You are listening to the Take a Break podcast with Rachel Hart, episode 21.

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.

Hello everyone. How are you? How are you doing? I'm really good.

I was just in Boston last week and I got to spend some time with my niece Maeve, who is two

and a half and oh my god, this kid is such a trip. One morning I was sitting on the couch

and she dragged over this little toy piano she has, dragged it over to me, climbed on top

and started to play piano with her feet and singing a song to me about the fact that I was in town.

I love that little kids are like, I don't need to sit in front of a piano and play with my fingers.

I'm going to sit on top and play with my toes. So there, who cares?

I'll tell you, as a life coach hanging out with a toddler is so instructive because it is the perfect way

to witness the unsupervised brain in action.

My coach Brooke was the first one to introduce me to this idea that you need to actively supervise your brain

and that's what we use life coaching tools for. So the brain, when you think about it,

it's on the lookout for danger all the time. That's what kept us alive back in the day,

seeing danger around every corner was an evolutionary advantage. It prioritizes pleasure and it wants to avoid discomfort

because both of these things were linked to survival and the brain wants to do all of this as efficiently as possible

and that's why our brain loves habits. But sometimes these three things seeking out pleasure, avoiding pain and forming habits

can lead you in a direction that you don't want to go like drinking too much.

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