Alcohol...as an Escape - with Brendon Watt

 

My guest today is Brendon Watt who overcame his alcoholism to become a worldwide speaker, best-selling author and facilitator 

In this episode:-

• Brendon grew up in Australia, within an unstable family and a lot of abuse.
• His father had a formula for what a man should be, emphasizing the importance of being tough and having a trade.
• Brendon tried to conform to these expectations by working in construction but by his late 20’s he was totally depressed.
• By trying to gain his fathers love and respect he lost himself and knew the life he was leading was not the right life for him
• By chance he discovered a technique called Access Consciousness and decided to give it a try
• Brendon booked a session and spent an hour and a half sobbing as he released his buried emotions
• He was so inspired by the Access Consciousness process that he trained to be a facilitator and began to make some positive changes in his life
• However he was still struggling with alcohol, which he saw as his “back door” – his escape
• This made me think of Glennon Doyle who talks about using alcohol as the “easy button” to avoid emotional discomfort
• Like so many of us Brendon spent years trying (and failing) to cut down on his drinking – trapped in an endless cycle of stopping and starting
•  Brendon eventually hit rock bottom and decided to go to AA
•  Although he was terrified of losing his back door escape he persevered
• He attended lots of AA meetings, and worked with a sponsor.
• He realised that he was going to have to go through some painful stuff, including stuff from his childhood that was very difficult to face…
• He realised that going through this pain would result in personal growth
• He did the work and gradually his life began to change
• We agreed that the journey to sobriety is a process that leads to freedom and a more authentic life.
• We also agreed that getting sober was just 10% of the journey but that it was the essential part – without sobriety we cannot tackle the rest of the work and learn to thrive
• When we quit drinking we need to take responsibility for our happiness – we can no longer rely on alcohol for those chemical highs

• Happiness is a learned skill and if you want to learn how to keep your happy brain chemicals firing then listen to last weeks podcast with neuroscientist Staci Danford
• Sobriety also enables us to consider other parts of our life.. are we eating healthily, does our exercise plan need stepping up… are we in the right job, the right relationship?
• If you need some help to look at your life and decide what needs changing then check out Glennon Doyles book and journal – called Untamed – some great triggers for those big scary questions in there!
• When I first realised that I would have to quit drinking I saw sobriety as a punishment but Brendan and I both agreed that in reality sobriety is a gift
• The journey to sobriety allows individuals to deconstruct their lives and build them anew, something regular drinkers may not experience.
• At Tribe Sober we recommend a book by Laura McCowen – the title is "We are the Luckiest" which says it all really
• Another quit lit book title that says it all is "The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober" by Catherine Gray
• Our conversation touched on the importance of honesty, integrity, and Brendon gave us a great example of catching himself in a lie – realising that when he was drinking the lies would come automatically
• We discussed the misconception that external sources, such as money or substances, can create happiness.
• Brendon used to think that when he had a certain amount in his bank account he would be happy – he got there but it didn’t make him happy!
• Brendan described his work with Access Consciousness, a program that empowers individuals to find the answers within themselves and discover their strengths.
• He highlighted the importance of people acknowledging their unique gifts and the potential for change.
• You can find out more about brendon via his website brendonwatt.com 
  
  
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    Episode Sponsor
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•           This episode is sponsored by the Tribe Sober Membership Program.  If you want to change your relationship with 
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  Janet x