2. Why WILLPOWER isn't enough

It's 4 a.m, and you're lying there wide awake, feeling the alcohol-induced anxiety of too many glasses of wine flooding your body and mind.

So you make a damned fine decision; 'That's IT, am NEVER drinking again'....
It's 6 p.m that same day, and you're pouring yourself a glass of wine to.. 'take the edge off' /'hair of the dog' etc.

WHY? How is that possible, and why does it happen to ALL of us?!

Let me tell you why!

Willpower, like our muscles have a finite amount of energy they can access, so they run out of fuel as you would after an 8-hour workout! So let's say you get up that day, ok, feeling hungover, but you're still out of bed, which is great. There's no hot water, so you think SHIT, I can't have a hot shower, so I'll have a quick cold one which sounds very reasonable, but that self-control has just cost you some willpower; now let's go downstairs, and the kids have spilt the milk and are now pulling each other's jumpers which has stretched the arms never to return to the original length, so you take a huge breath and say ' Now now both of you that's enough, have you brushed your teeth? This is very reasonable behaviour and has cost you a bit more of your finite amount of daily willpower...and so it goes on; the car breaks down/ public transport is on strike/ you forget your phone/ your boss wants a chat.... a whole day of negotiating with your brain and costing you your willpower one challenge at a time.
Ok, for the purpose of this blog, this person is REALLY having a bad day but can you see why at six P.m they would have zero zilch nada willpower left in them even to try to be reasonable and resist that glass of wine?!!
Another reason why it doesn't work is that if your brain has been hijacked by the artificial dopamine ( feel-good neurotransmitter made in the brain) high, it gets from drinking alcohol (any amount will do) and perceives this source as a good thing, it then decides it is a reliable and invaluable source for your survival. Bear in mind that our easily duped brains cannot differentiate between these high levels of dopamine coming from a good source (meditating, meeting friends, good food) or a bad one (alcohol, drugs, sugar), it just wants the damned stuff and more is better for these brain of ours!

So, you try resisting what has now become something our brains think we need to survive! Not going to happen!!

So, this really is where the magic of coaching comes in because we know about willpower and we know it doesn't work so we use other ways to help you help yourselves quit a shitty habit or climb out of a rut and move forward. 

I just love that there is always hope, ALWAYS A WAY OUT. 

Zoë x