447: I'm an adult, I can drink if I want to [Thought Swap]
Take a Break from Drinking
Rachel Hart
4.9 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 16 December 2025
⏱️ 16 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
How often do you find yourself saying, "I'm an adult, I can drink if I want to"?
While it's technically true that you're an adult who can make your own choices, here's the deeper truth: this thought isn't really about the drink.
Tune in this week to hear why pouring a drink in these moments isn't an act of defiance but actually a distraction, how to identify what you're really rebelling against, and three specific thought swaps that will help you challenge this excuse when it pops up.
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/447
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Have you ever thought to yourself, I'm an adult, I can drink if I want to. |
| 0:04.1 | I would often have this thought after a long day when I felt boxed in by all the rules I made for myself around my drinking, and when I was tired of being the responsible one all the time. |
| 0:16.7 | And I'll tell you, I loved drinking in these moments. |
| 0:20.3 | It felt decisive and confident and a little bit rebellious. |
| 0:25.2 | It felt like I was reclaiming my freedom by pouring that drink. |
| 0:29.2 | This is episode 447, and I'm giving you ideas for how to respond in this moment |
| 0:34.7 | when you're telling yourself you're allowed to drink because you're an adult. |
| 0:39.9 | Whether you want to drink less or stop drinking, this podcast will help you change the habit |
| 0:45.1 | from the inside out. We're challenging conventional wisdom about why people drink and why it can |
| 0:51.3 | be hard to resist temptation. No labels, no judgment, just practical tools to |
| 0:57.3 | take control of your desire and stop worrying about your drinking. Now here's your host, Rachel Hart. |
| 1:08.3 | Hey everybody, welcome back. This is another thought swap episode and we're talking about a really common excuse that can sound really reasonable on the surface. |
| 1:18.9 | The excuse is I'm an adult. |
| 1:20.6 | I can drink if I want to or simply I'm an adult. |
| 1:24.1 | I can do what I want to. |
| 1:26.3 | I will tell you that this excuse can feel really hard to |
| 1:31.4 | challenge in the moment because it's all technically true. You are an adult. You can do |
| 1:38.1 | what you want to do. You can drink if you want to. The argument that you're making in this moment, it really isn't |
| 1:47.2 | about logic. It's about identity, autonomy, and agency. And that's what we're really |
| 1:53.2 | going to unpack today. It can also be the desire to rebel a little bit and say, F you to the world and to your responsibilities |
| 2:02.5 | and to anything and everything that feels oppressive in your life. For so many of us, |
| 2:11.4 | pouring a drink feels like a remarkably powerful symbol of defiance. And if you think about it, it makes a lot of sense |
... |
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