I’m going to say something controversial, especially for the Friday night before Australia Day. (Uh, can you believe the blasphemy of it – I might get booted out of Australia).

If you drink to excess most weekends, you’re NOT living a bloody good life.

In my pre-bloody-good years, I drank a LOT.

My years studying in the capital of alcoholism (Dublin); backpacking solo; dating a bar manager; drinking my way through a snowboarding season; and living on board superyachts were characterised by binge drinking almost every night of the week.

It was great fun!

But often I was using alcohol to bridge a gap where my self-confidence should have been.

I used it because I didn’t think I was interesting enough without it. Alcohol helped me chat to guys I fancied because I was too shy to do so without.

But as I became happier and more secure, I didn’t need as much alcohol (if any) to enjoy myself on nights out. It came to the point where I was having to tip shots over my shoulder (superyacht crew do NOT take no for an answer!)

A few drinks here and there, for sure, but not the binge drinking that I know characterises many people’s weekends to ‘wind down’ from a hard week’s work at a job they hate.

When life is really bloody good, which it is, I don’t want alcohol to get in the way.

So if you’re not sure where you are on the scale of 1- bloody happy, (or 1 – self-secure), you can use your alcohol consumption as a guide.

The thing about drinking is that it tends to calm your mind down.

Which after a stressful week at work, might seem like exactly what the doctor ordered.

Your mind is also responsible for all your inhibitions that pop up when you’re trying to hit on someone lovely.

Bit of alcohol and bam – mind takes a break and you’re suddenly superman!

You might even decide to climb up the side of a 6 story superyacht at 3am.

Alcohol calms your mind down, but it also inhibits your ability to think rationally.

But imagine if you could learn to calm your mind down without alcohol.

You could achieve anything! Hit on anyone! You could easily make decisions and take bold actions to create the epic life that you’ve always wanted!

What would you do if you didn’t have any fear?

You know those great ideas you come up with when your mind is inhibited by drugs and alcohol? In a sober state, you can make those a reality. (After first screening them for rationality).

This is what mindfulness is about.

When you learn how to train your mind, you don’t need vodka-courage anymore.

When I’m being mindful, I can do things that would have previously scared the shit out of me.

I can walk over and hit on a babe. I can quit a safe career in architecture to set up my own business as a life coach. I can befriend people I previously would have idolised. I can do pretty much anything I want when I put my mind to it.

So consider whether drinking a shitload this weekend is really going to give you the happiness you’re after, or whether there might be other areas of your life that might require some more excitement.

And do some investigation into mindfulness. (I wrote an article about it here).