It's Not About the Alcohol

EP331: Workaholism and Over-Drinking Are the Same Problem — Here's the One Shift That Fixes Both


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What if the habit you're most proud of — your drive, your work ethic, your ability to get things done — is quietly running on the same fuel as the habit you're trying to change?

In this episode, Colleen gets personal. She walks through the exact moment she diagnosed herself with workaholism — not because she objectively works too much, but because of WHY she's been working so much. And the reason turns out to be the same neurological shift she's spent years helping women recognize in their drinking.

This one covers:

  • The difference between positive and negative reinforcement — and why any behavior you use to avoid discomfort will eventually become compulsive

  • Why workaholism and alcoholism are two versions of the same truth

  • How to know if you're doing something because it genuinely adds pleasure to your life or if you're doing it to subtract or avoid pain

  • The two-question self-diagnostic you can apply in real time to any pattern — drinking, working, scrolling, anything

  • What it means to set an emotional goal instead of a behavioral one — and why that's the only strategy that can actually help you change

Colleen also gets honest about how her drinking frequency has shifted alongside her work patterns — and what both behaviors are telling her about what she's been avoiding.

This is not a story about work replacing alcohol. It's a story about what happens when two coping tools are running in tandem, and neither one is solving the problem underneath.

Resources mentioned:

Watch The FREE Masterclass: The science behind take it or leave it–why some women can and how you can too.

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It's Not About the AlcoholBy Colleen Freeland

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