264. Stop Calling Yourself Weak: 7 Ways to Rethink Your Drinking264. Stop Calling Yourself Weak: 7 Ways to Rethink Your Drinking
The Alcohol ReThink Podcast
Patrick Fox challenges the belief that struggling with alcohol means someone is weak, and offers seven alternative ways to understand repeated drinking. He focuses on habits, skills, beliefs and responsibility, encouraging men to drop the self-blame and approach change more practically and compassionately.
36:41•6 Nov 2026
Stop Calling Yourself Weak: 7 Fresh Ways to Rethink Your Drinking
Episode Overview
- Shift from "I'm weak" to "I've learned a behaviour I want to change" to create something practical to work on.
- Treat sobriety as a skill that needs practice, support and time, rather than as a test of character.
- Question long-held beliefs about what alcohol does for you and examine the evidence for and against them.
- Stop relying purely on willpower and create concrete plans for triggers, urges and daily routines.
- Separate your actions from your identity so repeated drinking does not become proof that you are fundamentally broken.
“"Start seeing that there's behaviours that can be changed, there's skills to be learned, there's beliefs that can be questioned."”
Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey? This episode of The Alcohol ReThink Podcast zooms in on one stubborn belief that trips many men up: "I'm weak because I can't stop drinking." Men's life and sober coach Patrick Fox takes that phrase apart and offers seven different ways to look at drinking that don't involve beating yourself up.
Drawing from his own history with booze and from coaching conversations, Patrick talks about how drinking is often a deeply ingrained habit, strengthened over years of repetition and social conditioning.
Instead of labelling yourself as weak, he suggests reframing it as, "I've learned a behaviour that I now want to change." From there, he walks through ideas like seeing sobriety as a skill, questioning long-held beliefs about what alcohol "gives" you, and why relying on willpower alone usually ends in the familiar "fuck it" moment.
He also goes into tougher territory, like using alcohol to avoid feelings, unresolved family dynamics, and the fear of facing uncomfortable truths about work, relationships or parenting. Patrick is candid about his own past, including how his relationship with his dad shaped his view of himself and other men, and how coaching and therapy helped him stop running from those stories. Throughout, he keeps the tone grounded and practical, challenging shame while still calling for what he terms "radical responsibility".
As he puts it, "Start seeing that there's behaviours that can be changed, there's skills to be learned, there's beliefs that can be questioned." If you're tired of calling yourself weak and ready to look at your drinking with a bit more honesty and compassion, this one might be the nudge you need. What new story about yourself are you ready to write?
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