Before starting a family, I lived in Bristol for 10 years. Most of my weekends involved drinking and I definitely saw alcohol as the necessary social lubricant.
June 2025 |
8 minutes
Tom Smart is the co-founder of Bristol-based kombucha start-up, Counter Culture Drinks. Their aim is to disrupt the soft drinks market and they work with local artists to create provocative topical can art. Tom reflects on his own relationship with alcohol and shares what works for him when it comes to moderating his drinking.
“I enjoyed living there but there was a nagging feeling my drinking was becoming a bit excessive.”
I’m now 38 and live in Hertfordshire with my fiancé and our two young children. This change in circumstances is easily the biggest factor in helping me reduce my drinking.
It has helped me to view drinking alcohol in the same vein as many other habits (e.g. smoking, eating unhealthily, not exercising enough). It has helped me to view drinking alcohol in the same vein as many other habits (e.g. smoking, eating unhealthily, not exercising enough) and this has opened up many of the tools recommended for breaking habits, such as those outlines in the bestselling book Atomic Habits by James Clear. ‘Uprooting and procreating’ is a rather extreme measure I don’t think many would have prescribed. Obviously, I have less social time now, but it illustrates how changing my environment meant distancing me from the FOMO of pubs/taprooms/clubs I used to have on my doorstep.
“I haven’t set myself a goal to be sober. It may be something I aspire to at some point but right now I would say I’m in an exploratory phase of enjoying the everyday benefits of drinking far less while retaining the option to drink a bit on special occasions.”
The main challenge I have is not overdoing it on those special occasions and using them as “catch up time”.
But there is obviously still a pull for me to drink, which I typically think of in the following three categories:
- Weekday (e.g. Long stressful day at work, ‘Haven’t I earned one to relax?’)
- Weekend (e.g. It’s Saturday, it’s sunny, it’s a family BBQ and everyone else has a drink.)
- Special occasion (e.g. Who doesn’t drink at weddings?!)
For me those ascend in difficulty. I’ve been able to pretty much conquer category 1 and 2, giving me the confidence to build on that progress to maybe start tackling some of category 3.
Here are some of the other things I’ve found help me reduce my weekday and weekend drinking:
1. If it has to be in the house, hide it
For one Dry January® challenge I chose to put all of our booze cupboard bottles into a box in the garage. They actually ended up staying there for many months after and I kind of forgot about them. It taught me that if it’s near by it’s giving my brain an option to be tempted by them. So, make it harder and make it out of sight.
Similarly if I have beer in the house, I’ll store it somewhere ambient, so I have friction between it being cold and consumed.
2. Alcohol-free alternatives
Most of my desire to drink comes from beer so I’m fortunate that alcohol-free beers are so great these days. I try to always have some Lucky Saint in my fridge and find that drinking one of those scratches most itches derived from a stressful day or typical social occasion.
3. Setting challenges with public commitments
I chose to do an Ironman in 2023 and with literally no triathlon experience prior to that I knew the nine month training plan would need commitment. I chose to therefore pair that challenge with not drinking during that training window and told everyone around me that’s what I was doing so I was accountable.
I ended up drinking only on a couple of special occasions, so it was easily the most sober period of my life. I’ve since done similar windows where I haven’t drunk for several months. This time gave me the confidence it is possible!
