Procrastination, Motivation, and Congruency

Procrastination haunts many of us in various aspects of our lives. Regardless of the area, “deciding not to decide” often prevents us from leaving our drinking problems behind.

We all want the benefits we’d get from stopping the alcohol abuse, but we have some degree of fear and discomfort, too.

Then there is the fear of giving up all of the benefits we derive from drinking and they can be considerable.

So we defer doing anything about the problem for another week, month, year, or forever. But suspecting that life could be better still nags at us.

Of course clients come here as a result of short term prods: an exasperated spouse; a DUI; a medical report; a child’s comment, or a dozen other external motivations. But fear is only a short term consideration and then it’s usually back to the bottle — or it serves to push you into coming up with a better plan.

That’s where we come in, helping you to define what conditions you are medicating and finding ways to address these conditions effectively and proactively using your proven strengths, interests, abilities and other personal resources in a way that’s congruent with your values, circumstances, and situation.

It’s amazing how people can achieve life changes when they focus on “doing”, not the incredibly boring and depressing “not doing.” It’s a lot easier to stay the course when you are getting positive results that keep on growing. These frequently include:

better health;
better sex;
more money;
less fights;
greater intimacy;
more energy;
less depression and anxiety.

All with a greater sense of being in control of your life, your happiness, contentment, and future.

Consider that you’ve already taken the preliminary steps of signing up for and reading our newsletters. Now you take another step and talk to one of us. We’re not very scary, there’s no hard sell (or any “sell” at all for that matter), and you’ll collect some more information to consider.

Isn’t it time to get your goals, and the systems to achieve them, matching your interests and self-image? Time to quit beating yourself with a bottle and go back to living, not drinking?

Ready to stop being a spectator and start living your life instead of watching?

All that without any “Steps,” meetings, labels, trinkets, or other such childishness?

You’ve been successful in most of your life and for most of your life. Give us a call and let’s talk about extending that winning streak, not the drinking one.

And if others’ successes helps motivate you, here’s an e-mail we received this week from a former client:

“Just thought I’d send you a note. It’s been a while, but K. and I are doing great, I’ve been sober ever since we saw you guys in a couple of years ago, and loving it.

I’ve started doing other things that I haven’t done in years and I keep busy and the drinking has become a non-issue in our lives.

We are looking forward to spending the winter away again this year and have found a great place in the desert and will be heading there in December. If we get over near you guys we will stop over for a visit.

Thanks again for all the help and support, I never thought it would be that easy.”

R & K
Alberta, Canada

Why real follow-up matters.

A physician we worked with recently noted that after 5 days, the follow-up is what makes the difference between success and failure.

He’s right. Going off for 30, 60, or 90 days rarely matters.

Why not?

Because the problem exists at home in your everyday life, not in some rehab oasis. And treatment isn’t something that can be done for you, or to you, only with you, and it has to occur in your day-to-day life.

Yes, the 5 days with us are important. They give you time to reflect and consider, and for us to help sort out whatever problems you’re medicating. Then we can figure out what will work better.

Working with you exclusively, whether as an individual or couple, means we can provide personal sessions totaling 15-20 hours. Still more focused time than any residential rehab will give you no matter how long you stay.

That concentration also means that we have the basis to coach, motivate, advise and empathize with you during the months of formal and informal follow-up sessions it takes to successfully create a new, normal, and alcohol free, life.

Over two thirds of our clients are successful and for the most part they are the ones who take full advantage of their follow-up and make the active changes a better life is built on.

You can join them.

And as an interesting item regarding follow-up, “Our Newsletter is Follow-
Up for Who?”

Recently a long time reader un-subscribed and commented that he’d been sober for two years and appreciated all of the follow-up support our Newsletter had provided.

That surprised me a bit since he’d never been a client. We exchanged a couple of e-mails and it turned out that a program east of here has been using our Newsletters as their follow-up.

I didn’t know whether to be more annoyed or complimented.

I settled for some of both, but that does tell you what sort of program offerings most treatment centers actually provide, or fail to provide.

And it’s not the first time we’ve noticed programs whose websites contain material cut and pasted from our site and/or the Newsletters. Places in Malibu, Georgia, Arizona, and even Canada.

While imitation, or plagiarism, is supposed to be flattery, I will also note that they can’t provide what we can, only steal the verbiage.

As a recent couple noted, “They can’t clone you and Mary Ellen so they’re out of luck providing the services that helped us succeed.”

They were right about that.

So, if you want the original, not the strangely more expensive knock-off, we’re here. And you still get the Newsletter and real follow-up too!