I hope you've managed to get through the day without picking up a drink. I have, and for that I am grateful.

It's been a funny old week, filled with challenges and doubts, but also some moments of gratitude and mindfulness. I woke up this morning with a headache, so instead of jumping straight onto the computer as I usually do, I sat on the sofa and listened to the sound of the birdsong outside whilst enjoying the stillness of the house. It was a real moment, you know? As I sat there, I enjoyed the taste of my coffee and the feel of my warm clothes and just being. I would like to practice more mindfulness and mediation, because I know that it works for me.

Co-Active Coaching and Guiding Principles

I've been working with a business coach to grow into my own recovery coaching business and he assigned Co-Active Coaching* to me a couple of weeks ago. I finished it today. It has really shown me that coaching is something that I really want to do and I think I will be good at it. It's a strange feeling for this recovering alcoholic, with such low self esteem and impostor syndrome, to be thinking about a new business venture with such excitement, but that's exactly how I'm feeling right now: excited!

The journey began when I discovered August Bradley on YouTube. He got me thinking about what my guiding principles might be. I'd never really heard of guiding principles before and had no clue what mine might be. It only came to me when I stopped thinking about it, and that happened when I was reading the introduction to my business coach's book, The Unfair Advantage*.

My guiding principles are:

1. Being a good father
2. Being a good husband
3. Being sober.

It's interesting, as I often hear recovering alcoholics talking about how sobriety should come before everything, because without it, there may be no children or partner to put in the list at all. But sobriety makes me want to be a good father and a good husband, just as being a good father and a good husband make me want to stay sober. It's a bit of a feedback loop and in that sense it really doesn't make a difference in what order they go. Being a good father makes me feel good and feeds my recovery; so does being kind and loving towards my wife. And an increased sense of serenity and sobriety feeds into my loving demeanour and carries over into all areas of my life.

I always remember my sponsor's sharing that he considered the act of making a cup of tea for his wife as being a spiritual act. I totally get that now and it's that point of view that I'm thinking about in my guiding principles.

This Week's Video

I tried something a little different this week, going for a reaction video and on a trending topic. I'd be interested to hear how you think it fits in my my channel's vibe.

If you found this helpful, I would be very grateful if you would forward it to a friend that you think could use a bit of recovery and serenity in their lives. The nicest thing you could do for me would be to subscribe to my YouTube channel and hit the 'like' button on my video. The YouTube algorithm rewards engagement and I would love to grow my channel to help as many people as I can.

Thank you!

* Links to Amazon are affiliate links, for which I get a small commission. There is no cost to you for using them and every purchase made after clicking on one of the links goes towards supporting my channel. 🙏🏻