August 10, 2025 • 7 mins
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Stop Drinking Podcast, where we help
you make stopping drinking asimple, logical and easy
decision.
We help you with tips, toolsand strategies to start living
your best life when alcohol-free.
If you want to learn more aboutstop drinking coaching, then
head over to wwwsoberclearcom.
(00:21):
So I drank alcohol for the bestpart of 10 years.
I'd tried going to AA meetings.
I tried using willpower.
I'd begged God to help me.
I've dropped to my knees in achurch.
I've read Stop Drinking books.
I tried everything, but sevenyears ago everything shifted.
I started to see alcohol as apoison, as ethanol as what it
(00:41):
actually is, because if we boilit down to its core, what is
alcohol?
A disgusting, foul-tastingsubstance that really adds
nothing to our lives, and ittook me years to get to that
place.
But once I got there, stoppingdrinking became the most logical
and effortless choice that I'dever made in my life, despite
the 10 years of just grittingthrough it and fighting the urge
(01:03):
.
None of that stuff was working.
But one thing I've never sharedis how quitting alcohol
actually made my life worse, andthis is something that is
really uncomfortable for me totalk about.
But the goal of my channel isnot to sugarcoat things.
What I do is really try to giveyou a realistic look at what
happens when you stop drinking,because I want you to be
prepared.
(01:23):
I don't want you to stopdrinking alcohol and then all of
a sudden get hit with thismassive roadblock and be like
whoa, what do I do here?
Because you'll probably do whatI always ended up doing and
this little voice in my headwould perk up and this great
idea would come out of nowhereof hey, leon, just have one
drink.
Just have one drink.
The hundred other times youtried it and it failed.
Don't worry about that.
This time will be different.
(01:44):
Go on, lad, just have one, andthen the cycle would repeat.
That's what I don't want tohappen to you, so I'm hoping, by
being honest with you, you'reprepared.
If we haven't met yet, my nameis Leon Sylvester.
I'm the founder ofSoberClearcom and what I do on
this YouTube channel is I helppeople stop drinking alcohol.
I do have a paid service, acoaching program, and if you
want to apply for that and seeif working together could be a
good match, you can click thelink in the description.
(02:05):
You can apply for the programand book a free consultation,
and an academic psychologist,also wrote a report about the
method, about the science behindhow it works, how it gets a 96%
success rate, and you canactually access that report by
going onto Google Scholar andsearching Sober Clear System.
There you can learn more aboutthe science behind what we do.
But let me explain how quittingalcohol made my life worse.
(02:26):
When I drank alcohol, I would gothrough a cycle.
What I mean is I'd feel acertain way and then I'd drink,
and the things that would leadme to drink, the feelings that
I'd have.
There was a spectrum, right.
Sometimes the feeling would bea craving.
I'd just be like F it, I'mgoing to drink.
But often it wasn't always acraving that would lead me to
drink.
There would be an emotion thatcame before the craving.
(02:48):
Now the problem is during the 10years that I drank, for
basically any emotion that I'dfeel would be linked with
alcohol.
So let's say, maybe I'd be outsocializing and just feel a
little bit in my head, a littlebit shy, and immediately just
have a drink.
Maybe it was a good feeling,maybe I was celebrating
something, some win, maybesomebody else's win, a wedding
or some kind of event, and I'mthinking, well, I need to cheers
(03:14):
.
I need a drink.
But what would happen is Iwould get an emotion and
immediately I would then be hitwith this idea of drinking
alcohol, and what this is is aform of escapism.
I was escaping things.
But the problem with doing thisis, after doing this for 10
years is I might have somethingthat I'm not happy about in my
life and immediately I wouldjust drink.
And when you do that formultiple years, you never really
live up to your potential.
(03:35):
You never know what you'retruly capable of.
So why do I say that quittingalcohol made my life worse?
Well, it all was temporary andI will show you how I fixed it.
But when I stopped drinkingalcohol, guess what?
Well, I went through anadjustment period.
It took a few days where Ididn't feel quite right, but
then that was it, and at thebeginning I felt pretty damn
(03:56):
good.
My energy came back, my claritycame back.
You know, I was feeling prettyon top of things.
But then there was a shockfactor.
I really looked at my life and,with the new senses of clarity
and with this energy and withfeeling better, I was able to
just look at the situation andthe life that I'd created and I
wasn't happy with it.
And when I just stoppeddrinking alcohol, I had this new
mentor in my life and he saidsomething that was honestly like
(04:19):
a punch in the gut.
He said everything in your lifeis exactly how you want it.
Whether that was unconsciouslyor consciously and honestly, I
remember hearing that and I waslike nah, I just wanted to cry.
I was like, ah, and I looked atmy life and I got real with
myself.
I was overweight.
I looked in the mirror.
I'm bloated.
I could see it all puffed outin my face.
(04:39):
I looked at my bank balance andthere wasn't one.
In fact, I had a negative bankbalance.
I was in my overdraft.
I remember thinking that I owea family of money.
I'd failed at a business attemptin London as a personal trainer
.
I'd failed my career inrecruitment in London after I'd
graduated university.
(04:59):
And now I'd moved back toOxford where I was at university
and I'm thinking well, whathave I become Like?
Everything's gone backwards.
I didn't have a relationshipthat had ended because of
alcohol.
My social circle was, you know,I did have some good friends,
but it wasn't great.
And I realized that when Istopped drinking alcohol.
Guess what happened?
Well, sure, at the beginning Ifelt amazing, but then it was
(05:19):
like this punch in the gut.
Reality hit me.
In the past, I would ignorethis stuff and I would use
alcohol as a form of escapism.
Okay, sure, I'm overweight,have a drink.
Okay, sure, I don't have thatmuch money, have a drink.
Okay, life isn't going in thedirection that I want it to, but
in the moment, right now, atleast I can have a drink.
(05:42):
So, whilst life didn'tnecessarily get worse, what
happened instead is I gotclarity on what life was really
like, and that was painful.
And when I got there, when Irealized life's not that great,
I had two options.
I either accepted it and said,well, I give up Might as well,
drink again.
That was one path that I couldhave taken, or I could have done
what I did and just take fullresponsibility for it.
Because when I took thisradical level of responsibility,
(06:03):
guess what that gave me?
That gave me permission tochange.
That gave me permission toredesign my life the way I
wanted it to be, and it'sexactly what I did.
What my mentor said was you canbecome somebody else.
The way that your life is rightnow is how you designed it, but
you can change and whilst itwas one of the most painful
realizations that I ever had, itwas the most empowering Because
(06:23):
I knew that if I could stickwith my decision to be a
non-drinker and make that who Iwas and part of my identity,
just I didn't drink anymore.
That problem solved, I'm movingon with my life and as long as
I could go towards somethingbetter better health, strength,
good relationships, a business,a career, something digital.
I wanted to do something likeYouTube.
If I could put all my time andenergy into making myself better
(06:45):
in these areas, then thefeeling I had of defeat, failure
.
They started to get replacedand they got replaced with these
small wins.
The thing is at the beginning iswhen you stop drinking alcohol.
It isn't immediate.
You don't suddenly wake up witha six pack or $10 million in
your bank account from yourbusiness.
You don't wake up with aperfect marriage on day one.
It takes time, but the mostimportant thing I did, and what
(07:06):
I would recommend that you do aswell, is when you stop drinking
alcohol, is take note of thewins.
Think about what you'reactually grateful for If we can
just seize the day and do whatwe can every single day to move
in the direction of the lifethat we want, rather than just
running away from alcohol.
A week from now, you've donefive workouts, you've spoke to
20 new people in your business,you've gone on a date with your
(07:26):
wife and you've spent qualitytime with your children.
Okay, sure, life's not perfect,but guess, what you're doing is
you're moving in the rightdirection.
Welcome to the Stop Drinking Podcast, where we help
you make stopping drinking asimple, logical and easy
decision.
We help you with tips, toolsand strategies to start living
your best life when alcohol-free.
If you want to learn more aboutstop drinking coaching, then
head over to wwwsoberclearcom.
(00:21):
So I drank alcohol for the bestpart of 10 years.
I'd tried going to AA meetings.
I tried using willpower.
I'd begged God to help me.
I've dropped to my knees in achurch.
I've read Stop Drinking books.
I tried everything, but sevenyears ago everything shifted.
I started to see alcohol as apoison, as ethanol as what it
(00:41):
actually is, because if we boilit down to its core, what is
alcohol?
A disgusting, foul-tastingsubstance that really adds
nothing to our lives, and ittook me years to get to that
place.
But once I got there, stoppingdrinking became the most logical
and effortless choice that I'dever made in my life, despite
the 10 years of just grittingthrough it and fighting the urge
(01:03):
.
None of that stuff was working.
But one thing I've never sharedis how quitting alcohol
actually made my life worse, andthis is something that is
really uncomfortable for me totalk about.
But the goal of my channel isnot to sugarcoat things.
What I do is really try to giveyou a realistic look at what
happens when you stop drinking,because I want you to be
prepared.
(01:23):
I don't want you to stopdrinking alcohol and then all of
a sudden get hit with thismassive roadblock and be like
whoa, what do I do here?
Because you'll probably do whatI always ended up doing and
this little voice in my headwould perk up and this great
idea would come out of nowhereof hey, leon, just have one
drink.
Just have one drink.
The hundred other times youtried it and it failed.
Don't worry about that.
This time will be different.
(01:44):
Go on, lad, just have one, andthen the cycle would repeat.
That's what I don't want tohappen to you, so I'm hoping, by
being honest with you, you'reprepared.
If we haven't met yet, my nameis Leon Sylvester.
I'm the founder ofSoberClearcom and what I do on
this YouTube channel is I helppeople stop drinking alcohol.
I do have a paid service, acoaching program, and if you
want to apply for that and seeif working together could be a
good match, you can click thelink in the description.
(02:05):
You can apply for the programand book a free consultation,
and an academic psychologist,also wrote a report about the
method, about the science behindhow it works, how it gets a 96%
success rate, and you canactually access that report by
going onto Google Scholar andsearching Sober Clear System.
There you can learn more aboutthe science behind what we do.
But let me explain how quittingalcohol made my life worse.
(02:26):
When I drank alcohol, I would gothrough a cycle.
What I mean is I'd feel acertain way and then I'd drink,
and the things that would leadme to drink, the feelings that
I'd have.
There was a spectrum, right.
Sometimes the feeling would bea craving.
I'd just be like F it, I'mgoing to drink.
But often it wasn't always acraving that would lead me to
drink.
There would be an emotion thatcame before the craving.
(02:48):
Now the problem is during the 10years that I drank, for
basically any emotion that I'dfeel would be linked with
alcohol.
So let's say, maybe I'd be outsocializing and just feel a
little bit in my head, a littlebit shy, and immediately just
have a drink.
Maybe it was a good feeling,maybe I was celebrating
something, some win, maybesomebody else's win, a wedding
or some kind of event, and I'mthinking, well, I need to cheers
(03:14):
.
I need a drink.
But what would happen is Iwould get an emotion and
immediately I would then be hitwith this idea of drinking
alcohol, and what this is is aform of escapism.
I was escaping things.
But the problem with doing thisis, after doing this for 10
years is I might have somethingthat I'm not happy about in my
life and immediately I wouldjust drink.
And when you do that formultiple years, you never really
live up to your potential.
(03:35):
You never know what you'retruly capable of.
So why do I say that quittingalcohol made my life worse?
Well, it all was temporary andI will show you how I fixed it.
But when I stopped drinkingalcohol, guess what?
Well, I went through anadjustment period.
It took a few days where Ididn't feel quite right, but
then that was it, and at thebeginning I felt pretty damn
(03:56):
good.
My energy came back, my claritycame back.
You know, I was feeling prettyon top of things.
But then there was a shockfactor.
I really looked at my life and,with the new senses of clarity
and with this energy and withfeeling better, I was able to
just look at the situation andthe life that I'd created and I
wasn't happy with it.
And when I just stoppeddrinking alcohol, I had this new
mentor in my life and he saidsomething that was honestly like
(04:19):
a punch in the gut.
He said everything in your lifeis exactly how you want it.
Whether that was unconsciouslyor consciously and honestly, I
remember hearing that and I waslike nah, I just wanted to cry.
I was like, ah, and I looked atmy life and I got real with
myself.
I was overweight.
I looked in the mirror.
I'm bloated.
I could see it all puffed outin my face.
(04:39):
I looked at my bank balance andthere wasn't one.
In fact, I had a negative bankbalance.
I was in my overdraft.
I remember thinking that I owea family of money.
I'd failed at a business attemptin London as a personal trainer
.
I'd failed my career inrecruitment in London after I'd
graduated university.
(04:59):
And now I'd moved back toOxford where I was at university
and I'm thinking well, whathave I become Like?
Everything's gone backwards.
I didn't have a relationshipthat had ended because of
alcohol.
My social circle was, you know,I did have some good friends,
but it wasn't great.
And I realized that when Istopped drinking alcohol.
Guess what happened?
Well, sure, at the beginning Ifelt amazing, but then it was
(05:19):
like this punch in the gut.
Reality hit me.
In the past, I would ignorethis stuff and I would use
alcohol as a form of escapism.
Okay, sure, I'm overweight,have a drink.
Okay, sure, I don't have thatmuch money, have a drink.
Okay, life isn't going in thedirection that I want it to, but
in the moment, right now, atleast I can have a drink.
(05:42):
So, whilst life didn'tnecessarily get worse, what
happened instead is I gotclarity on what life was really
like, and that was painful.
And when I got there, when Irealized life's not that great,
I had two options.
I either accepted it and said,well, I give up Might as well,
drink again.
That was one path that I couldhave taken, or I could have done
what I did and just take fullresponsibility for it.
Because when I took thisradical level of responsibility,
(06:03):
guess what that gave me?
That gave me permission tochange.
That gave me permission toredesign my life the way I
wanted it to be, and it'sexactly what I did.
What my mentor said was you canbecome somebody else.
The way that your life is rightnow is how you designed it, but
you can change and whilst itwas one of the most painful
realizations that I ever had, itwas the most empowering Because
(06:23):
I knew that if I could stickwith my decision to be a
non-drinker and make that who Iwas and part of my identity,
just I didn't drink anymore.
That problem solved, I'm movingon with my life and as long as
I could go towards somethingbetter better health, strength,
good relationships, a business,a career, something digital.
I wanted to do something likeYouTube.
If I could put all my time andenergy into making myself better
(06:45):
in these areas, then thefeeling I had of defeat, failure
.
They started to get replacedand they got replaced with these
small wins.
The thing is at the beginning iswhen you stop drinking alcohol.
It isn't immediate.
You don't suddenly wake up witha six pack or $10 million in
your bank account from yourbusiness.
You don't wake up with aperfect marriage on day one.
It takes time, but the mostimportant thing I did, and what
(07:06):
I would recommend that you do aswell, is when you stop drinking
alcohol, is take note of thewins.
Think about what you'reactually grateful for If we can
just seize the day and do whatwe can every single day to move
in the direction of the lifethat we want, rather than just
running away from alcohol.
A week from now, you've donefive workouts, you've spoke to
20 new people in your business,you've gone on a date with your
(07:26):
wife and you've spent qualitytime with your children.
Okay, sure, life's not perfect,but guess, what you're doing is
you're moving in the rightdirection.
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