12 TIPS 4 SURVIVING the party season by Janet Gourand ( Founder of Tribe Sober)
if you’ve been working hard to cut down or even ditch the drink all year then you may be facing the festive season with some trepidation – and a concern that you are going to undo all the progress you’ve made. So let’s make a plan…here are our top tips to get you through 1. Party like a celebrity : Do you think those guys accept every single invite they get? Of course not! They pick and choose and so must you. Just pick the events you want to go to – then turn up late and leave early! 2. Don’t get overtired: Pace yourself. One or two parties/events a week is probably quite enough if you work full time. When exhaustion sets in you could find yourself reaching for a drink to give you a “lift” so try to avoid getting to that stage. 3. Have your go-to-drinks : There are more and more alcohol-free alternatives coming on the market. You can phone the venue to see what alcohol-free drinks they have before you go. If you have something that looks vaguely alcoholic people will leave you alone and you won’t have to spend the night telling them your life story! 4. Remember, alcohol is not a magic potion : We’ve been brainwashed into thinking that alcohol has magic properties when of course it's you, your friends, and the environment that provides the fun – not the contents of your glass!
5. Fake it till you make it : Slap a smile on your face and commit to an hour of making a real effort. Listen to what people are saying and you might learn something interesting. Act like you’re going to have a fabulous time and who knows, you just might 6. Be an anthropologist: Mingle and observe – catch those voices changing pitch, listen out for “those stories” being told once again, and look out for people wearing their sexy (drunk) faces. You’re not judging, you’re just entertaining yourself. 7. Always have an escape plan: Make sure you can go home when you want to. This means that if you are giving people a lift to the party they should be prepared to make their way back. You can leave whenever you want, it’s no big deal. You came – and now you are going. 8. Turn the event into a challenge: If you’ve been using alcohol to party hard for years then you are not going to get the hang of this overnight. You need to learn the art of sober small talk not to mention sober dancing and it takes time. But keep at it and gradually your social life will evolve from survival to enjoyment to awesome mode. 9. Make a firm decision that you’re not going to drink Make sobriety a priority and don’t even think about “deciding when you get there”, we all know how that one will end.
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