STRATEGIES TO QUIT

What Will Happen If You Drink? Play the Movie Forward. You Already Know

Strategy to quit drinking alcohol.

You’ve tried everything.

You tell yourself you will only drink on Fridays, holidays, or date nights, but you end up drinking throughout the week.

Or you take a more extended break, two weeks, or a dry mouth once or twice a year, only to return to your same drinking habits, or worse. You find yourself drinking more.

You think you’ve tried everything, but have you tried this?

Play the movie forward in your head.

Playing the movie forward was a game-changer for me. When I quit drinking in December of 2021, there were plenty of familiar debates standing in front of the refrigerator.

Should I open that beer?

And to this day, I still use this technique to stay sober. At a barbeque, on a lake day, or sitting on a patio, I’ll get the urge to drink sometimes. And when I do, the first thing I pull out from the tool kit is Play the Movie Forward.

How to Play the Movie Forward?

First, you must allow yourself to get curious and ask yourself these questions.

What will happen if I drink this alcohol? What will happen the rest of the night? How will you feel the next day? Does this behavior support my goal?

Through a series of then what will happen, you will honestly answer. You must, or this won’t work so well.

Here is an example of how this dialogue goes in your head.

What is going to happen if I drink this alcohol? I am going to enjoy it for about 20 minutes.

Then what? I will want more.

Then what? I will pour another glass and drink it.

Then what? I will feel tipsy and debate with myself about having another glass.

Then what? I will pour a glass and drink it.

Then what? I will realize I have just a little left in the bottle, so I’ll just finish it before bed.

Then what? I will pass out for a few hours and wake up several times to go to the bathroom.

Then what? I wake up around 2 or 3 feeling like crap, but my brain feels like it’s had a few cups of coffee.

Then what? I won’t be able to get back to sleep easily.

Then what? When I wake up, I will feel shame. I did it again.

Then what? I will feel bloated, have a headache, never really feel like I woke up, and will be pretty unpleasant to be around.

Does this sound like it’s the person you want to be? Does this sound like how you want to show up in life? Probably not.

You are much better than this. You have a purpose, a vision for how you want life to be. Drinking this drink does not support that ideal vision of your life.

Tips to help you:

If you are struggling to be real with yourself, experiment for a few nights when you are drinking and write it down! Get a journal and write down what is happening in your head. What are you doing? Reflect on what else happened during the night the following day and how you felt the next day.

Use this document to read if you are having trouble coming up with answers to then what will happen. Don’t like to write? Leave yourself voice recordings on your phone. Listen to them when you need a reminder.

You can also flip this strategy and use it for positive things. What will happen if I don’t drink? What will the evening look like? What other possibilities could I entertain? How will I sleep tonight? How will I feel in the morning? And the next day?

Note: When you start playing the movie forward, it may be challenging to use the flipped version because you might not remember what it feels like to have a sober morning. Depending on how frequent you have been drinking, you may have solid experiential data for what it feels like to drink.

After being sober for about 100 days, I started to really feel the benefits of being sober. I can flip the strategy to considering what would happen if I don’t drink tonight? But I still fear that I’ll forget what my life was like. This is because of fading affect bias. This is when enough time has passed that your negative associations with a behavior or situation have faded. You don’t remember them as well.

But I don’t want to forget. So, I prefer to ask what will happen if I drink?

But this time will be different. I swear. I’ll just have one.

You know the truth because you have many attempts at trying to regulate your drinking. This is your experimental data. This is your evidence. Pull it out and use it to your advantage.

I sure did have a lot of data collected from trying to moderate my drinking. I would get to a point where I would wonder if maybe enough time has passed?

I bet I can just have one. I feel great now. I won’t want more than that.

But then what happens? — Sure, one night I had one, just one. But the next day, having one is all I can think about. When can I have just one again? Tonight?

And then that one tasted so good, I will debate if I should have another. And eventually do. Now, two glasses are the norm.

I’ll put a restriction on myself and say, I can only have a glass on Friday- maybe two. And throughout the week, all I will look forward to is Friday night. And what about the rest of the bottle? What about that? I guess I’ll drink it tomorrow.

And tomorrow comes, and I’ll go to pour that 2nd pour, but it won’t be an actual pour because I overpoured my first glass, so I’ll start to feel disappointed. And I’ll debate: Should I get another bottle? I really want that 2nd pour. And I will. Since it’s open, I might as well.

And I am back to drinking again. Regularly. Still thinking about my next drink all day.

Not only is the drinking alcohol no bueno, but I realized something more impactful. I thought about alcohol a lot! And this was all-consuming. When is my next drink? Should I drink another? Why did I drink so much? I’ll never drink that much again. But maybe tonight, I will just have one. And so it goes. Something’s got to give.

What are You Teaching Yourself?

Your brain isn’t fixed. You are not set in your ways unless you choose to be so. Why? Because of neuroplasticity. When you learn something new, a neuron in your brain fires and connects the information to another neuron in your brain. The more you practice the ‘new’ thing, the stronger the connection is. With enough experience (or impact), that connection is strengthened and becomes a part of you. You learned it!

Yes, you have been doing this, strengthening your neural pathways with months, years, or even decades of drinking. But you can teach your brain new pathways and strengthen those connections, so your brain forms new routes to follow.

When you use the Play the Movie Forward method, you teach your brain a new way to deal with the urge to drink. Instead of reaching for the drink when you want it, you are doing something different. You are thinking about what will happen if you drink one drink. This may be enough of a shift to help you move away from the refrigerator and on to a different thing.

Not only are you teaching yourself to do something different, but you are teaching yourself about yourself. This is the most important thing about this strategy. You are learning to be completely honest with yourself.

By answering the what will happen next questions with your honest answers, you are being truthful with yourself. You are honoring your life experience for what it is instead of imagining it to be something else.

You know what will most likely happen if you drink because you have been here before. By acknowledging the truth, you are becoming more in tune with yourself. There is nothing more important than that.

Plus, this skill can be used in other situations. Play the movie forward for your financial life. Is this purchase worth it? Play the movie forward for your fitness goals. Is this birthday cake really worth it? The answer can be YES. But I bet when you stop yourself from impulsively or absentmindedly reaching for the whatever-ma-jig you will more than likely say now, I’m good.

Conclusion

Will this strategy alone help you quit drinking? Probably not. Just like will working one job make you a millionaire? Probably not. But trying out this procedure may help you stop drinking one time. And maybe another. If that happens, then you are on the right track with your goals.

However, if you need more support in quitting drinking, be sure to check out my catalog of resources to aid you in your journey. You can also download a list of FREE sober resources from my Gumroad page.

And, of course, seek medical help from a professional if you struggle to quit drinking. I am not a doctor. Just a girl with a lot of experience in starting and stopping drinking who wants to help those that are seeking it.

And here are some hippies dancing in a desert.

DISCLAIMER: Some of these links may be affiliate links. This means that I receive a small commission when you purchase. Also, I am an educator, not a medical professional or a licensed counselor. If you have concerns about alcoholism and/or trauma related healing, including mental health concerns please seek help from the appropriate professional.

Patty McMahon, M.Ed is an educator, a mother, wife, and dog lover writing about sobriety and wellness in the 21st c. To help others along their journey, she created a book club. Join her newsletter to get more insights on wellness delivered to your inbox.

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