ARE YOU A SOLDIER OR A SCOUT?

WHY NOT TAKE A BREAK FROM ALCOHOL IN DECEMBER AS WELL AS JANUARY?

Today I am two years Alcohol FREE… having stopped drinking in early December 2020, probably the toughest month to stop drinking simply because it is the month awash with booze.

In December you’re expected to go out and drink with your clients, go to boozy lunches, invite friends around, or go around to them, for drinks. Alcohol is all around you all the time, you are doused in its marketing and if you’re not careful, you could get submerged.

But it’s also the best month because if you can get through December, you prove to yourself you can get through any month.

At the beginning of my journey I was in a world where I was not in control of alcohol. I left that world to learn how to follow an alcohol-free life, where my old beliefs became a thing of the past, and the familiar rules that I used to live my life by, faded away. In this new alcohol-free world, I faced many obstacles and tests. Through identifying the values and beliefs I wanted to live by, I forged my new purpose and eventually earned the reward – the superpower of alcohol freedom.

My first year alcohol-free was about getting used to this new way of living, discovering the new me. My second year was about understanding what I can do with this superpower and all the knowledge I had gleaned. This manifested itself in training as a life and sober coach and publishing a best-selling quit lit book “Walking Back To Happiness – The Secret To Alcohol-free Living & Well-being”. The plan being to share my knowledge with as many people as possible and by doing so, help others find and release their superpower.

The million dollar question I get asked over and over again by many people is what is the one thing that enabled you to make the change. What is the catalyst that sent you successfully down the alcohol-free living pathway? It is this… never stop being curious, ADOPT A SCOUT MINDSET.

The only way to successfully stop drinking is to change your beliefs about alcohol and the only way to change your beliefs is by having an open mind or a scout mindset.

Before I realised this, I tried 1000s of times to stop for more than 30 years. But I was doing it all wrong. I was using the willpower method, trying to white knuckle it. In short, I still believed I was a drinker trying to be a non-drinker. That simply does not work.

So what is a scout mindset and how do you get one? Imagine that the world is a battlefield – and that on this battlefield there are two types of people: SOLDIERS & SCOUTS. We are all both soldiers and scouts. Some of us approaching life either a bit more like a soldier or a bit more like a scout. Soldiers – believe there is only one way of seeing the world – and that is their way. They’re ready to attack anything or anyone that contradicts their world view. Scouts – have no interest in attacking. Their job is to check out the lie of the land, to create an accurate map of the battlefield, to establish the facts, regardless of whether those facts reinforce or contradict what they want to be true.

The main drawback of the soldier mindset is that it can blind us from the truth. If we’re so busy seeing what we want to see and seeking evidence that backs up what we already believe, then we may never see what’s really there or change our beliefs for the better. When you confuse what you believe with who you are, you only collect evidence that supports that view and you shut out other evidence so, if someone says that not drinking alcohol is fun and you won’t be boring if you go alcohol free, you won’t believe it.

Scouts go about things differently. They believe that the best way to be right is to get good at being wrong. A scout remains open to new information and developing an accurate picture of the world.

Recognising your own mistakes or realising that someone you disagreed with is right after all is what scouts do. You do this through being open to creating new pathways in the mind.

In summary, one of the most important, if not THE most important thing anyone who is taking a break from alcohol can learn is this: believing you can never stop drinking is just a belief. That’s all it is. A false and limiting belief. And like all beliefs, they can be learned and unlearned and you do this through adopting a SCOUT MINDSET.

My book Walking Back To Happiness The Secret To Alcohol-free Living & Well-being shows you how I adopted a scout mindset about alcohol and how you can to.

ARE YOU SOBER CURIOUS?

If you are thinking of taking a break from alcohol in December and January – then why not book a coaching Discovery Call with me. Book a Coaching Discovery Call https://calendly.com/9kmby9am/30minchemistrysession

© Copyright Nigel Jones 2022. The moral right of the author has been asserted. All rights reserved.

LINKS

If you are questioning your alcohol consumption or already taking a break from it and seeing the huge benefits that brings please feel free to get in touch. You can contact me through:

Coaching

Book a Coaching Discovery Call https://calendly.com/9kmby9am/30minchemistrysession

Website

Book Website – www.9kmby9am.com/books

Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://www.9kmby9am.com/latest-news/newsletter/

Amazon

Author Page – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nigel-Jones/e/B0B7RP6LH6/

Paperback https://amzn.eu/d/573olDm

Hardcover https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/191514731X/

Kindle / eBook https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B7QVJP2M/

Facebook 9KM BY 9AM Challenge Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/9kmby9amchallenge

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/9kmby9am

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WALKINGBACKTOHAPPINESS

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@9kmby9am

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/9kmby9am/