Quitting can feel harder than it should—because we’re not fighting logic, we’re working against an older, deeper system.
The Real Battle: Conscious vs. Subconscious
You wake up full of regret, determined to stop.
By evening, you’re pouring another drink. Not because you’re weak—because something deeper is running the show.
Our conscious mind wants to quit, but our subconscious is still wired to crave. And it’s faster, more reactive, and more emotionally charged than logic will ever be.
That’s why quitting often feels like a split-screen experience:
One part of us wants out. The other part is already reaching for a glass.
Our subconscious makes decisions for us. It runs on autopilot—and it needs to be reprogrammed.
Two systems are running the show. One makes conscious decisions. The other repeats what it’s learned.
The Two Minds Explained
The Conscious Mind
This is the part we’re aware of—the part that reads books, makes decisions, sets goals. It’s rational, deliberate, and slow.
The Subconscious Mind
This part runs 90–95% of our daily behavior. It stores habits, beliefs, emotions, and learned patterns. It reacts quickly, effortlessly—and without our permission.
This is why we keep drinking even when we don’t want to.
Because our subconscious still believes alcohol helps. And unless we change that belief, the craving will always return.
Why We Crave Without Choosing To
Our subconscious uses what I like to call Default Thought Processes (DTPs)—shortcuts our brain builds over time to save effort.
If you’ve been using alcohol to unwind, cope, socialize, or reward yourself for years, your brain has formed neural shortcuts:
- “Tough day—grab a drink.”
- “Dinner out? Time for wine.”
- “Feeling tense? Just one beer will help.”
We don’t consciously invent these thoughts.
They appear automatically. Like blinking.
They’ve been reinforced by repetition—through action, emotion, and reward.
And unless we update those loops, our brain will keep replaying them, even if we’ve intellectually decided to quit.
Cravings don’t disappear through resistance. They fade when we build something stronger in their place.
Rewiring: How Change Actually Happens
The brain can’t hold dozens of thoughts at once. When stress or discomfort shows up, the subconscious steps in—fast.
- You feel tight in the chest.
- You’re irritated after a hard day.
- You walk into a room that “used to mean” drinking.
And bam—your subconscious fires off the old track:
“Alcohol will fix this.”
It doesn’t ask permission. It just does what it’s been trained to do.
This is why willpower feels so exhausting.
It’s not that we can’t resist—it’s that we’re resisting the most well-practiced pathway in our brain.
The only real solution?
Build a better pathway—one that feels just as automatic, but points us in a different direction.
Intentional Thought Processes: Building New Loops
We can rewire these thought loops using Intentional Thought Processes (ITPs)—conscious, repeated reframes that teach the brain a new way to respond.
It’s like software. Your current operating system might default to:
“Drinking helps me relax.”
But with enough repetition, you can install a new loop:
“I can relax in ways that actually support me.”
At first, the new loop feels weak. It doesn’t override the craving right away. But each time you repeat it—and live it—you strengthen it.
So what does this actually look like in the moment?
Because it’s one thing to understand rewiring in theory—but change happens when we catch the loop in real time and choose something new.
Catching the Thought in Real Time
You walk in the door after work. You’re tired. It’s quiet. Your brain whispers:
“This is the moment. One drink will help you reset.”
Pause. Breathe. And think:
“No—it’s not the drink I want. It’s relief. I can get that in better ways.”
Maybe that means stepping outside for air. Putting on music. Shaking out your shoulders.
Whatever it is—you’ve just interrupted the loop.
That’s how rewiring starts:
Not in massive moments. But in small, repeated choices that slowly become your new identity.
This is how change sticks—by literally reshaping the brain.
Neuroplasticity: The Science Behind the Shift
Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to rewire itself based on experience.
When you think a new thought, take a new action, or feel a new emotion—your brain lays down a new connection.
Repeat that enough, and it becomes a dominant pathway.
Right now, your craving pathway might be wide, fast, and strong—like a freeway.
Your new belief? It’s a dirt trail.
But every time you take that trail, it gets clearer, faster, more familiar.
And eventually? The old craving road starts to fade.
How Alcohol Tricks the Subconscious
Alcohol doesn’t just affect the body—it creates false mental associations that our subconscious clings to.
Here’s how:
1. Withdrawal Relief Masquerades as Relaxation
You drink. Your withdrawal symptoms ease. Your brain thinks the drink “relaxed” you—when really, it just reset a deficit alcohol created.
2. Social Cues are Reinforced with Alcohol
You’re laughing with friends, music playing, the vibe’s good—and you’re holding a drink. Your brain links alcohol with connection and ease.
But the joy didn’t come from the alcohol. It came from the people, the energy, the freedom.
Alcohol just happened to be there.
3. Emotional Numbing becomes Reinforced as “Coping”
You drink to soften grief, boredom, or anxiety. The emotion fades—temporarily.
But your brain records: “This worked.”
And so it tells you to do it again next time. Even though you know it made things worse long-term.
The subconscious can’t tell the difference between short-term relief and long-term harm.
It only remembers what felt good in the moment.
Interrupting the Pattern in Real Time
Here’s how it tends to show up.
You feel anxious before a social event.
You used to drink to feel confident.
Tonight, you want to stay sober.
Your brain will almost certainly whisper the old solution:
“Just one. It’ll help take the edge off.”
Here’s where you catch it. Not with shame. Not with a lecture. But with awareness.
- “My brain thinks this is helping. But that’s an old loop.”
- “What I actually want is to feel calm and connected.”
- “Alcohol won’t give me that. But this breath, this intention, this presence—might.”
Every time you respond this way, your brain rewires.
Not all at once. But faster than you think.
What Change Feels Like
At first, it feels mechanical. Forced. Like you’re trying too hard.
Then it starts to feel possible.
Eventually, it starts to feel automatic. Like this version of you—the one who doesn’t drink—was there all along. You just had to unlearn the noise.
That’s when you know the subconscious has caught up.
That’s when it gets easy—not because you became stronger, but because the desire is gone.
This isn’t about self-control—it’s about self-recoding.
Final Thoughts
We don’t keep drinking because we’re broken.
We keep drinking because our subconscious thinks it’s helping.
But it’s running old code—built on repetition, not truth.
When we stop trying to fight the craving and start rewriting the pattern, everything shifts:
- Cravings lose power
- Triggers dissolve
- Alcohol stops being a “thing” you think about
That’s not white-knuckling. That’s freedom.
And it starts the moment you stop asking, “How do I resist?”
And start asking, “How do I retrain my mind?”
One new thought at a time.
One pause at a time.
One belief rewired—until it sticks.
— Brent