Bonus - Obligatory Drinking

Hello You know those gatherings that fill you with a sense of dread days beforehand. You start asking yourself: Why do I have to go? Why do I need to spend my time with these people? Do I even like them? You can have these feelings about networking events and old friends. I'm changing a little now that I have a game plan, but I used to have these feelings about evening events, as I am an early morning person and I my system seems to get a little anxious after 4pm. I truly believe obligatory drinking is one style of drinking we can get rid of. Run through the cost / benefit scenario. If the only benefit of drinking is for you to "endure and get through", then it just doesn't seem worth it does it? We need to put ourselves first. Get back to your game plan. What are your goals of going? Time limit? Play it forward/Duck mode. Reflect on whether this is worth your time going forward or can you arrange different means of connecting with this group in the future. I needed to change my perspective. They are lucky to have me there. Not the other way around! This sounds brutal but I called time on some regular dinners with old friends that I was just not enjoying any more. I also called time on Friday night wines at one of my local friend's houses that always ended in a dance-floor being rolled out. I also got very selective about dinner dates - early bookings for me... But I replaced them with other things - so win/win. Do you have obligatory gatherings that you need a reset? Any coming up? Can you relate to this form of drinking? Kind regards Isabella