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I realized recently how vital it is not only to Mind Your P's but to separate them out rather than lumping them together. Too often I would find myself doing 2 of the 3 (usually planning and preparing) but without doing all 3 I would likely fall short of my intentions. For me, this was recently more food-focused. That being said, it was a great reminder of how much all consumption (booze, food, social media, sex, spending, etc.) can come down to the same thing: mindless, emotional consumption. To ensure success in your moderation, remember to Mind your (3) P's:
Plan - Plan your day/night/week. Decide what you want your consumption to look like and write it out. Be as specific as you can. You don't have to stick to it 100% but the more specific you can be the more likely you are to be successful.
Prepare - This is where we can easily fall short without realizing it. If we fail to prepare we usually fail to stick to our goal. Why? Because we haven't set ourselves up for success. Maybe we planned on only drinking 1 or 2, but failure to bring a b*free option to the party for example can make it far too easy to just keep on drinking rather than switch or alternate. This is why you need to get specific with your plan and follow through with preparation. When you make your plan and then prepare accordingly, you make it a no-brainer to choose the b*free option instead.
Purposeful - So much of our drinking is mindless. Being purposeful closes out the loop so you can stick to your plan. There isn't much better than being proud of how easy it was to stick with the plan you made. When you're purposeful, you are being present, you are enjoying the experience, you're understanding what is going on physically, mentally, and emotionally, and you are able to make a conscious decision for what action you choose to take. When you're purposeful, this choice is likely in-line with your goal, your why, and your 2.0. This = Success.
Here is how this can look:
Tonight, I am going to be B*Free (aka ZERO alcoholic beverages.)
To ensure my success, I have purchased a bottle of B*Free wine which is cooling in the fridge. I also have sparkling water on hand to keep my thirst quenched. I will start with my B*Free Wine and can switch to sparkling as/if needed. I even have fresh limes ready to go to jazz up my sparkling if needed!
I will take a moment - uninterrupted - to enjoy the first few sips of my F*Free Wine and I'll make the sips and the glass last as long as I can. I'll drink it out of my favorite glass to enhance the experience as well. Here's to a great night!
Whenever in doubt, just remember to Mind Your P's!
Cheers to your success in Mastering Moderation!