Do you want to change your life and ensure that 2022 is your year where you finally gain control over alcohol and remove it from your life? Whether you hit a crisis point over Christmas, or you have just decided that you no longer want to continue to drink alcohol, knowing what to do next to not just start your sobriety journey, but also help ensure that you remain sober for the days, weeks and months ahead can feel daunting, but I am here to help.

If this is the first time of visiting my website, then welcome! My name is Simon Chapple and I run my own quit drinking alcohol programme. For over 20 years I had an addiction to alcohol and a few years ago I made the life changing decision to stop drinking and I have been on the most fantastic journey ever since. What I wanted to share in this blog is some of the most effective things I have learnt and implemented that have helped me remain sober for over 3 years and I hope they go some way to assisting you this year.

# Identifying your triggers

From the outset, one of the first most important steps on your sobriety journey is to identify the triggers that cause you to drink alcohol. Whether it’s having easy access to alcohol in your home, when you get bored, drinking when cooking or eating, or going for a drink after work, It’s critical that you realise what actions or stimuli cause you to reach for the booze so you can manage and reduce those situations.

At the start of sobriety, I was so excited with making the life changing decision that I didn’t want to touch alcohol for a few days, however, when the newness of sobriety declines, keeping yourself on track with minimising triggers is a sure fire way to prolonging and maintaining your new sober life.

# Prepare for and accept withdrawal symptoms

It’s an unfortunate truth that if you are both physically and psychologically dependent on any substance and you remove that substance from your life, then you will likely suffer from certain withdrawal symptoms and this is also true for alcohol. The symptoms experienced can differ person-to-person but some of the most common include headaches, nausea & vomiting, sweating, insomnia and increased anxiety for a period of time. Whilst this is a completely normal part of the sobriety process, it doesn’t make it any easier and in fact, experiencing any of the above can cause people to not give up altogether.

I went through withdrawal myself and what I can say is that this does not last forever, once alcohol is out of your system and your body starts to heal itself, the symptoms of withdrawal greatly decrease. Knowing that withdrawal will happen and preparing for that is key to ensuring that it doesn’t stop your progress altogether.

# Reaching Out

When you are in the grips of an addiction, life can feel like a lonely place. I cannot stress how healing it can be to reach out to others to seek support. You are making a massive life changing decision and it’s only natural that times will not always be easy and being able to speak openly and honestly with others is such as great aid to your recovery. Whether you have people close to you that you can talk to or you would like to speak to others who are also on their own sobriety journeys, each has their own benefits. I found great comfort from the number of online support communities that are available and free to join. I found it such a great help that I started my own Facebook Support Community which now has thousands of members who all support each other and it would be great to have you as a member as well.

# Keeping a journal

If you have read any of my previous blogs, or you follow me on Instagram, then you will likely already know how much of an advocate I am of keeping a journal. Having a place where you can openly and freely write down your feelings, objectives, fears, plans, struggles or just to diary your progress, has so many mental-health benefits. A journal not only helps to keep you focused on your sobriety, but it’s also a fantastic tool to use in the months and years ahead for you to be able to look back and see how far you have come and what you have achieved since starting out on your sobriety journey.

#Forgive yourself and moving on

Setbacks can and will happen. No one is perfect and having relapses is also a normal part of the recovery process. If you have drank alcohol for years, then it’s heavily engrained into you and being able to stop altogether for good is really difficult. However, if a relapse does occur then this does not mean that your sobriety journey is over. A relapse is a great chance to learn to understand what caused you to go back to booze to try and avoid this in the future. Forgive yourself, move on and get yourself back on track to where you want to be in life.

I do hope the above tips help you to kick-start your sobriety for 2022. I know that it can feel like a long and daunting road ahead, but there is so much support out there available for you. Taking one day at a time and not allowing any setbacks to completely derail your sobriety journey is key to changing your life for good. I would love to hear from you in the comments section below about your journey. Are you just starting sobriety, or have you been sober for a period of time? What keeps you focused and moving forward, or are you struggling at the moment? Please do get in touch as I would love to hear from you.