What to Do First When You Decide to Quit Drinking (The 2026 Starter Plan)

If you’ve decided you want to quit drinking or even think you might want to, the question usually becomes overwhelming fast:

“Okay… but what do I actually do first?”

In Episode 258 of the Sober Vibes Podcast, I walk you through a calm, realistic starter plan for quitting alcohol in 2026 without pressure, perfection, or fear-based rules.

This episode is designed for women who are sober curious, stuck in the moderation cycle, or ready to explore an alcohol free life but don’t want to blow up their entire routine to get there.

Instead of focusing on “forever,” this episode helps you focus on what actually supports you this week.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• What to do first when you decide to quit drinking
• The biggest mistake people make in the first week without alcohol
• Why quitting drinking is about order, not willpower
• How to prepare for cravings before they hit
• What NOT to worry about yet in early sobriety
• How to calm your nervous system as you transition into a sober lifestyle
• Why wanting sobriety and missing alcohol can both be true

This episode is especially helpful if you’re navigating life after alcohol and feeling unsure, emotional, or overwhelmed by all the advice out there.

Resources & Support Mentioned:

• Sobriety Circle – community support for sober women
• Sober Breakthrough Session – personalized sobriety guidance
• 1:1 Sober Coaching 
• Free resources for living alcohol free
• Sober Vibes Book

PODCAST SPONSOR:

This episode is sponsored by ExactNature, a trusted holistic tool for anyone navigating recovery and sobriety. Use code SV25 at checkout to save on your order. Click here to shop and save. 

Grab my Masterclass for Free:

Gain access to my Masterclass when you submit a review on iTunes. Email me sobervibes@gmail.com with a screenshot of the review, and I will send you the code to unlock my Masterclass for free!

Thank you for tuning in!

Thank you for listening! Help the show by Rating, Reviewing, and/or Subscribing to the Sober Vibes Podcast.

Connect w/ Courtney:
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Join the Sobriety Circle

Apply for 1:1 Coaching
Order the Sober Vibes Book

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Purpose
• 0:34 From Decision To “Now What”
• 2:25 Rules Versus Regulation
• 4:07 Calm First, Then Clarity
• 5:16 Stop Future Tripping
• 6:42 Plan For The First Hard Night
• 9:14 Pick One Support And Repeat
• 9:55 Sponsor: Exact Nature Offer
• 10:53 What Not To Worry About Yet
• 13:10 Mixed Feelings Are Normal
• 15:06 Keep It Doable And Adjust

Transcript

Courtney Andersen: 0:00

Welcome to Sober Vibes, your podcast for alcohol-free lifestyle tips and real talk about long-term sobriety. I'm your host, Courtney Anderson, sober coach, author, and mom. Each week I share strategies, stories, and encouragement to help you navigate cravings, build confidence, and thrive in sobriety. Whether you're sober curious or years in, this is your space to feel supported and inspired. Hey friend, welcome back to the Sober Vibes Podcast. I am your host and sober coach, Courtney Anderson. And if you've listened to last week's episode, the episode on how to quit drinking alcohol in 2026, if you haven't listened to it, I want you to stop this one and go back to listen to that one. Okay. But while you were listening to it, if you kind of felt like a mix of a bag of like relief and hope, and then immediately thought to yourself, okay, but now what? Right? This episode is for you. Because the moment you decide you might want to quit drinking or that you start going on the sober path is usually followed by a big, big, big wave of thoughts. Am I really doing this? What if I fail again? How am I supposed to do this with work, with kids, with stress, with life? How I'm supposed to have sex again sober, right? So today I really want to talk about what to do first when you decide to quit drinking. Okay. Not forever, not perfectly, but right now. Okay. So this episode is definitely for you. Okay. This is a 2026 starter plan and it's intentionally simple. And I want you to make this simple. I'm a firm believer of not overwhelming yourself. And I wish to the good Lord that somebody in my early sobriety told me to take a chill pill and to not overwhelm yourself. And if you have been in my coaching container before or you've read my book, you know that that is at kind of the core to of what I coach. It's like we're not going to overwhelm ourselves. Okay. So take a deep breath in and out. If you need to do one again, do one again. Okay. So the biggest mistake people make in in week one. All right. This is the biggest mistake that I usually see people make when they decide to quit drinking. They start with rules instead of regulation. Okay. Rules like I'm doing 30 days, I'm doing dry January, I'll never drink again. I have to be 100% committed. I can't mess this up. I cannot fail. And while rules can definitely feel motivating at first, they also can create a lot of pressure, right? And pressure does activate your nervous system. Also, too, this is going to feel super, super restrictive. Okay. So when your body feels stressed or unsafe, it looks for relief. And for a lot of women, alcohol has been that relief. So when you are quitting, immediately, right away, like I said, it feels scary. It feels like deprivation and it can feel very overwhelming. And that's not a character flaw. This is just, this is the process of it. Okay. And two, that's also your nervous system saying, wait a second, how are I, how am I going to cope now? What am I, or what am I going to do for fun, right? Sobriety really is about order. It's not about willpower. So in 2026, quitting drinking isn't about trying harder. It's about doing things in the right order for you, right? So we want calm first, then clarity, then consistency. And you don't need to overhaul your life all in one day. You don't need to announce anything. You don't need to know what you're doing next month, right? Because that's too like a lot of people too. It's well, what do I tell friends when they ask me, like, is this forever? It's no, you just tell them for today, because it really is overwhelming. And then you can trip yourself up. You can seriously it's almost you trip yourself up because then you get into that thought of forever. And for a lot of people, then that also creates a very fight or flight mode, right? And then that fear, and then you can get self, and then you can get into your self-sabotage mode. Okay. So you just need to know what supports you this week, right? The 2026 starter plan and what to do first. So I want to break this down into three simple focus areas. All right. First, what to stop doing mentally? The first thing to stop is future tripping. Stop thinking about what it's gonna be like in three, four, five years. Stop thinking too, like, what's it gonna be like, you know, of having sex again when possibly you don't have a partner and maybe one night stands aren't your thing. Okay. So you do not need to answer again. Am I sober forever? What about vacations? What about weddings? What about the summer? Those questions are not helpful in week one. They truly are not. All they're gonna do is create anxiety for you. So for now, the only question that matters is what supports me today to stay sober. That's it. Simple. And I believe I said this last week. If you haven't heard it, me say it before that person a year from now is going to be a lot different than the person who is just trying to quit alcohol today. I'm that person three years when you have a wedding, you know, that you have to attend to is gonna be a totally different person than you are at day one. So save your mental energy and stop future tripping and getting stuck into these thoughts and these events. You are not gonna be that same person that you are today. You are have going to experience, you are going to be a sober person who has had a couple years of sobriety or one year of sobriety or even six months here, six months of sobriety before that event even takes place. And you will be a different person. Trust and believe me. So all you need to do is think about what supports me today, right? Second, what to put into place before the first hard night? Most people don't relapse because they want sobriety or that they don't want sobriety. They relapse because they didn't plan for it. So again, the witching hour, the stress after work, the loneliness at night, emotional exhaustion, your period. So before the cravings hit, ask yourself, what will I drink instead? Who can I text or listen to, right? What helps me transition out of the day? So, like from work to your home, right? What's gonna help me with that transition? And this doesn't have to be like fancy, right? You don't have to be doing all the things. It just has to be intentional. So support beats willpower every time. And again, just picked something and don't try to make it different every day because I don't want you then to have, I don't want you to have 25 things that you can choose from. And then in that, in that craving, then you're like, Oh, I don't, I don't know what to choose. This is overwhelming. It's almost if you've ever had a toddler that when when the dictator, I've noticed this especially since he's turned four, when he is tired or is having decision fatigue, when he tells me he's and I ask him, Do you want do you want this or that? And he's I don't know. I'm tired. And then of course I just pick it for him. But that's what it's gonna happen to you during that that hour, because if you are tired or the overwhelm of it, you're just gonna want to shut down. So just pick one thing and use that consistently to help you. And then if you want to move on to the next, move on to the next. But we're now living into a time where we are having we're making this harder for ourselves than it has to be. And with all these different options, it's just just pick one that you're gonna be consistent with and stick to that. And when it works, you're gonna be like, holy shit balls, this is working, this is helping, and I'm just gonna keep writing this out until it doesn't, and then I need to pick something else, right? January is here, that challenge where you take a month-long break from alcohol to reset your habits and see how life feels like without drinking. Time off can bring huge benefits: better sleep, more energy, weight loss, and improvements to your liver health, blood pressure, and blood sugar levels. But those first few weeks can be tough. That's where Exact Nature comes in. Exact Nature makes safe, non-intoxicating CBD products designed to help you take the edge off, easing cravings, calming anxiety, improving sleep, and stabilizing your mood, all without getting you high or causing harm. Founded by a father-son team in recovery, Exact Nature truly understands this journey. Their range of products is value-priced, subscription ready, and designed to support your success over time. As a listener, you'll get 25% off your order at exactnature.com with checkout code SV25. Start off strong in 2026 with ExactNature. Your future self will thank you. You can also find the link in the show notes below. Make sure to use code SV as in sober vibes25. SV25. So the third thing, what not to worry about yet? Okay, again, you do not need to worry about these things: labels, timelines, being good at sobriety, fixing your anxiety, and becoming a whole new person. Early sobriety is not about really thriving, okay? It's about stabilizing yourself. And when you stabilize yourself, that is success. Like again, I mean, I know I use a lot of when I'm talking about thriving and sobriety, but that's after a certain point. These first couple months are very, very hard. And you just have to get used to not drinking each day and not coping with alcohol. And that's gonna take some time and consistency. And to you, you got to get yourself out of baseline. That is really stabling yourself, right? And that is success. That's a huge success. So if you feel torn or doubtful or unsure, I want to say this to you clearly. You can want to quit drinking and still miss alcohol. Okay. You can feel proud of yourself, right? And scared at the same time. These feelings can can be true, both of them, right? And it doesn't mean that you're failing. It means that you're a human being, especially too in the beginning. You're gonna still romanticize alcohol. You are going through a detox process. It is very, very normal when you first quit drinking, all you're gonna see around you is probably 25 more alcohol commercials, right? Like you're gonna see more, you're gonna be like, wow, people really are really, really drunk around me right now. What is going on? And it's just because you are in that heightened state. But I just want you to know that both of those feelings are going to be true for you. And it's not that you're doing anything wrong, it's just where you are at in the process and that you are a human being. Just getting to it's really to about self-trust, right? And self-trust is built one day at a time, one decision. Okay. So if you're listening to this right now and you're thinking, okay, this feels more doable, great. I'm happy, and I want you to share that with me. Okay. And that's the point of this episode because I have noticed a lot, especially this time of the year, it is very easy to for people to go seven days without drinking and being serious. And then it's like you lose that momentum or something comes up, or you're like, I'm just gonna do a damp January, right? Or dry January gets made fun of. And I just want you to, I just want to help you more in this early stages, especially of the time of year and like what to do next and what to focus on, because sometimes there's not plans like that given to people. It's a lot more about stories, but then people want to know, well, how do I get there? And that is what I like to do is try to give you things where you can then implement it for your own self, right? So you got this, right? And again, remember this does not have to be perfectly. You are not, this is not about perfection, right? And even if you hit one, if you have gone seven, eight, nine, ten days and then you slip, then it's okay, okay. Well, just reevaluate and then focus more on what you need to get back on the wagon and like then what happened to you at day 10? Like, where do you need to put your energy into? Did you overbook yourself? Did you overextend yourself? Did you not take a lunch that day and decide to help out everybody else, but not have that hour of recouping your energy? And then by the time you get home, you have nothing else to give, and then have a mild freakout and then start drinking. Listen, this is this is all true things that happen to people. So you really do just have to figure out again what is going to work best for you. What are the tools that you need for it to fit you? And listening to your body when it's okay, I'm I'm hungry, I'm you're thirsty. And because not every time your body tells you something, then it's the allowance of, okay, I'll just drink. You have to figure out these things for yourself and make sure that you are a well-oiled machine to keep yourself sober each day. And that little prescription for yourself is what that looks like for you. Okay. So if you are needing more help in your journey, my one-on-one sober coaching is open for 2026. So you can find the link in the show notes if you need more high touch, more accountability with my one-on-one sober coaching. Or as always, you can check my you can join the sobriety circle. That's a women's only community. We just had a couple women celebrate their one-year sober anniversary in there. So I love to see it. I just had two other women too. One celebrated seven months, the other celebrated three months. So there are people there in the community at different, different, different, I don't want to say levels, different milestones of their journey, but they are all there to support one another. And it's an amazing community. So definitely check out both if you are needing more help. And as always, check out my book, Silver Vives, a guide to thriving in your first three months without alcohol. It's a good one. Thank you so much for listening. And next week we will have another good solo dolo episode. And as always, make sure if you haven't, please rate review and subscribe to the show. If you leave a review on Apple, you will get and screenshot it for me and email it to me at sobervives at gmail.com. I will give you my my masterclass for free. You just have to send me that screenshot, okay? All right, good people of the world. As always, keep on trucking.