age-old status distinctions continue influencing modern drinking habits, as many of you feel compelled to finish expensive or rare drinks rather than "waste" them – even when you've had enough.

Listen in this week to learn how labeling certain drinks as special, rare, or healthy impacts your consumption patterns and makes changing your drinking habits more challenging. Understanding this is what allows you to question whether the "good stuff" narrative truly serves you, or if it's simply marketing and social conditioning getting in the way of mindful drinking.

Find a personalized approach that helps you change your habit in my new book, The Ultimate Guide to Drinking Less, here: https://rachelhart.com/guide/

Discover alternative approaches to drinking less inside our membership program, Take a Break: https://rachelhart.com/tab/

Get the full show notes, transcript, and more information here: https://rachelhart.com/426

When you’re out with friends and everyone orders drinks, you might have thoughts like, “Well, you only live once. I want to enjoy it!” Despite wanting to drink less (or not at all), you order yourself a drink too.

You might think that having more discipline in moments like these would help you resist, but I'm here to tell you that discipline, willpower, and scare tactics aren’t the solution.

In this episode, I break down two essential steps to help you navigate social situations without alcohol. We explore how to work with your specific Drink Archetype to understand the deeper desires behind your cravings, and I show you exactly what your brain learns when you consistently use alcohol in social settings.

Find a personalized approach that helps you change your habit in my new book, The Ultimate Guide to Drinking Less, here: https://rachelhart.com/guide/

Discover alternative approaches to drinking less inside our membership program, Take a Break: https://rachelhart.com/tab/

Get the full show notes, transcript, and more information here: https://rachelhart.com/425

When someone successfully moderates their drinking or says no to alcohol in situations where they previously would have reached for a drink, they tend to view it as a fluke and go back to worrying about when they'll slip up again. But was it a fluke?

As humans, we often attribute our wins to external factors - the circumstances, other people, or pure luck - rather than acknowledging our own role in making better choices. However, this mindset of not taking credit for your achievements actually makes it harder to create lasting change. So, it’s time to start recognizing the agency you exercised in these moments, even if it didn’t feel present in the moment.

Sobriety coach Adriana Cloud is back on the show this week, helping you explore the thoughts and feelings that drive successful choices around alcohol, so you can create a blueprint for repeating those results over and over, instead of dismissing your progress as a fluke.

Find a personalized approach that helps you change your habit in my new book, The Ultimate Guide to Drinking Less, here: https://rachelhart.com/guide/

Discover alternative approaches to drinking less inside our membership program, Take a Break: https://rachelhart.com/tab/

Get the full show notes, transcript, and more information here: https://rachelhart.com/424

Have you ever woken up after drinking too much and immediately thought either, “I f*cked up” or “I must be f*cked up?” These two seemingly similar thoughts actually reveal deep-rooted societal beliefs about drinking problems that might be keeping you stuck.

It doesn't matter your age, gender, education level, or socioeconomic status – these thoughts show up consistently and create major roadblocks to changing your drinking habits.

In this episode, you’ll learn where these thoughts come from, why they're so harmful, and what you need to understand instead. This line of thinking leads to shame and self-blame that make lasting change nearly impossible, and it’s time to break free from this vicious cycle of pathologizing your behavior around alcohol.

Find a personalized approach that helps you change your habit in my new book, The Ultimate Guide to Drinking Less, here: https://rachelhart.com/guide/

Discover alternative approaches to drinking less inside our membership program, Take a Break: https://rachelhart.com/tab/

Get the full show notes, transcript, and more information here: https://rachelhart.com/423

Have you ever set a firm intention not to drink, only to find your good intentions fall apart later in the day? It's a frustrating cycle that can leave you wondering what's wrong with you. But here's the truth: your good intentions aren't failing because of some personal flaw. They're failing because they're missing a crucial element.

On last week’s show, you learned why good intentions are just visions without plans. Today, you’ll learn the exact practice you need when temptation strikes—and it's probably not like anything you’ve been told before.

Tune in to discover why simply having good intentions isn't enough when it comes to changing your drinking habits. Rather than fighting temptation, you’ll get a technique to interrupt the habit cycle by simply acknowledging it with curiosity, and you'll gain the awareness needed to create lasting change in your relationship with alcohol.

Find a personalized approach that helps you change your habit in my new book, The Ultimate Guide to Drinking Less, here: https://rachelhart.com/guide/

Discover alternative approaches to drinking less inside our membership program, Take a Break: https://rachelhart.com/tab/

Get the full show notes, transcript, and more information here: https://rachelhart.com/422

Do you start each morning with the best of intentions for your drinking only to watch them crumble by evening? That frustrating cycle isn't a sign of personal failure—it's evidence that you're missing a crucial element in your approach to change.

The truth is, those morning intentions aren't the problem. They're genuine and meaningful, but when you tell yourself "I won't drink tonight" or "I'll stop after two glasses," you're creating a vision without a roadmap to get there.

Listen in this week to learn how you might be trapped in the "I should know better" mindset, how it’s sabotaging your progress, and how to finally break free from this frustrating cycle.

Find a personalized approach that helps you change your habit in my new book, The Ultimate Guide to Drinking Less, here: https://rachelhart.com/guide/

Discover alternative approaches to drinking less inside our membership program, Take a Break: https://rachelhart.com/tab/

Get the full show notes, transcript, and more information here: https://rachelhart.com/421