Kat Williams

When I started thinking about doing dry January, I said to @galadarling, “I’m going to TRY and do dry January…” and she immediately called me out on it. And you know what, she was absolutely right! When we say the word ‘try’ we are giving ourselves permission to fail. The things we say to ourselves are SO IMPORTANT. Your brain is very smart, but it can only process the information you give it. It also does not know the difference between a fact or a story. So, if you’re saying “I’m going to try…” what you’re really doing is telling yourself that it’s OK to not actually go through with it. If someone said they were going to ‘try’ to meet you for dinner would you be confident that they had any plans to actually show up? Moderation or ‘cutting back’ is actually really difficult too, because not only is there no concrete measure of what cutting back might mean (is it one drink/ cigarette/bout of casual sex/ whatever your vice is a day... a week.. a couple a month?) but there is also a choice to be made every single time you are given the opportunity to indulge. Any decision, small or large, takes energy. Making those little decisions is actually extremely exhausting and eventually you’re just going to say FUCK IT and end up back on that familiar slippery slope. Saying you’re just going to cut back, in my mind, is another version of saying “Yeah, I’m going to try…” We say this when we’re scared to put a stake in the ground and commit to doing something wholeheartedly. Guilty as charged! This approach might not work for everyone, and you might not agree with me (that’s OK!) but all I can say is that in my experience setting hard and fast rules for myself is the best way to achieve my goals. As always, I’d love to hear what you think.