HAPPY NEW YEAR GUYS!!
I am so sorry this post is late! If you follow me on Instagram you will know that dropping my phone down the loo ( who needs alcohol to be clumsy!) and being away on a skiing holiday hasn’t helped much in my media updates!!
But now I am back so Happy New 2019 – better late than never!
I hope you have had an amazing Christmas and started this year feeling positive and ready for a fabulous year ahead.
Now I am back upto date in the world of social media I can see I have had a boost in followers, so thanks for that guys – I am guessing January is the most popular time of the year for people wanting to kick the booze, especially after a Christmas of heavy drinking and Dry January being popping up everywhere.
If you are looking for help and advice in the early days please read Don’t Let Triggers Kill Your Progress! & Just start………. which you will hopefully find helpful.
In the early days when I stopped drinking I read A LOT of books about getting sober. Fiction, non-fiction, podcasts, blogs – anything I could find I would read to inspire me, keep me focused and stop me from picking up the wine. Now life seems so busy I don’t seem to find the time to read very often, so this Christmas I made sure that a good book was on my list so I could indulge and read it whilst I was away.
The book I read this holiday was GIRL WASH YOUR FACE by Rachel Hollis, it is an AMAZING read and I strongly recommend that you buy it! Seriously it is perfect for getting you in warrior mode and determined to achieve whatever you want to achieve in life!!
Basically it is about lies that Rachel has believed all her life, things that have held her back from being who she really wants to be. Each chapter addresses those lies and fights back with positivity and tips to erase any negativity or obsatcles that are getting in the way of reaching our goals. It doesn’t focus just on sobriety (one chapter is about alcohol) but it’s for anyone wanting to change any aspect of their life.
One of my favourite chapters is NO IS THE FINAL ANSWER, and it fits in perfectly at this time of year – New Year – New You – New Goals – New Dreams!
Basically Rachel explains that if something means so much to you, then do not accept NO as an answer.
‘NO IS ONLY AN ANSWER IF YOU ACCEPT IT!’
I love this! Think about it, if it’s something that you truly want to achieve then why let anyone (most importantly yourself) stop you?
What are your goals? What do you want to achieve this year, in five years, ten years? Where do you want to be? What do you want to be doing? Who do you want to be? You need to ask yourself these questions and write down the answers. These are your DREAMS, they will never be as impotant to anyone else as they are to you!
Now what is stopping you, why have you given up on these dreams?
Rachel highlights some examples –
‘A boss has told you that you weren’t right for a dream job’
‘A parent, out of love or fear told you not to try’
‘A spouse or partner was afraid they may lose you and tried to keep you anchored’
‘Or you’ve been told your too over weight to run a marathon, too young to start a business or told to take dance lessons!’
This next sentence resonated with me the most –
‘Maybe the voice saying no is your own, maybe the negative self talk in your head has been playing on repeat your entire life!’
Yep! That is what struck a chord for me. It really is only since I stopped drinking that I started believing in myself and pursuing changes that I never thought possible. Because I had done what I thought was impossible – I had stopped drinking!
To all of those who have tried we all know that stopping drinking is hard, people try and fail a million times ( I know I did) but it is so so worth it when you achieve it. It seriously gives you such a positive outlook on life and opens up new doors for you. You just feel like you want to live more, do more, be more! Goals and dreams ARE difficult to achieve, and that is what makes it so amazing when we get there.
Rachel reinforces that giving up is not an option:-
‘Don’t tell me you have to give up because its difficult. This is the difference between living a life you always dreamed of or sitting alongside the death of the person you were meant to become. You have to do something about it, you have to reach down inside yourself and remember the reason why you started this’
This is why you need to write down these goals and dreams so that you can always look back on them if you feel like life is getting in the way and you’re being distracted. Your goals can be large or small, from feeling confident in a bikini to running a worldwide organistaion or running a marathon! What matters is that they are important to you! They should set your soul on fire and no matter how scary it feels to try to achieve them – giving up on them should scare you more!
Personally I have a list of about eight things I want to achieve this year, mainly linked to Lifting Weights Not Wine and a career change to a job that will make me want to jump out of bed every morning! That is my main goal! Some days it seems like a lot of hardwork to get to where I want to be and I worry that at 43 time is not really on my side, especially when I think of all the super fit twenty year olds entering the fitness industry! But I drown that voice out by doing something to get me closer to where I want to be, from a workout to studying for my course, just something to get me one step closer.
So if you haven’t done so already, ask yourself what are your goals and dreams and start writing them down. Make a plan to get you to where you want to be, and forget how long it will take – just start!
Rachels’ book is amazing and I recommend it for anyone who needs to start believing in themselves and embark on their own journey to become who they want to be! My twelve-year-old even started reading it after I had finished it and she loves it, how amazing is that, imagine having this positivity and belief in yourself at such a young age – you go girl!
If you have signed up for Dry January – let me know how it’s going? Message me if you need to for any help and advice. You are doing one of the best things that you can for your mind, body and soul by giving yourself a break from the booze. Keep up the good work and who knows 2019 may be your first sober year, you may not want to stop at the end of January. Believe me sobriety is the gift that keeps on giving and life just gets better and better!
If you are looking for daily sober inspiration please find me on Instagram @liftingweightsnotwine
2019 HERE WE COME!
Angie xx
Find Your Sober Glow! 