FOUR MIND TRICKS TO GET YOU STARTED

THE key to success is that you don’t feel deprived. First, find a soft drink you enjoy — elderflower cordial and soda works for me. Next, choose your friends wisely this month. Avoid those who sulk if drinking alone. Never apologise for being ‘boring’ — you’re doing something positive.

IF YOU drink to escape an emotion — such as to feel less shy at a party — try the tapping technique. You tap parts of your body seven times, and the theory is it releases the energy associated with the emotion, and with it, the urge to drink.

SAYING ‘No thanks, I don’t want that’ is empowering and makes it twice as likely you’ll resist than if you say ‘I can’t have that’, which suggests you’re missing out on something desirable. For positive reinforcement, change your email password to something like ‘Nodrinks2day’. Or you can offer to drive — everyone is grateful, so no one nags.

USE this time as an opportunity to accomplish other things, be it an exercise goal (be specific — swim 20 lengths a day, for example) or immersing yourself in other non-drinkrelated pastimes (such as learning a language). If you weaken, remind yourself: ‘It will all still be there in 31 days.’