You are listening to the Take a Break podcast with Rachel Hart, episode 245.

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, my friends. We are going to talk about practicing habit change. This is one of the most

important topics that you can focus on when you are learning how to change your relationship with

alcohol. We're going to be talking today about doing, doing the work, showing up for this work,

rather than quitting on yourself. Because here's the thing. If it feels like you're on autopilot

when you drink, if it feels like your brain is just like, I don't know, more is better, let's have

another. If it also feels like you're drinking just happens, then you have to teach your brain how

to respond differently to your urges. We cannot wave a magic wand and just make it so that your urges

go away. You have to learn a new way to respond to them. Now remember, one of the things that I

teach you, and I talk to you about all the time, is how the urge to drink is harmless.

Now that's not where a lot of people start. A lot of people start from like, no, the urge to drink

is not harmless. It's the problem, and I need to make these urges go away. But here's the thing.

It truly is harmless. It cannot make you do anything. But when you keep responding to that urge,

by saying yes, here's the thing, you're not treating the urge as if it's harmless, you're treating

the urge like it's a big deal. And I really want you to think about this, especially in your situation.

Are you acting as if your urges are no big deal, no problem? Or are you responding to them in a way

that indicates, oh yeah, I think this urge, it has power. It has power over me. It's a problem.

Now, intellectually, it's very easy to listen to what I'm saying and say, yeah, okay, I know the

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