The Addiction to AlmostThe Addiction to Almost
Tribe Sober - inspiring an alcohol free life!
Lynette Le Roux talks about the "addiction to almost", where people endlessly prepare to change their drinking but struggle to act. She contrasts information with practice and suggests simple, consistent actions and community support as a more realistic path to lasting sobriety.
35:17•31 Oct 2026
The Addiction to Almost: Why Preparing to Change Isn’t the Same as Changing
Episode Overview
- Preparing to change can become its own addictive pattern, keeping people "almost" sober but not fully committed.
- Knowledge about alcohol, trauma and the brain is helpful, but only repeated daily practice creates new habits.
- Binary thinking (success or failure, on or off the programme) increases shame and makes slips feel like total collapse.
- Sobriety, emotional awareness and self-care work best when treated as ongoing ways of living rather than destinations.
- Connection, accountability and simple daily actions – like a walk, a nourishing meal or a phone call – can support more sustainable change.
“Perhaps the question isn't, what else do I need to know? Perhaps it is, what do I already know that I am willing to begin living today?”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This episode of Tribe Sober focuses on a sneaky habit many people in recovery recognise: getting hooked on preparation instead of actual change. Head coach Lynette Le Roux talks candidly about what she calls "the addiction to almost" – that cycle of being almost sober, almost ready, almost healed. She describes the rush of deciding to change: "You download an app, you buy a beautiful journal...
and suddenly you feel better. There's hope, excitement, possibility." But then Thursday rolls around, it's been a tough day, and the old thought appears: "Just one glass." Sound familiar? Across nine years of sobriety, Lynette admits she still spots this pattern in herself, whether it's hunting for the next nutrition expert or trying yet another supplement.
She contrasts learning and doing in a way that hits home: "Information gives us something to understand, practice gives us something to experience." For anyone who has read all the books on alcohol, trauma and dopamine yet still pours a drink at 5pm, that distinction may feel uncomfortably accurate. You’ll hear her reflect on binary thinking – being either "on the programme or off the programme", "doing well or failing" – and how that mindset keeps people stuck.
Instead, she suggests seeing sobriety, self-care and emotional awareness as ongoing ways of living, not one-time projects with a finish line. Lynette weaves in stories of chasing extraordinary experiences, from dolphins to plant medicines, and realising they didn’t change her drinking. What did was repeatedly making small, ordinary choices, supported by connection, accountability and community. Her closing invitation is simple but powerful: "Perhaps the question isn't, what else do I need to know?
Perhaps it is, what do I already know that I am willing to begin living today?" If you’re tired of planning your sober life more than actually living it, this conversation might be the nudge you need to take one small step today.
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