#131 – Episode 131 – Staying Sober After Lockdown

VeronicaValli

Many of our Soberful Life members have reached out to us asking for advice on staying sober after lockdown. In this episode, Chip and Veronica discuss why preparation is everything. Do the work now to make sure your sobriety is solid and make sure you have fun and socialize, as we are all going to need to do that when the pandemic finally ends.

Listen to the episode now:

Subscribe for FREE: Apple Podcasts | Android | Spotify | Google Podcasts | RSS

What This Episode Is About

The past year has been filled with restriction, isolation, and lockdowns.

If you’re newly sober, it’s almost been like an extended rehab. The restrictions have given you an opportunity to be away from everyday drinking and social pressures that would normally present themselves in social situations.

Having that time has allowed you to build a really good foundation for your recovery so that you’re coming out of lockdown with a substantial amount of time and strength in recovery under your belt.

With the end of lockdowns on the horizon, the collective pressure is set to be released in a massive way as everyone looks to engage in all the ways they haven’t been able to.

Whenever the actual date of freedom comes, you need to have a plan in place. – Chip Somers

So even though the timetables are going to be different for everybody, you need to start planning now.

After being isolated, you haven’t had the opportunity to build up your defenses against everyday distractions and triggers.

We can make it a bit easier for ourselves using a technique called pre-framing – by having an idea of what’s going to happen next, we’re in a better position to manage it.

This is the perfect time to start asking yourself:

  • How are you going to protect yourself?
  • How are you going to behave?
  • What’s going to be the impact on you?

If you got sober in the last year and you’re not doing that work, start doing that now because that’s the best insurance against drinking when this situation begins to change. – Veronica Valli

Figuring out the answers to these questions is going to require you to do the deeper work on developing your boundaries to be able to say no. Having those boundaries is going to bring up lots of feelings, lots of limiting beliefs, and we need to work through that.

Now more than ever it’s essential to make sure that you’re plugged into a supportive community and that you have some kind of personal development program because we’re going to feel so many different feelings and emotions throughout this next year.

There’s more to stopping drinking than stopping drinking. – Veronica Valli

If you just stop drinking and try and do it on willpower, eventually you come to a day where you either have a bad day, or you’re in a situation where everyone’s drinking, and you’re right back where you started.

When lockdown ends, everything is going to be hugely exaggerated. That’s going to mean that your boundaries are going to have to be stronger than normal.

You don’t have to shut yourself away from the world. You just have to have a plan. – Chip Somers

The most important thing is you can go out and do anything. I got sober at 27 and I’ve done everything and I’ve done it sober.

The reason I was able to go to nightclubs, barbecues, weddings, and festivals is that I’ve made my recovery and sobriety really solid. I built the foundations by having boundaries, working on my limiting beliefs, realigning with my authenticity and who I really was.

That’s what keeps you sober.

With that foundation, you can be sober in any situation, including coming out of a global pandemic.

I want you to know, you’re not going to be missing out on partying and having fun out of lockdown and we can do it in a way that’s sober and healthy and fun and balanced without missing out on anything.

Our Resources

Never miss another episode!

Get the sober life you've been longing for. Start by subscribing and we will deliver new podcast episodes as soon as they are released.

We hate spam too. See our Privacy Policy