430: Why You Go on Autopilot

Take a Break from Drinking

Rachel Hart

Alcohol, Lifecoach, Alcoholicsanonymous, Self-improvement, Hungover, Society & Culture, Smartrecovery, Drinking, Cognitivebehavioraltherapy, Education, Cbt, 12steps, Sobriety, Drunk, Recovery, Personal Journals

4.8 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 15 July 2025

⏱️ 21 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

You've made the list. You have all the reasons why drinking less is a smart choice. You know all the benefits and you really do want to change. So why isn't that enough in the moment? Why does your motivation disappear the second a craving shows up or as soon as you've finished your first drink?

Many people spend years believing that their long list of good reasons should be enough to change my drinking habits. They’re bursting at the seams with benefits and regrets, convinced they should just know better by now. The mistake here? Trying to logic yourself out of desire, waiting for all your good reasons to rewire your brain.

Join me this week to learn how desire really works, why you find yourself on autopilot the moment a craving hits, and what to do about it.

Find a personalized approach that helps you change your habit in my new book, The Ultimate Guide to Drinking Less, here: https://rachelhart.com/guide/

Discover alternative approaches to drinking less inside our membership program, Take a Break: https://rachelhart.com/tab/

Get the full show notes, transcript, and more information here: https://rachelhart.com/430

Transcript

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0:00.0	You've made the list. You have all the reasons why drinking less is a smart choice, better health, fewer regrets. So you know all the benefits and you really do want to change. So why isn't that enough in the moment? Why does your motivation disappear the second a craving shows up or as soon as you've finished your first drink. This is episode 430 and I'm
0:22.2	breaking down the trap of trying to out reason your desire, while your brain isn't moved by long
0:28.5	lists of health benefits or all of your regrets that you have from drinking too much and what
0:33.7	you need to do instead. Whether you want to drink less or stop drinking,
0:39.7	this podcast will help you change the habit from the inside out.
0:43.8	We're challenging conventional wisdom about why people drink
0:47.1	and why it can be hard to resist temptation.
0:50.4	No labels, no judgment, just practical tools
0:53.9	to take control of your desire and stop worrying
0:56.7	about your drinking. Now, here's your host, Rachel Hart.
1:05.1	A problem that I hear all the time from people goes something like this. So Rachel, I plan to have just one or two
1:12.4	drinks and then I often want more and I just go on autopilot. So people describe this moment to me
1:18.8	all the time and they describe it in a way as if almost something has gone wrong. And I understand
1:25.4	why that is because I did the same thing for a very long time.
1:30.0	We tell ourselves, I really want to drink less. This is really an important goal to me.
1:35.1	I want to improve my health. I want to stop waking up and worrying about what I said or did.
1:40.8	I want to be someone who just knows when to say when. I want to maybe be a good role model
1:45.5	for my kids. We have lots and lots of reasons. In fact, we have no shortage of good reasons,
1:51.4	why we want to change our relationship with alcohol and why we want to drink less.
1:57.0	But I will tell you this. What I have found is that all of these good reasons are where we often get into
2:04.2	trouble. It's what got me into trouble because I spent years and years saying to myself,
2:11.3	okay, Rachel, like here's the list. We've got so many good reasons. I was bursting at the seams
	...

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