- Setting boundaries in professional life to avoid burnout and remove the habit of using alcohol as an escape
- Alcohol marketing manipulation of consumers and the health impacts of drinking
- Neural pathways in habit change
Scenario:
Challenges with setting boundaries in real estate career and tendency to overextend for clients, resulting in alcohol use to force boundaries when overwhelmed.
Probing questions about what holds people back from setting clearer boundaries, led to the discussion of financial pressures which require continual business success.
Plus the benefit of being high performer/capable is satisfaction of people pleasing impulses .
- Conclusion
- Increase direct conversations with clients about expectations
- This individual must accept / celebrate she is very capable of managing her professional responsibilities but needs to prioritize self-care – particularly physical exercise. Really positive conversation, reinforced the wisdom of starting with “passive” self-care (e.g. massages / gentle walks) before more active forms
- The group agreed that starting with small, achievable steps is effective for building healthy habits
- Plans to report back on progress February 6th.
- Chapters 6 -9 specific observations
- Chapter 9 resonated, comparing it to the book “Quit Like a Woman”
- Anger was expressed about alcohol industry manipulation and marketing
- Progress is visible in rise of AF and a recent conversation with a doctor who acknowledged alcohol’s dangers
- Compared alcohol’s carcinogenic properties to cigarettes
- Discussed the unrealistic nature of “recommended” alcohol limits when it is an addictive chemical, which the brain thinks it needs more of
- Societal normalization of alcohol despite health risks
- Participants agreed that understanding the manipulative nature of alcohol marketing helps with motivation to reduce consumption.
Discussion about the process of changing habits and creating new neural pathways.
- The importance of self-compassion when trying to change habits
- Holding onto positive experiences having a “dry lunch” with a friend instead of their usual wine or a story from the book about someone who pushed through initial discomfort on vacation. The reality of alcohol free holidays.
- The group agreed that having successful experiences without alcohol reinforces new neural pathways.