The one priceless book that kicked off my sobriety journey

I’ve been through a lot of quit drinking content in my multi-year journey to an alcohol-free life, but I think I’ll always consider the first book I ever consumed on the subject to be the gold standard.

Although I’m currently on a 39-day streak, my initial path to kicking booze started back in 2019 on a trip to Las Vegas.

I know, pretty stereotypical eh? Someone swearing off alcohol after a trip to Las Vegas.

The funny thing is, this was far from a party trip. My wife and I love going to Vegas because a) the weather is perfect in the spring, which is when we can travel there, and b) we love having access to great restaurants, multiple pools, a gym, good entertainment and just about anything you could possibly need for a relaxing trip within walking distance.

Truth be told, our Vegas nights usually end around 10 p.m.

Tired of being tired

This time though, I was leaving Vegas in worse shape than I arrived, which, again, was not typical for me.

I drank too much and slept like crap all week as a result, which meant I had to come home from my “vacation” and go back to work feeling worse than when I left.

Something clicked and I could tell I was now reaching an age where there would be actual health consequences to drinking too much.

My last day there, I decided I wanted to make a change and started reading quit-alcohol stuff that popped up on Google. There were lots of articles with titles like “what happens to your body when you quit alcohol” or “how long do alcohol withdrawals last.”

And they all seemed to be written by the same guy.

The guru I didn’t know I needed

The guy’s name was Craig Beck.

Although the Google algorithms really did Craig in, pushing his content down the search lists, at the time his stuff was always at or near the top.

I found his writing style engaging and accessible, and I also found out that he’d also written some books on the subject.

I like audiobooks because they let me multitask, so I looked up Craig on Audible and found the book that really kicked off my interest in quitting drinking.

Alcohol Lied to Me is my favourite quit alcohol book of all time.

Even better, Craig is a former radio host in England, so the reading of said audiobook is just perfection.

With a charming accent and well-trained voice, he entertains the reader with stories from his drinking days and his road to recovery.

He reframes alcohol as “attractively packaged poison,” which is exactly what it is if you think about it. He goes through important lessons and gets you to calculate money you actually waste on said poison (a depressing yet inspiring exercise I undertook on the plane ride home), and describes in detail what it does to your body.

And he provides practical advice, strategies and tools for quitting.

The entire book is about tearing down myths that the drinks manufacturers have created to keep you in their clutches. Myths like drinking alcohol helps you relax, alcohol contributes to a good time, even that alcohol supports your health (!).

(Quick side note: Audiobooks have played an enormous role in me finally kicking alcohol and I can’t recommend them enough. I listen to them constantly. I use Audible for this, and with this link you can try it for free and get two free audiobooks when you sign up — including the book I reference in this piece.)

For the plane trip home, I got the Quit Drinking Complete Collection (affiliate link), which is about eight hours long. I listened to it the whole way back from Vegas. I was mesmerized by Craig’s performance.

Inspired, I immediately quit alcohol for nearly two months (I even surprised myself by going to a wedding sober the following week!), and, over the course of the following years, probably cut my alcohol intake by about 60–70 percent.

That culminated in a two-month run without a drop of alcohol, which unfortunately got disrupted by the first COVID wave (I’ll write more about that another day).

Craig has published several other books on the topic and has a YouTube channel and podcast. Every week, he hosts a YouTube AMA to connect with his followers.

Consistently great

Even almost four years later, I’ll listen to one of those audios or the podcast as I drift off to sleep at night. I just find them soothing for some reason.

They also inspire me to strive for better.

As I said, I’ve been through a lot of quit drinking content, but Craig Beck’s stuff always resonated the most with me.

I’ll always be thankful to him for getting me on the right track, and for continuing his good work today.

If you’re looking for something to kick off your own quit drinking journey, I can’t recommend Craig’s stuff highly enough!

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