What if change doesn’t start with a dramatic rock bottom or a grand decision, but with the tiniest flickers of awareness? In this reflective episode, Anna Donaghey shines a light on those often-overlooked “tiny clarity moments”, the split seconds when you see your drinking, and your habits, with fresh honesty.

Anna shares personal stories and insights from her work as an alcohol mindset coach, exploring how real transformation rarely starts with ultimatums or huge declarations. Instead, it begins with small, honest realisations. Noticing when a drink isn’t actually enjoyable, seeing the mismatch between the promise and reality of alcohol, or catching yourself pouring a glass before you've even decided if you want it.

This episode is for anyone who’s wondered even briefly about their drinking. If you’ve been waiting for a dramatic sign or a clear plan, this is your permission to start smaller. Sometimes all it takes is noticing what’s already there.

Here are the Highlights:

00:00 Welcome back to The Big Drink Rethink

00:40 What are “Tiny Clarity Moments”?

01:38 Why big changes often start with small, quiet recognitions

02:16 How overlooked thoughts are actually the seeds of awareness

03:12 Examples from Anna’s own journey

04:27 Catching the gap between self-stories and reality

05:17 Let moments percolate, don’t force change

07:12 Understanding your drinking triggers

10:06 Why you don’t need rules, labels, or willpower

11:19 The discomfort of awareness

12:07 Prompts to gently explore your own tiny clarity moments

13:35 Introducing the Thirsty Ffor More Mindset Lab

14:32 Let small things be noticed, because that’s where change begins.

Anna’s book "What Are You Thirsty For? Rethinking Alcohol and The Life You Want", is now out in the world for you to buy!

Order your copy, access her free tools and explore her coaching programmes at: https://thebigdrinkrethink.com/

The Thirsty For More Mindset Lab is Anna’s ‘inner circle’ - a calm, thoughtful space where conversations continue, patterns are explored, and things begin to make sense. Find out more at: https://thirstyformore.substack.com/

If you appreciate the podcast and would like to show a bit of love, you can donate the cost of a coffee here. It helps support the time and care that goes into making the show: https://buymeacoffee.com/bigdrinkrethink

About the host Anna:

Anna is a certified Alcohol Mindset Coach, trained by Annie Grace of This Naked Mind. Drawing on her own journey out of alcohol addiction, she now helps others explore and control their drinking. With a career spanning 25 years as a Strategist in the Advertising industry, she combines her own lived experiences, with great insight into what makes us tick and what influences us to behave the way we do.

Connect with Anna:

Website: thebigdrinkrethink.com

LinkedIn:

Is it possible that drinking isn’t really the problem or at least, not the whole story? In this episode, Anna asks you to rethink your relationship with alcohol by shifting the focus away from simply how much or how often you drink, to what deeper needs might be driving the habit in the first place.

Anna explores why we treat alcohol as the main issue, and how it’s often just the “smoke, not the fire.” Instead of fixating on willpower or self-control, she dives into the real desires beneath drinking: rest, relief, connection, pleasure, escape.

You'll learn how putting alcohol in context, and being gently curious about your own needs rather than harshly judging yourself can open up new possibilities for change.

Here are the Highlights:

00:00 Welcome to The Big Drink Rethink

01:13 What if drinking isn’t actually the issue?

01:41 Drinking is often the visible symptom, not the deeper cause

02:18 Ask: “What am I actually thirsty for?”

02:53 Meeting your real needs weakens drinking’s grip

03:39 Alcohol shows up inside busy, pressured, complex lives

04:03 What role has alcohol been playing for you?

04:15 Reframing drinking as a response, not a moral failing

04:46 Calm, informed choices are possible when alcohol is explained

05:11 A new question: “What would actually support me here?”

06:01 Shifting from control to care, from shame to curiosity

06:38 Change happens gradually, not with a dramatic declaration

06:57 If something feels off, you don’t need to have a plan yet

07:36 Staying curious, not judgmental

08:21 Your feedback drives future episodes!

Anna’s book "What Are You Thirsty For? Rethinking Alcohol and The Life You Want", is now out in the world for you to buy!

Order your copy, access her free tools and explore her coaching programmes at: https://thebigdrinkrethink.com/

The Thirsty For More Mindset Lab is Anna’s ‘inner circle’ - a calm, thoughtful space where conversations continue, patterns are explored, and things begin to make sense. Find out more at: https://thirstyformore.substack.com/

If you appreciate the podcast and would like to show a bit of love, you can donate the cost of a coffee here. It helps support the time and care that goes into making the show: https://buymeacoffee.com/bigdrinkrethink

About the host Anna:

Anna is a certified Alcohol Mindset Coach, trained by Annie Grace of This Naked Mind. Drawing on her own journey out of alcohol addiction, she now helps others explore and control their drinking. With a career spanning 25 years as a Strategist in the Advertising industry, she combines her own lived experiences, with great insight into what makes us tick and what influences us to behave the way we do.

Connect with Anna:

Website: thebigdrinkrethink.com

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annadonaghey

Instagram:

Have you ever wondered why even after a few alcohol-free weeks, life can feel flat or why it feels so hard to say “enough” in a world of endless overconsumption? In this transformative episode of The Big Drink Rethink, Anna Donaghey sits down with Dr. Anna Lembke, psychiatrist, author of Dopamine Nation, and Stanford Addiction Medicine Director, to explore how alcohol hijacks our reward system and what it really takes to rediscover joy and meaning, beyond the next drink.

Dr. Lembke explains why life can feel “meh” after quitting drinking and how the brain slowly recalibrates, making real satisfaction possible again. This episode is a gentle yet powerful guide for anyone seeking answers about our brain’s quest for ‘more’.

Here are the Highlights:

00:00 Looking at compulsive over consumption in a dopamine loaded world

05:52 ‘The drug of choice’ and dopamine

08:34 Modern life pushes a ‘hijacked brain’ to crave intense stimuli

10:53 Addiction shifts the brain's balance

14:41 After 4 weeks alcohol-free, 80% no longer had major depression.

18:28 Micro stressors like cold exposure boost feel-good neurotransmitters

21:12 Pleasure-pain balance drives homeostasis

25:46 Modern boredom and addiction

29:22 The lizard brain and modern pleasure

31:59 Many people associate alcohol with relaxation and happiness

36:38 Dopamine, exercise and brain ‘tricks’

44:03 True joy comes from connection, curiosity, and enoughness.

Anna’s book "What Are You Thirsty For? Rethinking Alcohol and The Life You Want", is now out in the world for you to buy!

Order your copy, access her free tools and explore her coaching programmes at: https://thebigdrinkrethink.com/

The Thirsty For More Mindset Lab is Anna’s ‘inner circle’ - a calm, thoughtful space where conversations continue, patterns are explored, and things begin to make sense. Find out more at: https://thirstyformore.substack.com/

If you appreciate the podcast and would like to show a bit of love, you can donate the cost of a coffee here. It helps support the time and care that goes into making the show: https://buymeacoffee.com/bigdrinkrethink

About the host Anna:

Anna is a certified Alcohol Mindset Coach, trained by Annie Grace of This Naked Mind. Drawing on her own journey out of alcohol addiction, she now helps others explore and control their drinking. With a career spanning 25 years as a Strategist in the Advertising industry, she combines her own lived experiences, with great insight into what makes us tick and what influences us to behave the way we do.

Connect with Anna:

Website: thebigdrinkrethink.com

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annadonaghey

Instagram: