When it comes to changing our relationship with alcohol, not knowing where to start can lead us to frustration, procrastination and stalling.

I know when I wanted to drink less, I got stuck in moderation because I didn’t know the options. I didn’t realize that I could stop drinking just because I wanted to…!  And, when I started to consider NOT drinking, I had no idea where to start. Other than counting days and attending meetings, I was completely at a loss.

I want to help you build a roadmap, a place to start where you will have guideposts along the way. Imagine knowing what to do first!  And, where to go after that? Having directions can take away the scary and confusing part of getting started. That’s why when we plan trips we have an itinerary, a map and a destination. Your alcohol-free journey will benefit from a guide, a map and some inside information (don’t stop there; definitely try this!).

In today’s podcast, I share the 3 steps to ‘Stop Drinking Now’.

Listen in to learn:

• Where to start
• What to do if you’re not ready
• What is IAF and what does it have to do with not drinking?
• How to build your own roadmap

In my coaching business, I have worked with so many women at the beginning of their journey. I understand how difficult it can be to get out of our own way and to take a step back and get that ‘bird’s eye’ view. This is why a roadmap is key. We can find our true north, see where we got lost and always re-orient ourselves.

Full Show Notes HERE

 Stop Drinking in Your 50’s and Beyond HERE

 I am passionate about summits. Summits offer a unique opportunity to learn from many different experts all at once. Since  2018, when I discovered This Naked Mind through a summit, I have signed up and attended many summits; some about business, some about health and wellness and some just for fun! But, until this year, there hasn’t been one about becoming and living an alcohol-free life.

Meet Maggie Klassens, the founder and presenter of The Sober Summit. I am so excited that someone is offering a summit that brings together many of the amazing voices in the AF and sober community. The first Sober Summit was in April of this year (2023), and now Maggie is bringing us The Sober Summit: Holiday Edition. And, just in time to help all of us thrive through the holiday season!

I met Maggie in Portland, Maine in September and I knew I had to have her on the podcast to share this amazing resource. Listen in as Maggie shares some of the topics and the incredible speakers that are in the lineup. William Porter, Andy Ramage, Victoria English, Chris Marshall and more will share everything from pairing NA beverages with your holiday meals to looking for glimmers, to understanding boundaries and staying active during the holidays.

The best part is that the series is free. You can listen each day at no cost and there is even a bonus replay weekend to enjoy anything you might miss during the summit. The speakers have incredible resources they will be sharing with those who attend the summit and you can purchase the recordings for a low one-time cost if you choose.

The doors to the summit open today (link below) and I encourage each of you to take advantage of this resource and to support Maggie’s mission to further the conversation about living and thriving in the sober world!

I think you will be impressed by the lineup Maggie has in store for you and by Maggie herself, who decided to take her passion for living AF and share it with all of us! What will you do with your ‘sober edge’?

The Sober Summit: Holiday Edition FREE Ticket

Show Notes HERE

I am celebrating my 8 years AF TODAY!

In today’s podcast episode I share eight things I have learned in my eight years. Most of them will not be a surprise - I think we all recognize that a lot changes when we choose to remove alcohol from our day to day. 

I do find new delights that are part of the 'trickle down' effect of not drinking:

• Trusting my intuition has helped me taking more risks
• Seeing things without the veil of shame and guilt has allowed me to speak up for myself
• Setting boundaries, with myself and others, is a skill I am honing
• Connection - I am delighted to be finding so many new friends
• Vitality - this AF life is the best elixar! I think of aging in a whole new way, as a learning journey and one meant to be enjoyed

This podcast continues to be one of the highlights of living AF - the opportunity to connect with so many amazing individuals from coaches, entreprenuers and brave individuals just like you!

Show Notes Here

Stop Drinking In Your 50's and Beyond

Life is full of transitions; we move from grade school to middle school, onto high school and college. We fall in and out of love and often marry and have children. We may take on a mortgage or go back to school for a higher degree... the list goes on. As humans, we spend the first half of our life accumulating and acquiring things (spouses, houses, children, degrees, cars, boats, etc). Many of these early life transitions are 'self-imposed'; as we reach midlife we find that new transitions are often 'other imposed'.  This can be a challenging place to navigate. We might feel frustrated, angry or even grief as children leave home, elderly parents fall ill and our job satisfaction goes down. 

This is a place for women, that the pace of life, coupled with new hormone changes can feel especiallyt challenging. For many of us, alcohol use starts to ramp up. I often hear my clients share "I don't even want to drink anymore so why do I keep pouring that glass of wine?". 

The three women featured today all stopped drinking in their 50's. Their stories highlight the dark times and the stories that can keep us stuck but also the beauty of life that is possible when we embrace the steps of living alcohol-free.

 Show Notes Here

Have you ever thought you were too old to change? That old saying, "you can't teach an old dog a new trick" can have us doubting our ability to embrace this alcohol-free life. 

Today, I want to introduce you to 3 ladies who have not only ditched booze but who have learned that the best years are our 'golden years'. And, living alcohol-free means true freedom; to embrace new beginnings, to explore deeper and more meaningful relationships and to challenge ourselves to live life to the fullest!

So, how do we face our biggest fears around NOT drinking and take those first steps forward? My guests today will share their own path to self-discovery and to changing their relationship with alcohol.

Michelle, Maryann and Angela get real about motherhood, caregiving, marital intimacy (yes, sober sex!), and discovering the beauty of an alcohol-free life!

Find out more about these amzazing women in the Show Notes HERE

My guest today, Chrissy Janiga, is a coach, a clinical social worker and an author. “Miranda learns the Art of Not Fitting In”, Chrissy’s first book, is a children’s book but as my guest and I discuss, it has implications into this alcohol-free lifestyle. 

Abraham Maslow and Brene Brown both remind us that belonging is a basic human need. One of the challenges of becoming AF and living AF can be living outside of the  accepted traditions of drinking. We face our own kind of 'not fitting in'. I love that we can teach our children this concept and then we can watch them model how we might apply these same principles to our AF life!

Chrissy Janiga is an alcohol freedom and mindset coach. Chrissy is a licensed clinical social worker and enjoys writing books in her free time. She has published her first children’s book and will soon publish her second children’s book. She is also working on a non-fiction book for adults, focusing on help with removing alcohol. She is an advocate for mental health awareness and helping children (and adults) dream big!

A special invitation: Join me in the Free Mini-Series, Ignite Your Sober Spark. I'll be going live next week, Oct. 2 - Oct. 5 . Grab a seat to attend live or receive the recorded replays. Come hang out with those of us who have learned the 'art of not fitting in'! Register for your seat HERE

Show Notes HERE

What if we focused on what we are doing RIGHT on this alcohol free journey? This is the question that my guest, Sally Magee and I explore on this podcast. Arthur Brooks created the framework for Clifton Strengths coaching and Sally is among the first to apply it to this alcohol-free journey.

We talk about:

• How to move from Self-Awarenss to Self-Appreciation
• How your top 5 Strengths differentiate you from others
• How Clifton Stengths can help you stop drinking with a custom approach
• Which stengths lend themselves to 'overdrinking'
• Understanding that our strengths are also our weaknesses

Sally Magee is a Gallup-Certified Strengths coach, certified Sobriety Coach and founder of Magee Coaching Solutons. For more than a decade, she’s been coaching leaders and executives using the CliftonStrengths® assessment as the basis for cultivating leadership potential.

As a sobriety coach, she is building on her experience as a coach and workshop facilitator, along with her 25 years of experience in the engineering and construcion industry, to inspire authentic leadership through sobriety.

She provides a judgment-free zone for high-achieving professionals to Reach New Heights by removing alcohol from their life’s equation.

Sally lives in Palm Springs, California with her husband, Mike and their chocolate lab, Tucker. 

Full Show Notes Here

I  believe birthdays can be a great time for looking forward. My daughter shared a birthday ritual with me a few years ago and I want to share it with you.

It involves setting a theme or intention for the year. I like to use a rhyme because it helps me choose a theme and it’s also fun! For example, last year when I turned 62 my intention was “ 62, try something new”. And, I am happy to report that I tried lots of new things during the year; a new puppy, traveling to meet sober friends, hosting a coaches retreat, growing my business to new levels…it’s been amazing! This year, at 63, I am still deciding: it could be ‘set yourself free’, or ‘focus on me’ but I am leaning towards “63, let it be”. As someone who struggles with hyper-productivity and restless saboteurs, this is an important focus area for me. Perhaps it would serve me well to let the things I have created, all the ‘new’ settle and grow. 

I think birthdays can also be a time of reflection. If you missed last week, it was all about regret and reflection. My daughter also shared a ritual to look back over the decades - what was my life like 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 and so on. This can be a fun trip down memory lane and also help us celebrate our achievements and our growth.

Tune in for a short bit about boundaries and Bingo!

Full Show Notes Here

Bingo Card

Wait list for 'Stop Drinking in Your 50's and Beyond'

Regret is a tricky emotion. It can leave us with shame and guilt about things we have done or not done. Or, it might lead us to false bravado, thinking that we should live life with no regrets.

Listen in to today's episode to learn how to process regrets, the reason why living a life with no regrets is unhelpful and what to do about the shame brought on my our relationship with alcohol. 

The truth is, (almost) every human experiences  regrets; children under the age of 7 or people with a neurological disorder are the only people that don’t. That means that regret is a by-product of the human condition. It’s not that you have a moral failing or you can’t ever learn from your past. In fact, regret has a clear purpose in helping us grow. 

Regret is often confused with disappointment. Brene Brown defines the difference this way: With disappointment, we often believe the outcome was out of our control. With regret, we believe the outcome was caused by our decisions or actions.

Regret also has a connection to vulnerability and shame. To acknowledge our regrets takes courage and vulnerability. It’s hard to process regret because it hurts a bit and we can even carry some shame about our behavior. But, when we can face regret with self-compassion, we can learn so much.

Regret is designed to help us clarify what really matters. When we have regrets, it gives us information about our values and teaches us to be bolder, braver and kinder. 

Full Show Notes Here

I used to spend a lot of time thinking about drinking and I used to play the ‘maybe game’. Have you ever played the ‘maybe game’? My ‘maybe game’ was filled with scenarios that sounded good on paper, or seemed rational after a few drinks, but were really nothing more than excuses to stay in the exact same place. The place where I was stuck.

You see, I thought I was happier drinking. I thought I would be miserable not drinking and so my thoughts were filled with maybe’s:

...maybe I can learn to drink less ...maybe I can just drink wine and skip the hard stuff ...maybe I don’t really have a problem ...maybe I don’t even need to quit ...maybe I can convince my husband to stop with me ...maybe I will be miserable if I stop drinking ...maybe I will lose all my friends ...maybe I can take a month off and then I can prove I can take it or leave it Maybe…

 Maybe is defined as ‘the mere possibility’. It’s not definite, it’s not concrete and therefore our brain can create infinite possibilities out of ‘maybe’. I think of this as The Miserable Maybe.

The miserable part comes from the unmade decision. Maybe introduces the ‘mere possibility’ which means we are then faced with a decision. If we put off the decision, or pretend there is no decision that needs to be made, we live with the cost of this unmade decision. 

So, what can you do if you are stuck in your own ‘miserable maybe’?

Listen in for the 3 steps to get out of The Miserable Maybe.

Full Show Notes HERE

Brand New Free Guide: Drinking Through the Decades; A targeted approach to stop drinking no matter your age!