“The Last How To Quit Drinking Resource You’ll Ever Need”
Phew, I finally did it! For the last year I have wanted to redo my website but I never was able to move it up my todo list high enough to get it done, but about 6 weeks ago I made up my mind.
I built up enough pain and frustration around my website that I knew I had to make a change. So I set a deadline, built in some accountability and followed through. Something I still wasn’t sure would work, but I knew I had to try.
Be sure to scroll down if you want to see some screen shots of my previous iterations of The Sobriety Solution website.
I wanted to share a bit of this story because there are so many parallels with this that can be made to quitting drinking.
Think about it. When are most people successful at making a big change or overcoming a hurdle in their life? When they reach that “enough is enough” state of mind.
And that is how I felt about my website. I reached that threshold where it was MORE painful to not make a change then it was to make a change. I had been given way a ton of feedback on my website from people I trusted that I couldn’t implement because my existing site wouldn’t support it.
So once I reached that threshold I said ok, now I need to setup accountability so I would follow through. Generally I do almost all the techical work on my sites myself, but I had a developer that I trusted so I decided to hire him to move my new website from development into production. I set a date with him to do this WAY before my site was ready, knowing it would push me to complete it.
That was just one of many things I did. What is interesting is I didn’t quite realize how much my old site was holding me back until after I updated it.
Because of my old site…
- I didn’t want to update my blog.
- I didn’t want to make any changes, no matter how minor.
- I didn’t want to share my website address with others.
The bottom line is I just didn’t want to have to think about it. Psychologically it became a HUGE road block for me, one that was really holding me back.
Quit Drinking Road Blocks
What road blocks do you have in your life?
Take an honest look. Maybe it is your job, family, health or where you live. Are there things in your life that upset you so much that the thought of them make you want to run to the bottle for a drink? What keeps you up at night?
Remember, improvements happen over time. Allow yourself to be mediocre, heck even suck, for a bit. You will improve, as long as you are taking steps in the right direction.
Once again I look at my website. My website was HORRIBLE when I first launched it. Ok, that might be an exagerration, but thinking back that is how it feels to me. BUT it was step in the right direction. It moved me closer to my goal.
I knew that I could only stand having a website I wasn’t crazy about on the internet for everyone to see for so long before I did something about it. So within 5 months I had launched my updated site, a dramatic improvement.
Then about a year ago someone mentioned that it looked like I had a “halo” around my head (see photo below). I was like, you are right! It really bothered me as I realized it was portraying an image that I didn’t want to portray.
Then numerous people told me I had to get rid of the reverse text – the blue background with white letters.
Between these two things, using a custom template that didn’t offer me flexibility and then some of my cleanup efforts causing me more problems I became very disenchanted with my website.
The History of The Sobriety Solution Website
Let’s take a quick look at the history of the site, or more specifically the headers I was using. I unfortunately don’t have a screenshot of the homepage of version 1.0, but I do have the header.
Here is The Sobriety Solution 1.0 header. And it wasn’t that it was bad, it was just that it didn’t feel like “me”. And because I was so green at building websites there was so much that didn’t work well on the site.
Then I made a substancial investment to roll out version 2.0. I spent over 2,000 dollars and tons of hours. At first it paid off as I loved it. This was at least until I got the feedback I mentioned earlier about my “halo” 
.
But I did love the logo I commissioned to get done, which is why I kept it, and I loved the photo too. The tagline was good, but wasn’t catchy enough from all the feedback I got which is why I changed it. But really the biggest problem was the website was using a custom template that offered very little flexibility.
If there is one thing you need on a website it is flexibility. And once again you can make a parallel to how to quit drinking. You have to be flexible in your approach because what works for one person might not work for you.
So here it is – The Sobriety Solution 3.0. The blogs are so much nicer and easier to read and I like the header more too – just cleaner. Is there room for improvement? Of course! But for me it is all about taking steps in the right direction. And now I actually can make changes, pretty easily, which makes me very happy!
And as you can imagine there are lots of stuff on my to do list, but here are at least some things you can definitely expect.
- I will be updating my blog MUCH more often.
- I will doing more interviews with people that have recovered.
- I will be adding some cool new features and tools (you will get emails on them).
Take a look around and let me know what you think. You can put a comment below, or go to the About page and fill out the form. Also if you have any articles you want to see written just let me know.
Last, I was excited to finally post my mission and vision for the site, which you can read here – The Sobriety Solution Mission and Vision.
Your Sobriety Coach, Dave Andrews
