Thanks!
Ashley, my reward is to buy a new pair of shoes for the gym/sport. Quite happy about that. Still thinking about the 100 day reward, but that's around my holiday period so I'll probably coincide that with a trip abroad and head to India/Sri Lanka for a few weeks R&R.
jakelad, here is what has got me through the month -
* allocating ten minutes per day to educating myself about alcohol addiction and/or reading the forums on this site.
* downloading a free app on my phone called Life - Daily Motivation (I think it might be Life - Daily Coaching on iPhone). Every day you 'check in' with your goals e.g. No Alcohol goal and Sober Study goal for me (among others). You can have your goals private or viewable to everyone. The No Alcohol goal has a community of others in the same situation and they are quite supportive. You can invite friends and family so they can comment and give congrats for your progress, too. I've found this very helpful as I find accountability for my actions a strong motivator. And it's great to 'check in' every night and see your progress. Good feeling to see "31 days in a row" yesterday. Looking forward to seeing "100 days in a row" soon.
* replaced drinking in the evenings with exercise. I think this is very important. Exercise has really helped my mood and energy levels and gives me something to do in the evenings other than drink. I've lost a few kilograms in one month already and my self esteem is improving.
* use daily affirmations when I come across triggers e.g. "I don't drink" or "Drinking is part of my past. I don't do that anymore."
* plan ahead for tricky situations e.g. being around people that are drinking and practice what I'll say to them. Also imagine the social anxiety that I'll likely feel and rehearse what I'll do to combat that.
* started doing a daily budget on Excel and it's great to see money starting to accumulate rather than wasting on alcohol.
* lastly, I've started to include 5 - 10 minutes of daily meditation to help with daily pressures.
Hope that helps.
Cheers
