Self Control (Episode 2 - Archive)Self Control (Episode 2 - Archive)
Relational Recovery
Wes Thompson and Austin Hill talk about self-control in recovery by looking at how beliefs and behaviours either clash or match. They discuss anxiety, hypocrisy, and practical ways to bring actions in line with personal values.
5:57•28 Apr 2026
Self-Control, Beliefs, and Calling Out Our Own Hypocrisy
Episode Overview
- Focus less on controlling others or the future and more on controlling yourself in the present moment.
- Notice when your thoughts drift toward actions you don't want, and pause to ask what you truly believe about that choice.
- Sort your impulses into moral, immoral, or amoral to clarify how you actually view them.
- Align your behaviour with your stated beliefs; repeated mismatch suggests your real belief may differ from what you say.
- Tension, shame, and frustration often signal a gap between your deeply held values and your daily actions.
“"People's behaviors mimic some belief, some worldview."”
What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol? This conversation on the Relational Recovery podcast zooms in on a surprisingly simple but tough answer: self-control that starts with what you actually believe. Host Wes Thompson and co-host Austin Hill talk through how easy it is to obsess over things you can't control – other people, the future, worst-case scenarios – while ignoring the one thing you can: yourself.
They point out how this kind of future-focused worry often ramps up anxiety, which can then push people towards poor decisions, including relapse.
Wes shares a practical mental habit he's been using: when he notices his thoughts drifting towards actions he doesn't want to take, he stops and asks, "What do I believe about that thing?" He breaks it down into three categories – moral, immoral, or amoral – and then looks at whether his behaviour actually lines up with that belief. The chat gets very real as they talk about hypocrisy in everyday life.
Wes describes how a mentor once challenged him by saying, "You obviously don't believe that," after noticing a gap between his words and actions. That moment, he says, was eye-opening, because "people's behaviours mimic some belief, some worldview." If your choices keep clashing with what you say you value, as Wes bluntly puts it, "you're full of crap" and that mismatch often fuels shame and frustration.
With simple examples like exercise and overeating, the episode makes a bigger point relevant to anyone in addiction recovery: self-control isn't just about willpower, it's about honestly naming what you believe and then choosing behaviour that matches. It's a straight-talking, faith-informed look at how beliefs, actions, and recovery fit together. If your words and your actions aren't on the same page right now, what might that be saying about what you truly believe?
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