This Naked Mind Podcast

Judd never considered that he would quit drinking before turning forty. After all, for twenty-five years he would pick the idea up and put it down as regularly as if it were his morning coffee. But one day he picked up a receipt for a book he'd bought two years earlier yet never read. Suddenly the countdown was on, and he was no longer willing to keep the idea of quitting drinking before forty on the shelf. It was now time to change.

Judd and Coach Cole discuss:

How buying The Alcohol Experiment in January 2020 and not reading it for months planted the seed that eventually took hold

Why turning quitting into a 30-day, then 90-day, then six-month goal made an impossible habit feel achievable

The moment his now-wife suggested he aim for a year instead of six months, and why he said yes

How he used the rawness of his first alcohol-free months to write a novel exploring AI, free will, and addiction

Why naltrexone and other medications raise real questions about free will, even when they work

What it was like to travel internationally alcohol-free for the first time, from Sydney's hidden NA bar scene to San Juan's early morning joggers

How realizing most people at parties were not drinking as much as he assumed changed the way he saw every social event

And more on goal-setting, dating after quitting, and what it really means to find your own path to alcohol freedom…

Ready to take the next step? Visit https://learn.thisnakedmind.com/podcast-resources for free resources, programs, and more. Until next week, stay curious!

Episode links:

alcoholexperiment.com

More on this episode:

https://thisnakedmind.com/podcast/quit-drinking-before-turning-forty-judds-naked-life-ep-932/

Judd's Book - Syncope: https://amzn.to/44Y2964

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Related episodes:

Escaping The Hamster Wheel of Drinking | Alcohol Freedom Coaching | EP 847 - http://thisnakedmind.com/why-cant-i-quit-drinking-after-so-many-tries-afc-e847/

Beer at 10 – Jim's Story | Naked Life Stories | EP 383 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-383-naked-life-story-jim/

Reader Question – What are Naltrexone and The Sinclair Method? | Reader Questions | EP 82 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-82-reader-question-naltrexone-sinclair-method/

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What does it take to figure out how to stop relying on alcohol for confidence? Amy needed eleven months alcohol-free, followed by more stops and starts than a city bus has, to decide something needed to change. For Dee, it was an entire wedding weekend and the fear of being the only one without a drink in her hand that made her realize alcohol was holding way too much headspace for her. Coaches Zoe and Cole help both women discover the confidence that was already inside them all along.

Amy discusses:

Going 30 days alcohol-free, then 11 months, then letting red wine back in "on a limited basis" and watching it unravel

The cognitive dissonance between her morning self and her evening self, and why they actually want the same thing

An ADHD diagnosis at seventeen and a lifelong feeling of being unpredictable to herself

A snowy backyard, a hot tub, and proof that an urge really does pass if you outlast it

Dee discusses:

An entire wedding weekend built around alcohol, and the fear she hadn't said out loud yet

Why a glass of wine became her stand-in for confidence since college

The shift from "I'm not allowed to drink" to "I'm choosing not to," and why that one distinction changed everything

Visualizing the wedding ahead of time, the same way she used to visualize a swim race

And more…

Ready to take the next step?

Visit https://learn.thisnakedmind.com/podcast-resources for free resources, programs, and more. Until next week, stay curious!

Zoe Ewart is a Certified Naked Mind Senior Coach who brings her experience and understanding to help with the tricky parts of life's big changes. Her coaching gives you an enjoyable, light-hearted, and safe environment to effortlessly take back control of alcohol. 

Learn more about Coach Zoe: https://thisnakedmind.com/coach/zoe-ewart/

Cole Harvey is a Certified Naked Mind Senior Coach. As a habit change and mindset coach, Cole helps men understand themselves, build better habits, and find meaning. 

Learn more about Coach Cole: https://thisnakedmind.com/coach/cole-harvey/

Episode links:

nakedmindpath.com

More on this episode - https://thisnakedmind.com/podcast/how-to-stop-relying-on-alcohol-for-confidence-alcohol-freedom-coaching-ep-931/

Related episodes:

How Do I Become Socially Confident Without Alcohol? – Reader Question – https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-582-readers-question-how-do-i-become-socially-confident-without-alcohol/

Drinking Less in Wine Country – Alcohol Freedom Coaching – https://thisnakedmind.com/drinking-less-in-wine-country-alcohol-freedom-coaching-ep-740/

Feel Like Yourself Again – Alcohol Freedom Coaching – https://thisnakedmind.com/feel-like-yourself-again-alcohol-freedom-coaching-e756/ 

Follow on Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-naked-mind-podcast/id1287269357

Follow on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0UB06sNguPjVvgAYFBcR9I?si=b7568f24c21249ff

Deb's Naked Life | EP 920

If you're thinking about stopping drinking in your 60s but keep telling yourself you're too old, too set in your habits, or too far gone, Deb's story is the one you need to hear. She was a registered nurse who had directed a hospital addiction recovery program and still didn't see herself in it. She was caring for a dying parent, married to a heavy drinker, and drinking three to four glasses of wine every night before a single book changed the entire frame. She became alcohol-free at 62 and hasn't looked back once.

Deb and Coach Cole discuss:

Growing up alcohol naive, not drinking until her late 20s, and watching it quietly become a nightly habit, she barely chose

Directing a hospital addiction recovery program and still telling herself she wasn't like the patients in it

Reading This Naked Mind cover to cover with wine in hand, crying at the parts that felt like her own story

Stopping drinking while caregiving for her mother with dementia, and finding she could finally be present in those visits

Staying alcohol-free while her husband continued to drink, kept trying to pull her back, and what the honest reckoning that followed looked like

Talking herself out of the This Naked Mind coaching program four years in a row before finally committing at 62, after years of retirement

Why a slip isn't a relapse, it's a data point, and the language of growing and evolving versus changing

And more on curiosity, caregiving, and what it means to build a life you don't want to escape from…

Episode links:

thisnakedmindinstitute.comfullheartcoaching.net

Related episodes:

Self-Awareness Around Alcohol | Dr. Gina Slejko - Naked Life Story | EP 535 — https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-535-naked-life-story-dr-gina-slejko/

I Quit Drinking But My Spouse Has Not — Any Advice? | EP 48 — https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-48-reader-question-i-quit-drinking-but-my-spouse-has-not-any-advice/

Using Alcohol Over 60: Lorna Wilson | EP 418 — https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-418-coaching-questions-with-scott-pinyard/ 

CTA

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Ready to take the next step? Visit https://learn.thisnakedmind.com/podcast-resources for free resources, programs, and more. Until next week, stay curious!

⚠️ Trigger warning: This episode contains references to domestic violence and a mental health crisis.

Who am I without alcohol? Does that question sound eerily familiar? Steph and Nicole both find themselves grappling with that very idea and wondering what the answer will mean for them. Steph is 55, and alcohol has been by her side and has helped define her for most of her adult life. Nicole looks to alcohol for the answers and to smooth the rough edges, and isn’t sure if she’s capable of being herself with a glass in her hand. Coaches Cole and Hayley help provide guidance and hope in this week’s episode.

Steph discusses:

Why "loss of identity" became the real subject of her coaching call, not just the drinking

The belief that she'd failed herself and her friends, and how that belief kept her stuck

Why chasing a "finished" identity by a deadline backfires

The threshold metaphor, and why stepping into the unknown feels safer than staying somewhere familiar but unwanted

Her plan to resign from teaching by May 1st, and what she's choosing to let go of first

Nicole discusses:

How alcohol became tangled with her identity before she ever turned 21

The seven-year relationship and the night that ended with her in a hospital for three days

November 5, 2025: the day she sat in her car and decided something had to change

Why grace and curiosity did more for her than willpower ever did

What she calls her "2D glasses" moment, and what she sees now that alcohol's gone

And more…

Ready to take the next step?

Visit https://learn.thisnakedmind.com/podcast-resources for free resources, programs, and more.

Until next week, stay curious!

Cole Harvey is a certified Naked Mind Senior Coach. As a habit change and mindset coach, Cole helps men understand themselves, build better habits, and find meaning. Learn more about Coach Cole: https://thisnakedmind.com/coach/cole-harvey/

Hayley Scherders is a certified TNM Coach with training from the Canadian Addiction and Mental Health Association. Hayley understands how tough change can be and provides a safe, compassionate, and judgment-free space where her clients can feel supported. Learn more about Coach Hayley: https://thisnakedmind.com/coach/hayley-scherders/

Episode links:

More on this episode: https://thisnakedmind.com/podcast/who-am-i-without-alcohol-alcohol-freedom-coaching-ep-929/Join The Path: nakedmindpath.com

Related episodes:

How To Uncouple Alcohol and Identity | Naked Life Story | EP 549 -https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-549-naked-life-story-andrew/Who Am I Without Wine?: Identity & Sophistication | Alcohol Freedom Coaching | E801 - https://thisnakedmind.com/creating-a-new-identity-after-quitting-drinking-alcohol-freedom-freedom-coaching-e801/Why Do I Feel Detached When I’m Not Drinking? | Reader’s Question | EP 122 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-122-reader-question-feel-detached-im-not-drinking/

Follow on Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-naked-mind-podcast/id1287269357

Follow on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0UB06sNguPjVvgAYFBcR9I?si=b7568f24c21249ff

What does building a life you don't want to escape from actually take? Donna joined The Path in March 2021 after a COVID grocery store moment she couldn't unsee and hasn't had a drink since. Now five years in, she's back with Coach Hayley to share what's genuinely changed, what she's still working through, and a question that keeps getting more interesting.

Donna and Coach Hayley discuss:


That COVID grocery store moment, four wine clubs in a week, and what she calls "the gift COVID gave her"


The beta reader who said her memoir should have said more about her drinking, and what she heard two weeks later


Why confidence was her number one benefit from stopping, and how alcohol was worsening her anxiety while she believed it was helping


The 90-second rule for processing difficult emotions without numbing, and the morning practice she's built over five years


Why building a life you don't want to escape from is still the deeper work at year five


And more on forgiveness, gratitude, and what five years of alcohol freedom actually sounds like...

Episode links: nakedmindpath.com

Related episodes:

Naked Life Story — Donna | NLS | EP 465 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-465-naked-life-story-donna

Why Does Drinking Alcohol Make Me Anxious? | Reader Question | EP 684 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-684-readers-question-why-does-drinking-alcohol-make-me-anxious/

The Cost of Fitting In | Alcohol Freedom Coaching | EP 785 - https://thisnakedmind.com/the-cost-of-fitting-in-alcohol-freedom-coaching-e785/

Follow on Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-naked-mind-podcast/id1287269357

Follow on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0UB06sNguPjVvgAYFBcR9I?si=b7568f24c21249ff

Ready to take the next step?

Visit https://learn.thisnakedmind.com/podcast-resources for free resources, programs, and more. Until next week, stay curious!