Journey to the Sunnyside

Welcome to another 10-Minute Monday! Today, we’re tackling “Mental Resilience for Cutting Back on Alcohol.” We’ll explore how building mental resilience can transform your drinking habits. From mindfulness to positive thinking, I’ll share practical techniques to help you cut back or quit drinking. Did you know that according to a study in the journal Neuron, about 40% to 95% of human behavior consists of habits? This shows how much our brains rely on automatic responses and the programming we give with our mindset, thoughts, and words. Please leave a review or shoot me an email at mike@sunnyside.co with your feedback. Let’s dive in and get started

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Creators & Guests

Host
Mike Hardenbrook
#1 best-selling author of "No Willpower Required," neuroscience enthusiast, and habit change expert.

What is Journey to the Sunnyside?

"Journey to the Sunnyside" is your guide to exploring mindful living with alcohol, whether you're cutting back, moderating, or thinking about quitting. While Sunnyside helps you reduce your drinking, this podcast goes further, covering everything from mindful drinking and moderation to sober curiosity and full sobriety. Through real stories, expert advice, and practical strategies, we’re here to help you find what works best for your journey.

Mike Hardenbrook is a #1 best-selling author and neuroscience enthusiast, dedicated to helping people transform their relationship with alcohol.

This podcast is brought to you by Sunnyside, the leading platform for mindful drinking. Want to take the next step in your journey? Head over to sunnyside.co for a free 15-day trial.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in our podcast episodes do not necessarily represent those of Sunnyside. We're determined to bring diverse views of health and wellness to our audience. If you are concerned with your drinking, please seek the advice of a medical professional. Sunnyside, this podcast, and its guests are not necessarily medical professionals and the content shouldn't be viewed as medical advice. In addition, we never endorse drinking in any amount.

Mike:

Welcome to Journey to the Sunnyside, the podcast where we have thoughtful conversations to explore the science of habits, uncover the secrets to mindful living, and, of course, inspire your own mindful drinking journey. This podcast is brought to you by Sunnyside, the number one alcohol moderation platform. And if you could benefit from drinking a bit less, head on over to sunnyside.co to get a free 15 day trial. I'm your host, Mike Hardenbrook, published author, neuroscience enthusiast, and habit change expert. Today, we're gonna do another one of these 10 minute Mondays.

Mike:

If you're liking them, if you have feedback for me, please email me, mike@sunnyside.co. And if you're enjoying them, I'd appreciate your honest review. That's the best way that you can support the podcast on whatever podcast platform you're listening to, and let's just jump into it. And today, I wanna talk about mindset for success. And let's start with a quote.

Mike:

The words you speak become the house you live in. And this was said by the Persian poet, Hafiz. And we're gonna explore how mindset and the words that you tell yourself can impact your changing of habits specifically to alcohol. And so let's jump into some of these main points. And the first one is habit formation and brain energy conservation.

Mike:

And so I'm gonna start with a key point, which was a study done by a journal called Neuron, which says about 40 to 95% of human behavior consists of habits. And this is basically because our brains are striving to conserve energy by creating automatic responses to our routine tasks. And our brains are designed to conserve energy, which is why we develop habits. But these automatic responses and routine tasks that we're doing, they are meant to free up mental energy for activities. This also means that we need to take more conscious effort to change those habits.

Mike:

And one of the most effective ways that we can do this to change our habits is by altering our self talk, the way that we perceive this actual change. So if we habitually tell ourselves that changing a habit is going to be hard, it's going to be difficult, maybe, you know, it's genetics. I'm just programmed this way. Maybe that you're too weak. I see that all the time.

Mike:

And what happens is that when we tell ourselves these automatic responses, it's going to automatically program them into it just like a habit. So we are wiring ourselves up for our brains to keep that status quo. And if we're telling it that we're not strong enough, well, guess what? That becomes habitual. Our habits that then don't support the change that we want become habitual, and we just don't set ourselves up for success.

Mike:

So just to understand that just like our habits become habitual, our thoughts and our frame of mind can be that way. So we really need to be conscious of that and make sure that they're on the positive. And one of the most common things that I see, especially in chat rooms or people that are just starting out with changing their habits around alcohol, whether it be cutting back or taking a break or really just wanting to remove it altogether is negative self talk. And the reason I think it's important to talk about this, not only because it impacts our habits, but a lot of people are very unconscious of the talk being negative in the first place. So we need to remove things like I'm too weak or it's going to be really difficult or I don't see how I can make it.

Mike:

All of these things, we need to reframe that, and I'm gonna talk about this. But it's super important for us to just take pause and look. Am I setting myself up with a positive mindset? Alright. So let's move to the next one.

Mike:

Impact of words on our bio chemistry. So this is really interesting. A study by doctor Andrew Nuremberg I'm gonna read this. A neuroscientist at Thomas Jefferson University found that words can change your brain. Positive words such as peace and love can alter the expression of genes, strengthening areas in the frontal lobe and promoting cognitive function.

Mike:

So basically, this is just saying that using positive language doesn't just make us feel better mentally. In the previous section that I just talked about, changing and reframing our level of perception of how difficult this is gonna be. Am I capable? That's gonna become embedded in that automatic thinking and automatic behavior. And this is saying that even at a physical level, how we talk to ourselves is gonna change our brain.

Mike:

And those positive words can alter those expressions in our genes, which is actually pretty crazy. And in turn, this strengthens areas in our brains that are responsible for our thinking and also for our emotional regulation. And when we think about ourselves in a positive light and we talk our to ourselves in this positive light, that's gonna build us a more resilient mindset that's gonna enhance our cognitive functions, and it's just gonna set us up for a higher likelihood to succeed. Okay. So next point.

Mike:

So now we have positive affirmations and stress reduction. And I'm gonna read another study, which was published in the Journal of Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience that found that self affirmation activates the brain's reward system, and this can help reduce stress and improve overall well-being. So what's really interesting is that positive affirmations engage their reward system. So first of all, we already know the reward system is directly related to habit change, but this also this reward system is related to reducing stress levels. And we know that if we consistently give ourselves affirmation, give ourselves the ability to reduce our stress, then then we're gonna be more resilient to challenging times when it comes to changing our habits.

Mike:

That's gonna get us through some of those difficult periods without turning to the thing that might be causing the stress altogether, and in turn, changing our habits long term. And one thing I'd like to point out that Sunnyside does really well with this is helping to provide regular reminders and encouragement, and this is gonna affirm what you're doing. It's gonna help reduce the stress. This is going to help you get to your goal with more focus and positive reinforcement. And so those 2 are directly related, and part of the reason why Sunny Side works so well with many people.

Mike:

Okay. And now we're gonna talk about mindset and success. So a research by Carol Dweck at Stanford has shown that a growth mindset where people believe that their abilities can be developed through dedication can lead to higher levels of achievement and resilience. So, basically, this is saying that adopting a growth mindset means that we believe in our abilities that we can change, that through our dedication that it is very possible. And this mindset shift can lead to greater achievements and a higher likelihood to get to our goal.

Mike:

And not only that, it puts us in a mindset of challenges are not getting in our way. Challenges now with a growth mindset are opportunities rather than obstacles. And so if we put our focus on success and our abilities to achieve them, then we're setting us up for success as well. Okay. So now I'm gonna take it a step further in changing our language around alcohol specifically.

Mike:

So if we're changing our habits around alcohol, we need to change the words that we use. So instead of thinking of things like restriction, missing out, it's gonna be difficult. We need to instead focus on other areas that are gonna be positive. So health improvements, better sleep, less anxiety, better mood, weight loss, better skin, personal growth, increased self control, reduced stress, higher productivity. You know, our relationships can go deeper connections with more meaningful interactions.

Mike:

How much money am I gonna save by not spending all this money on going out? And one of the big ones that I love and I've talked about is the time gained. You know, we have more time, not only to ourselves and for our family, but for hobbies, for personal development, for things that just bring us enjoyment. And so if we focus and tell ourselves about all these things that we're gaining and not focusing and talking to ourselves about the things that we're restricting, then we're gonna be setting ourselves up for success in that way. Okay.

Mike:

So now I wanna leave you with a little exercise, and I think it is really powerful and very simple to do. Take out a piece of paper. If you are more of a digital person, I am more old school. I do the journal thing, and I'd open up a piece of paper and grab a pen and draw a tea down the middle of the page with a column on the right and the left. And I would just list out all the things that you stand to gain by sticking to your resolve and your goal of either reducing or taking a break from alcohol.

Mike:

And write all those things out. It could be things like feeling healthy, waking up early, reconnecting with friends, picking up a new hobby. For me, it was mountain biking, working out more, more time with friends. Things that could be anything. It'd be like tapping into more spirituality.

Mike:

Really go outside the box. It doesn't just have to be activities. Okay. So now on the right side, I want you to do a little bit of a different, exercise. Now I want you to write out all the perceived losses that you think that you may miss out on as a result of changing your habits around alcohol.

Mike:

It could be something like, oh, I can't be as social, or I can't go to Wednesday happy hour. I want you to make a list of those things. And then once you make a list, I really want you to look at those things that maybe been just running through your head and things that you think are restrictions. And look at that list again and see how much of it actually matters to you. Is it really that important?

Mike:

You might find that some of those get scratched off. But what I really want you to do after this exercise is look at the left hand column and look at the right hand column. And which one of those two columns looks more aligned to the life that you want? Does everything in the right hand column seem like something that you wanna hang on to so much more that you would miss out on everything on the left hand column? And at the end of this exercise, I'd be willing to bet that the that left hand column is looking pretty amazing right now.

Mike:

And so I wanna wrap this up and basically say that our mindsets and the words that we use and tell ourselves really play a crucial role when it comes to changing our habits. And think about it in this reframing before I go, which is don't tell your some this is something I have to do. This is something that I get to do. Even if it's a challenge, if you have that growth mindset, it is a time to grow and succeed, and it's something that you get to. You have paved the way for you to get to do this.

Mike:

It's not something you have to do. It's something you chose to do because it felt right for you. So I hope that this 10 minute Monday was helpful. Again, please leave us a review if you found it helpful or send me an email at mike@sunnyside.co. Love to hear from you, and thank you.

Mike:

I hope you have a great day. This podcast is brought to you by Sunnyside, the number one alcohol moderation platform, having helped hundreds of thousands of people cut out more than 13,000,000 drinks since 2020. And in fact, an independent study showed that Sunnyside reduced alcohol consumption by an average of 30% in 90 days. And as one of our members shared, Sunnyside helps me stay mindful of my drinking habits. It's not super restrictive.

Mike:

So if I'm craving a glass of wine with dinner, I just track it and I move on with my week. If you could benefit from drinking a bit less and being more mindful of when and how much you drink, head on over to sunnyside.co to get a free 15 day trial. You'll get access to everything that we offer, including tracking and planning tools, coaching from our experts, a vibrant community of people just like you, and the motivation and advice to stay on track with your health goals, all with no pressure to quit. That's sunnyside.co.