The Truth About Alcohol (Why Quitting Feels So Hard)

UFC Legend Bruce Buffer on Success

Bruce Buffer has been the “Official Voice of the Octagon” for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) since 1997 and for many other mixed martial arts events worldwide and is recognised internationally as “The Voice of Mixed Martial Arts”. The UFC is seen worldwide on Satellite and Cable TV PPV. He was also on SPIKE TV’s hit series “UFC Unleashed” and “Ultimate Fight Night” and now appears on all FOX network-televised UFC events and Pay Per Views viewed by millions worldwide. Bruce is classified as a true entrepreneur, announcer, entertainer and motivational speaker who keeps the viewing public attentive and excited about products and events he represents. I asked Bruce to come on the show because he is successful, and as many of us prepare to deal with the white space for the first time, I think it’s critical to learn how successful people tick, in the hope that these stories will inspire us to find meaning and purpose in our lives. The Truth About Alcohol We Are Not Alcoholics, And we Refuse to be Anonymous Join Us & Our Community TTAA Taster: http://www.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk/p/TTAA%20Taster TTAA Intensive: https://www.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk/p/TTAAIntensive Strive Community: https://strive.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk/

Jim and Janice Prochaska on Changing to Thrive

This week my guests on the AA Podcast are James and Janice Prochaska. James O. Prochaska is Director of Cancer Prevention Research Center and Professor of Clinical and Health Psychology at the University of Rhode Island. He is the author of over 400 publications, including four books, Changing to Thrive, Changing for Good, Systems of Psychotherapy, and The Transtheoretical Approach. He is internationally recognised for his work as a developer of the stage model of behaviour change. He is the principal investigator on over 80 million dollars in research grants for the prevention of cancer and other chronic diseases. He is the founder of Pro-Change Behavior Systems. One of the most published authors in the field of social work, Dr Janice M. Prochaska has led research and development teams for health behaviour and organisational change programs as the CEO at Pro-Change Behavior Systems, Inc. from 1997 – 2015. Her collaborations include applying the Model to cutting edge issues like simultaneously reducing multiple risk behaviours and enhancing multiple domains of well-being, healthy weight management in children and adults, preventing bullying, keeping individuals out of trouble with the law, and advancing careers with populations like women scientists. In this episode we talk about the Six Stages of Change and how they apply to alcohol addiction, the important difference between ‘Mental” and ‘Action’ models of change, and much more. You can find their work at www.Jprochaska.com, or reach out to them at janiceprochaska@gmail.com. The Truth About Alcohol We Are Not Alcoholics, And we Refuse to be Anonymous Join Us & Our Community TTAA Taster: http://www.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk/p/TTAA%20Taster TTAA Intensive: https://www.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk/p/TTAAIntensive Strive Community: https://strive.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk/

Obi Wan Kenobi

In today's podcast episode, Lee Davy dissects a valuable post from Striver Kim describing how the thought of Obi Wan Kenobi reminding her to 'remember her training,' helped her get through a powerful trigger. Strive Ambassadors Holly and Stella also feature. The Truth About Alcohol We Are Not Alcoholics, And we Refuse to be Anonymous Join Us & Our Community TTAA Taster: http://www.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk/p/TTAA%20Taster TTAA Intensive: https://www.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk/p/TTAAIntensive Strive Community: https://strive.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk/

TTAA Ambassador John on Being Someone That Doesn't Drink Alcohol

John is 42 years old hailing from the North of England who has always known alcohol wasn't good for him. John tried to quit many times unsuccessfully before, in July 2018, he decided enough was enough, and posted his 'Introduction' on Strive, the day after his last drink. He's not touched a drop since. John is a qualified counsellor and father to a 4 year old girl called Betsy who he wishes to be the best role model for. John also wishes to help others to overcome challenges in their lives and drinking alcohol does not aid any of these goals. Alcohol aids nothing. Since quitting alcohol John has setup his private counselling practice, developed a love of running and gained clarity and control of his life. Today, John gives back to the Strive community in his role as a TTAA Ambassador, and we love the pants off him. The Truth About Alcohol We Are Not Alcoholics, And we Refuse to be Anonymous Join Us & Our Community TTAA Taster: http://www.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk/p/TTAA%20Taster TTAA Intensive: https://www.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk/p/TTAAIntensive Strive Community: https://strive.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk/

How Envy Can Be Used As A Force For Good

During a recent trip to Jeju, South Korea, I interviewed high stakes poker players. One of my questions was - when you look around, who are you envious of and why? To a man, the answer was unanimous. “No-one and nothing.” The people saw ‘envy’ as a negative connotation, similar to ‘jealousy’, and to answer it would have led to a decrease in status. After demonstrating how to use envy as a force for good, answering the question created an increase in status. And this is what I talk about on today's podcast. The Truth About Alcohol We Are Not Alcoholics, And we Refuse to be Anonymous Join Us & Our Community TTAA Taster: http://www.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk/p/TTAA%20Taster TTAA Intensive: https://www.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk/p/TTAAIntensive Strive Community: https://strive.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk/

Failure Doesn't Exist When Becoming Someone That Doesn't Drink Alcohol

“Failure is a lack of success, or the omission of expected or required action.” So is ‘failure’ present when becoming someone that doesn’t drink alcohol? Yes and no. A quote from Brené Brown. “If you choose courage, you will absolutely know failure, disappointment, setback, even heartbreak. That’s why we call it courage. That’s why it’s so rare.” “If we are brave enough often enough, we will fall. Daring is not saying “I’m willing to risk failure.” Daring is saying “I know I will eventually fail, and I’m still all in.” I’ve never met a brave person who hasn’t known disappointment, failure, even heartbreak.” To understand failure as it applies to our work, we have to define success. For me, success is not whether we drink alcohol or not. The Truth About Alcohol (TTAA) philosophy is so vast that it swallows ‘alcohol’ as a galaxy does to planet earth. TTAA philosophy helps you to become the best version of yourself, and there is no failure during this voyage into the apocalypse of your mind, only opportunities to learn. Where we do encounter failure is the ‘omission of expected or required action.’ We only improve when we do the work. You are here to do the work, and you know when you are skipping school. Hopefully, in today’s podcast, I can help you better understand the consequences. The Truth About Alcohol We Are Not Alcoholics, And we Refuse to be Anonymous Join Us & Our Community TTAA Taster: http://www.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk/p/TTAA%20Taster TTAA Intensive: https://www.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk/p/TTAAIntensive Strive Community: https://strive.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk/

Scott Stabile on Love, Empathy and Forgiveness

Scott Stabile is a writer, speaker, and workshop wizard. His inspirational posts and videos have attracted a huge and devoted social media following. He is the author of Big Love: The Power of Living with a Wide-Open Heart, Just Love, and Iris. A passionate speaker and love advocate, Scott runs daylong empowerment workshops nationally and internationally. In today’s podcast, Scott shares how he processed the murder of his parents including forgiving the person who pulled the trigger, his theories on big love and how empathy lies at the heart of his work, and much, much more. The Truth About Alcohol We Are Not Alcoholics, And we Refuse to be Anonymous Join Us & Our Community TTAA Taster: http://www.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk/p/TTAA%20Taster TTAA Intensive: https://www.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk/p/TTAAIntensive Strive Community: https://strive.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk/

Processing Life 'Before' And 'After' Alcohol

The buzzing as the fly desperately tries to escape the maze of my mother-in-law’s house sounds like a man leaning on a jackhammer in downtown LA. Of course, I’ve heard the sound thousands of times, only today, as someone that doesn’t drink alcohol, I listen to it, I find empathy with it, and I pose the question, “ Why does it make me want to stand in the middle of a busy Fairway?” In ‘Nature’, Ralph Waldo Emerson’s first treatise, he says: “Good thoughts are no better than good dreams unless they are executed!” But the thought does come first, and when I was drinking, my thoughts did need executing, but not in the form of affirmative action, but at the end of a rope. “Thoughts! You are to be hanged until you are dead, dead, dead!” Today, I am switched on. I am like a locomotive, when before I was a man eaten alive by irrational motive. I am a set of Bose cans screwed into a Bang & Olufsen sound system, when before I was those foam things plugged into a Sony Walkman, spouting nonsense that belonged in a toilet cistern. Back then it was about me. Today, it’s about you. And you. You. You. And You. Back to my old buddy Ralph, and he was on to something. Thoughts turn into feelings that turn into actions - and for that sequence to knit together like DNA you need awarenesses of self and the surrounding world, acceptance of your ailments, and the bravery and courage to commit to change. And you get that by making a choice. One choice. To stop drinking alcohol. Look, man, I know that it feels strange; that you think all of your friends will think you’re deranged, and you are the white outline hanging at the end of the shooting range. But it's time you changed. What changes when you become someone that doesn’t drink alcohol? Everything. Everything man. Striver Glynis asks, “I read somewhere that a good question to ask yourself is: “what does my life look like before alcohol, and what does my life look like after alcohol?” I can’t get my head around the question… What do you make of it? Is it simply an answer like “Before I have my first drink I am feeling ‘xyz’… and after I drink a bottle of wine I say hurtful things, and my head hurts,” or do you think it goes deeper? The whole picture of life with or without alcohol? I really like the question and am pondering over the answer in relation to my ‘whole life’ before and after… And that’s what we talk about in today’s podcast. The Truth About Alcohol We Are Not Alcoholics, And we Refuse to be Anonymous Join Us & Our Community TTAA Taster: http://www.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk/p/TTAA%20Taster TTAA Intensive: https://www.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk/p/TTAAIntensive Strive Community: https://strive.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk/

Will Concentration and Energy Levels Increase When I Become Someone That Doesn’t Drink Alcohol

The fridge light turns me on. A carton of milk with a familiar face greets me. “Have You Seen This Man. Missing for 35-years.” Bloodshot eyes; buckshot thighs; a champagne flute filled with lies. It's me. It's me. That I despise. The zombification of human nature had me by the balls. I walked right into it, led by trusted mentors, acne on my shoulders the size of Indiana Jones’ boulders. I drank because that’s what people like us do around here. Cider. Lager. Red wine. And. Beer. You don’t shift gears because you don’t know you have any. You don’t take the parking brake off because you don’t know it’s on. You don’t think because you don’t know how. You don’t ask questions, not even the one about eating that beautiful looking cow. Not now. Not ever. Stop trying to be so clever. But when you wake the fuck up and take the vow, there is no stopping you now. Courage and bravery, medals pinned, the cans, and the bottles - everything, binned. There is a helicopter swirling, and you are the wind. You can go anywhere, do anything, no longer chained to the sinned. The transformation is for all to see, and it’s incredible how you missed it for so long, you and me. The rush of air on the nape of your neck. The smell of a rose. No more nervous wreck. Striver Neil asks if his concentration and energy levels will increase when he consigns alcohol to the past, and that’s what we cover in today’s podcast. The Truth About Alcohol We Are Not Alcoholics, And we Refuse to be Anonymous Join Us & Our Community TTAA Taster: http://www.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk/p/TTAA%20Taster TTAA Intensive: https://www.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk/p/TTAAIntensive Strive Community: https://strive.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk/

Lessons From World Class Poker Players We Can Adopt During the 6 Stages of TTAA

One of the most shameful moments of my life was a fight I had with my ex-wife. We were rolling on the floor by the front door, and it took every ounce of strength for me to throw her out. I remember sitting, back against the wall, the cold feel of the plaster hitting a blanket of sweat; panting like a dry-mouthed dog, listening to her trying to kick the door in from the outside, thinking - something has to change. A few days later, I walked into a bookstore and picked up Allen Carr’s Easyway to Control Alcohol. “What’s that, Dad?” Asked my son. “This is the book that is going to change my life.” If you want to grow the best olives in the world, then find a world-class olive maker. If you want to learn to fly a helicopter, then find someone who can fly a helicopter. If you want to be someone that doesn’t drink alcohol, then find someone that doesn’t drink alcohol. It’s not rocket science (you don’t need to find a rocket scientist). The Truth About Alcohol We Are Not Alcoholics, And we Refuse to be Anonymous Join Us & Our Community TTAA Taster: http://www.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk/p/TTAA%20Taster TTAA Intensive: https://www.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk/p/TTAAIntensive Strive Community: https://strive.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk/