You are listening to the Take a Break podcast with Rachel Hart episode 181.

Whether you want to drink less or stop drinking, this podcast will help you change the habit from the inside out.

We're challenging conventional wisdom about why people drink and why it can be hard to resist temptation.

No labels, no judgment, just practical tools to take control of your desire and stop worrying about your drinking.

Now here's your host, Rachel Hart.

Well, hello friends. We are talking about something today that I'm calling purposeful discomfort.

And it is exactly what it sounds like. It is discomfort that serves a purpose.

And we're going to look at that in comparison to discomfort that has no purpose.

Because one of the things that I have found not only in my own life, but in the work that I do with so many people is that you don't understand the difference between these two things.

Our brain encounters discomfort and freaks out.

So the brain's like, oh my god, this is terrible. I hate this. This is so uncomfortable. Make it stop.

I know that my brain did that for such a long time. I didn't want to feel uncomfortable ever.

But here's the problem. The key to growth and evolution and changing your habits and changing your relationship with alcohol is discomfort.

You need to learn how to embrace discomfort because if you're always resisting it, you're going to stay stuck.

So you need discomfort, but you need the right kind of it. You need the kind that serves a purpose.

Now, I will tell you, for a very long time, I was plenty uncomfortable when I was stuck in the habit of drinking.

And so the idea that I needed to embrace discomfort was like, I don't even know.

It was just, it was like someone would be telling me the worst news ever because I was sitting there being like, I'm very uncomfortable.

I'm uncomfortable worrying about whether or not I'm actually going to take it easy tonight.

I'm uncomfortable waiting for everyone to finish their drink so that I can order another and wondering if people are noticing how fast I'm drinking.

I'm uncomfortable the next day. I'm uncomfortable when I open up my eyes and think, ugh, why did you do that again, Rachel?

I'm uncomfortable when I feel hungover. I'm uncomfortable when my sleep is disturbed. I'm uncomfortable when the memories of last night come flooding back.

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