I have an idea of what it will cost you because I hear it every day and experienced the cost myself.

The cost of missing precious moments with your kids
The cost of your mental health
The cost of your physical health
The cost of your relationships
The cost of your dreams
The cost of finding what truly lights you up from within

Yes, 1:1 Coaching and the Alcohol-Free Challenges are an investment for a few reasons.

When you put money behind something, you are more likely to follow through with the commitment. Yes, I've joined free challenges and webinars before but guess what? I had a hard time focusing and sticking with it because I had no skin in the game.

I deserve to be paid for 60 days of daily content with audio lessons, daily accountability check-ins and support, group coaching calls, and a 1:1 call. There was a time in my life where I thought I didn't deserve anything good that came my way, but that is not the case anymore. I am worthy of compensation for pouring my heart and soul...

I was on a 1:1 call with a client last week, and she said, "I just want to know this isn't going to be easy. That it might suck." I was taken aback by it because I assumed that everyone knows it isn't easy in the beginning stages.

In the days of people posting how glamorous and cool going alcohol-free is (which is amazing, by the way). And a trend that I'm on board with 100%. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in all the good going alcohol-free does for us physically and mentally that we forget or play down that yes, it will suck in the beginning. You may have some rough moments where you want to throw in the towel.

Even if you're not physically dependent on alcohol, you will most likely still feel crummy initially. Irritable. Foggy. Sad. Less energy. More anxious. It's like you and your best friend who have drifted apart because they're not good for you anymore. It will be an adjustment, but once you get past the initial stages of "this sucks", there is a reward for you.

The reward is...

We have these preconceived notions of what a person is like who doesn't drink. These beliefs are largely based on what society has labeled a sober person. You know the usual - they're boring, something is wrong with them, they must have lost everything, why can't they just drink like a normal person, and the list could go on and on.

But those thoughts are beliefs, not facts. While SOME may lose everything. While SOME may be labeled as developing alcohol use disorder. Many will fall more in the gray area drinker category. Their life isn't falling to shambles, but they don't feel good. They're ashamed of their actions under the influence. They realize they're wasting precious time with their kids that they can't get back. And they recognize that maybe drinking isn't it's all cracked up to be.

The way we've been conditioned to believe that anyone who doesn't drink has a problem is absolute nonsense. If someone doesn't want to drink, let's stop making it mean something. It may mean a...

And I'm not just talking about money. The time and energy we put into keeping alcohol in our lives is ridiculous.

Think about it.

How much ENERGY does it take to go back and forth about whether you're going to drink or not?

How much TIME have we lost with our kids due to hangovers?

How much TIME have we wasted by focusing on wine instead of focusing on being present with our kids?

How much MONEY has been thrown away on a poison that only provides a moment of quick relief?

All that time and energy lost can't be taken back either. Once it's gone, it's gone. What you can do, though, is from this day forward, make a commitment to yourself that you're done making excuses.

I used excuses all day long, and what it always came back to was, I was afraid.

Afraid of failure.
Afraid that people would look at me differently.
Afraid of my potential.

Sounds weird, right? I was sabotaging myself. Who could little Alyson be without alcohol? She could be a leader, that's who. She could be a better...

I'm a goddamn cheetah, and so are YOU.

If you haven't read Untamed by Glennon Doyle, put it at the top of your must-reads list. At the beginning of the book, she talks about a cheetah born and raised at the zoo. Essentially the cheetah doesn't know any better it's grateful to be safe. But it's living the same day on repeat within a confined space. And cheetahs aren't meant to be tamed. They are meant to roam free in the wild. Read her book for the story and the words she beautifully writes.

Like the cheetah, we as mothers have been tamed. Conditioned to live a certain way. Act a certain way. Follow the "traditional" path of life. Stay confined to a monotonous life that doesn't allow us to truly be free.

What's one of those things that we've been conditioned to do? That is taming us and holding us back from leading a fulfilling life? Alcohol. Think about it. When we're drinking, we're stagnant. We're in a haze. We're not able to be our best selves for us, for our kids, for our...

Our minds tend to go to the worst-case scenario in early sobriety.

That we'll lose all our friends, never have fun again, and hate our lives.
This thinking is absolutely false! Don't feed the fears!

If you read my post on @sobermomtribe this morning, you know that my car wouldn't start this morning. My mind went to the worst-case scenario first. What was that? That I needed a new battery. Guess what? I just needed a jump, and he said the battery was still good just to keep it running for a half hour to an hour.

I thought I would have to pay for a whole new battery ($166 plus tax), but I didn't even have to pay 1 cent. Funny how for a lot of us, our mind goes to the worst-case scenario first. At the same time, the worst-case scenario isn't even that bad in the grand scheme of things. At least in this case with my car. So what? I had to pay a little extra money. Was it in my budget for this month? No, but that just gives me extra motivation to keep showing up on here and providing...

Either you accept that alcohol isn't serving you, or you keep living in denial that you'll be able to moderate one day.

Coming in hot with the truth this morning.

I know what I would choose based on my own experience and hearing thousands of other mothers' experiences on trying to moderate or just drink on special occasions. It NEVER works out the way you want it to.

Maybe you're the 1% of people that can go back to having just one, but those are some pretty bleak odds that you're the unicorn among us. And there's actual science behind why you can't. In short, your prefrontal cortex gets damaged and makes your reward system go all haywire.

It's hard to outrun science, right?

So what's it going to be? Are you ready to accept that alcohol isn't doing you any favors so that you can experience a life with less anxiety, more patience with your kids, and endless benefits? Or are you going to keep wasting time and energy going back and forth about how you will moderate one day?

The choice...

Have you ever thought the people who don't drink are the normal ones for not wanting to ingest a poison that kills your mind, body, and soul?

I hear this a lot from 1:1 clients and mothers in the challenges and here on social media. That they just want to be "normal". What does that even mean? Honestly, what does normal mean? Normal to me means following the crowd, doing things that don't fulfill your purpose because you're scared of what others will think, having a 9-5, and getting stuck in the monotony of life.

F*ck normal!! I don't want to be normal. I want to be ME.

I want to do what lights me up no matter what other people think.
I want to live with my life with no regrets.
I want to live my life unapologetic for who I am.
I want to be on my death bed satisfied and proud of how I lived this one life we have on Earth.

I know now that alcohol wasn't helping me fulfill what I'm here to do. It was slowly killing me.

It was killing my dreams.
It was killing my relationships.
It was...

I was going to type up a regular post of what I would write when I launch the 60 Day Alcohol-Free Challenge. You know the captivating headling and all the bells and whistles, but not today.

I just treated myself to a massage. I haven't gotten a massage in YEARS, and now I'm adding another monthly investment to my self-care and personal development budget. Why am I talking about this? Because investing in yourself is not only necessary, it should be a non-negotiable.

And I'm not just telling you that because I want you to join the challenge. I'm telling you this because so often, as mothers, we put everyone else's needs above our own, including the things that we buy. I buy my son all the things, and I'm not complaining about that whatsoever. I'm thankful to have the opportunity to do that BUT start buying things for you that will not only bring you happiness but will help you heal, connect, and grow into a better version of yourself.

Too often, we're quick to buy tangible items that...

Things to remember:

you are constantly growing, learning, experiencing
your mistakes do not define you
you are not on anyone's timeline except your own

That last one, though. We tend to compare our journeys with others.

Maybe it's that they're farther along than you - in days because how else do you measure farther along?
Maybe it's that they're always smiling while you feel like you're more miserable than not.
Maybe it's that you've gained weight, and they've lost.
Maybe it's that your face broke out while they have glowing skin.

Whatever the case is, we tend to look at what's not going right for us compared to others. As a human, it's natural to do that, but it's not doing you any favors.

Focus on YOU and YOUR improvements. I can guarantee that you have many. Heck, putting down the bottle alone is a huge accomplishment, so stop looking at the superficial aspects of this journey and start giving yourself praise for unlearning a toxic habit you've relied on for years or, in some cases,...