Giving up alcohol was harder than box jumping Mount Everest. Here's what nobody tells you about the first two years, and the one skill that makes it stick. I've box jumped the height of Mount Everest. I've pushed a 140kg sled for 24 hours straight. I ran 109 kilometres backwards in a day. None of it came close to putting down a pint. Here's why. From the age of 16, I ran every emotion I had through alcohol. Sad, stressed, bored, celebrating, grieving it all went through the same door for 26 years.

So when you stop, you're not giving up a drink. You're rebuilding your entire emotional operating system from scratch, at 40-odd years old, with no instructions. In this podcast, I discuss Why year one feels like something is permanently missing, and why that feeling is accurate rather than a sign you're failing

How you build new evidence: your first holiday, first Christmas, first birthday, first grief, all banked without it

Drink dreams, and why your brain keeps writing you a future with alcohol in it that doesn't exist

The difference between having a thought and acting on oneWhy a craving passes in 15 to 20 minutes, and what that single fact changes I'm 18 months in. I'm not going to tell you it gets easy, because it didn't. I'll tell you it gets different, and that's better. If you're over 40 and you've been quietly wondering whether the drinking is the thing holding everything else back — this one's for you. If you're struggling with alcohol, please talk to your GP or a support service. There's no medal for doing it on your own. Join the Thrive at 40 community (7-day trial)https://www.skool.com/thriveat40

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