How To Live At A Higher StandardHow To Live At A Higher Standard
I Love Being Sober
Host Tim Westbrook and guest Michael Bernoff talk about quitting alcohol, the power of language, and how raising your personal standard supports recovery. The conversation blends humour, live audience questions and practical mindset tools for anyone wanting to live sober at a higher level.
1:12:11•23 Jun 2026
Raising Your Standard: Language, Identity and Loving Sobriety
Episode Overview
- Words matter: swapping labels like “addict” for phrases such as “living differently” can reduce emotional triggers and open up new behaviour.
- Treat recovery as a path rather than a set of rules; people resist rules but can follow a clear, proven way of living.
- Your “average” comes from the script you repeat about yourself; changing phrases like “I’m trying” to “I’m in the process” raises your standard.
- Confidence grows when you give yourself evidence of success, celebrate small wins with “Of course I did,” and stop waiting for external validation.
- The last 30 minutes before sleep strongly affect your mind; using that time for calm reflection or reading instead of doom-scrolling supports sobriety.
“Recovery is the most beautiful thing in the world… one of the most beautiful things that you can ever do is realise, man, I'm building a relationship with myself.”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This conversation between host Tim Westbrook and repeat guest Michael Bernoff leans hard into that question, with a packed live audience adding extra energy. Michael, author of *Average Sucks* and founder of the Human Communications Institute, talks about being alcohol-free since New Year’s Eve 2016.
He explains that he didn’t quit after a dramatic rock bottom, but because he realised alcohol “served no purpose” and he refused to be “the guy that screws anyone else’s life up.” His angle is clear: language, identity and the standards you set for yourself will either keep you stuck or pull you forward. You’ll hear Michael challenge common recovery language.
He questions constantly calling yourself an “addict” and prefers phrases like “learning to live differently,” because words like addict drag the brain back toward the problem. He also reframes old slogans such as “just don’t drink” and “one day at a time” as a *path* rather than a set of rules, because most people resist rules but can follow a proven path. The episode spends plenty of time on practical mindset tools.
Michael explains how your “average” is simply the script you repeat to yourself, day in, day out, and how upgrading that script changes your life. He offers simple shifts like replacing “I’m trying” with “I’m in the process,” and answering early wins with “Of course you did,” to build genuine confidence.
He also stresses the power of what you think about just before sleep, and why recovery is really about building “a relationship with yourself.” For anyone in recovery or supporting someone who is, this is a punchy, funny, and very human look at raising your standard for how you live, one honest sentence at a time. What script are you ready to change next?
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