Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Slipped a little over Labor Day? Or maybe you stayed strong and want to ride that momentum into the week? In this episode, Mike shares 4 mindset resets that help you stop looping in shame, bounce back faster, shrink the challenge into something doable, and use the weekend as information instead of a verdict. Backed by neuroscience and delivered in plain English, these shifts will help you stop overthinking 30 days and start winning the next 30 minutes.
Want to drink less with no pressure to quit? Go to https://ctbk.co/4doo5dq for a free 15-day trial.
--
Listen to Journey to the Sunnyside Podcast: https://bit.ly/4bxCqT3
Subscribe to Sunnyside’s YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/3zuoID4
CONNECT WITH SUNNYSIDE:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joinsunnyside/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joinsunnyside/
- Twitter: https://x.com/joinsunnyside
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@joinsunnyside
ABOUT SUNNYSIDE: Sunnyside is the #1 alcohol moderation app that helps you drink less without any shame, guilt, or pressure to quit. Optimize your alcohol habits to achieve benefits like sleeping better, losing weight, feeling more energy, and saving money. We know that an all-or-nothing approach doesn’t work for everyone, so we focus on helping you set your own goals, celebrate small wins, and build a lasting system of accountability. As a result, 96.7% of our members see a big drop in their drinking after 90 days.
Disclaimer: This podcast is not intended as medical advice, and the views of the guests may not represent the views of Sunnyside. If you’re concerned about your health or alcohol use, please consider seeking advice from a doctor.
Want to drink less with no pressure to quit? Go to https://ctbk.co/4doo5dq for a free 15-day trial.
--
Listen to Journey to the Sunnyside Podcast: https://bit.ly/4bxCqT3
Subscribe to Sunnyside’s YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/3zuoID4
CONNECT WITH SUNNYSIDE:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joinsunnyside/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joinsunnyside/
- Twitter: https://x.com/joinsunnyside
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@joinsunnyside
ABOUT SUNNYSIDE: Sunnyside is the #1 alcohol moderation app that helps you drink less without any shame, guilt, or pressure to quit. Optimize your alcohol habits to achieve benefits like sleeping better, losing weight, feeling more energy, and saving money. We know that an all-or-nothing approach doesn’t work for everyone, so we focus on helping you set your own goals, celebrate small wins, and build a lasting system of accountability. As a result, 96.7% of our members see a big drop in their drinking after 90 days.
Disclaimer: This podcast is not intended as medical advice, and the views of the guests may not represent the views of Sunnyside. If you’re concerned about your health or alcohol use, please consider seeking advice from a doctor.
Creators and Guests
What is Journey to the Sunnyside?
Journey to the Sunnyside is a top 2% podcast, reaching over 400,000 listeners every week. It’s 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, diving into topics like mindful drinking, sober curiosity, moderation, and full sobriety. Through real stories, expert insights, and science-backed strategies, we help you find what actually works for your journey.
Hosted by Mike Hardenbrook, a #1 best-selling author and neuroscience enthusiast, the show is dedicated to helping people transform their relationship with alcohol—without shame, judgment, or rigid rules.
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 episodes do not necessarily represent those of Sunnyside. We’re committed to sharing diverse perspectives on health and wellness. If you’re concerned about your drinking, please consult a medical professional. Sunnyside, this podcast, and its guests are not necessarily medical providers and the content is not medical advice. We do not endorse drinking in any amount.
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, 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 fifteen day trial. I'm your host, Hartenbrook, published author, neuroscience enthusiast and habit change expert. Hey, everyone.
Speaker 1:Welcome back. Today is Tuesday, making it a ten minute Tuesday after the long Labor Day weekend. And let's just jump into it and get real for a second. This is one of those mornings where people usually fall into two camps. Some of you woke up feeling pretty good.
Speaker 1:You stuck to your plan this weekend. Maybe you tracked your drinks. Maybe you skipped around. Maybe you even had an entire alcohol free weekend. So today, you're likely feeling lighter, clear, really proud of yourself with some momentum behind you.
Speaker 1:Now, on the other hand, some of you might have woken up with regret. You know, that extra day off, maybe cookouts, maybe parties, maybe just extra time at home led to you drink more than you wanted to this weekend. Now that familiar voice is already probably telling you, I blew it. I feel terrible about myself. Now, if you fell into the first camp, congratulations.
Speaker 1:I want you to really build on that momentum and carry it into the week. However, if you fell into the second camp, here's what I really want you to hear. The rest of your week is not defined by this long weekend. Let that sink in. It's actually defined by what you're going to do here in the next thirty minutes.
Speaker 1:We're going to cover four mindset shifts to reset and recalibrate, and that's where I want to take us today. Mindset reset number one, shame is a stall tactic. Let's start with shame because it loves days like today. It has ruined so many of my days in the past. And so I want to clear this up.
Speaker 1:Shame shows up and it tells you you've failed. So you might as well just give up, maybe beat yourself up, maybe wait till the next opportunity to really prove yourself again. And the sneaky part about that is that it feels like you're doing something responsible. It feels like you're taking action because beating yourself up actually is work. It does drain energy.
Speaker 1:But here's what's really happening. Shame lights up the brain in what's called the default mode network. That's the rumination circuit. So it keeps you looping on yesterday or the weekend, replaying what you did wrong instead of actually activating the prefrontal cortex. And that's the part that helps you make the next decision.
Speaker 1:So you sit there in this guilt thinking that you're processing the mistakes, but you're actually not. You're stuck. You're not producing. Nothing productive is actually happening. So you need to make a simple shift.
Speaker 1:Notice shame, call it out what it is, and then step out of it. Easier said than done, of course. But the second that you do, your decision making, it comes back online. You're now in the present. You're not living in the past.
Speaker 1:And that's when you're actually motivated to move forward again. The simple trick that I do is when I find myself in this loop of shame and ruminating thoughts, is I ask myself, is this serving me right now? And usually the answer is always no. And so I have to shift my thinking and realize what I'm doing right now is not productive. So do that simple little trick and see if that helps.
Speaker 1:Mindset reset number two is momentum lives in the reset. So here's what I mean by that. Momentum isn't built by these streaks like thirty, ninety, hundred and twenty days. Yes, of course, momentum is there, but it's really built because we're not perfect in these resets. So let me explain.
Speaker 1:Your brain runs on habit loops. We already know that. I've talked about that. Cue, craving, response and reward. So when you mess up, when you wobble, that loop fires.
Speaker 1:You know, you hit those old patterns. But the important part isn't that it fired or misfired, however you want to say it. It's what happens afterwards. So every time that you reset quickly, you weaken the old wiring, which says, I'm going to go into this shame loop and you strengthen the new one. That's neuroplasticity.
Speaker 1:That's your brain literally learning when I slip up, I get back up fast. And the faster that you reset, the faster that the new patterns will stick. So if you went off course this weekend, the most powerful move isn't waiting until next week or the next time that you can prove to yourself that you're stronger. It's actually resetting today. Your brain will remember the reset longer than it remembers the actual slip.
Speaker 1:Mindset reset number three, shrink the frame. So another trap that people fall into is thinking too far ahead. The moment that you start asking, can I actually do this for thirty days, six months, even forever? Your amygdala, the fear center of your brain, it's going to light up when you have these thoughts. It interprets that as a threat, And that's why you get these feelings of overwhelm.
Speaker 1:The fix is actually shrink the frame. Don't worry about the next thirty days. Just give yourself the next thirty minutes. Your nervous system isn't going to panic about a half an hour. It just actually feels safe.
Speaker 1:So maybe today you'll get through your day and by the evening you might start feeling weak again. You know, you're feeling tired after the day it's been tough. Mentally, you beat yourself up. You might even say to yourself, I'll probably end up just drinking later. Why even resist?
Speaker 1:Instead of wrestling with that whole night ahead of you, say to yourself, you know what? For the next thirty minutes, I'm not going to make any decisions. And then if you need to, go ahead and repeat that. If that feeling still comes up, say, I'm only going to do this for thirty minutes. I'm not going to react.
Speaker 1:And see if that thirty minutes actually makes a difference. Or maybe the second one does, because each thirty minute block you go to stacks a win without actually overwhelming yourself saying, how am I gonna make it through the entire night? Mindset reset number four. The weekend was feedback. It wasn't a verdict.
Speaker 1:And Finally, let's talk about how you look back on Labor Day. The weekend was not a test that you passed or failed. It was actually a check-in. If you overdrank, your brain may have been showing you something. Maybe stress was higher than you actually realized.
Speaker 1:Maybe boredom was bigger and louder than you thought. Maybe social settings were tougher than expected. And that's useful information to know. It's a way for you to look at it and plan for the next time. So if you stayed mindful, however, that also showed you something too, that you're more capable than you thought, maybe in situations that used to trip you up.
Speaker 1:Either way, it is not a verdict. It is information. And information is what helps you to make the next choice better than the last one. So here's your reset for today. Don't confuse shame with progress.
Speaker 1:It's just your brain stuck on replay. Don't wait for a perfection streak. Your brain rewires faster when you reset quickly. Don't zoom out so far that you overwhelm yourself. Shrink the frame until it feels winnable.
Speaker 1:And don't treat the weekend like a verdict. Take the lesson and carry it forward. Forget the thirty days, win the next thirty minutes. That's how your brain rewires. That's how momentum is built, and that's how you turn a Tuesday after Labor Day into a first step forward, no matter what the last weekend looked like.
Speaker 1:I hope this helps today. Reset yourself if you need to. Don't sit in shame. If you had a win over the weekend, celebrate and use that momentum moving into your week. I hope you have a beautiful week and cheers to your mindful drinking journey.
Speaker 1: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 fifteen day trial.