Episode 5: Challenge yourself to a life free of alcohol with Keith Williamson
See alcohol for what it truly is: poison! On this week’s Stackin' Days podcast Ray speaks to Keith Williamson, sober advocate and influencer. Keith speaks about the mindset shifts and lifestyle shifts that led to him cutting alcohol out of his life allowing him to be more present for the important family moments he really didn't want to miss out on.
Keith feels he didn't follow a traditional route to recovery but shares the tools and tricks that helped him.
Meet Keith Williamson
Keith Williamson was born and raised in a two-parent working-class family home. He was the youngest of four and grew up seeing his mother and two of his three siblings experiencing their own challenges with alcohol.
Keith started out smoking weed in his senior year of high school, as he was very shy and wanted to fit in with the “cool kids”. After he graduated, he stopped smoking and actually waited until he was 21 to start drinking. He visited local bars with his friends to experiment with different drinks and find his drink of choice. He found that wine tasted like shoe polish, liquor tasted like gasoline, and mixed drinks gave him a stomachache. He ended up falling in love with beer and it became his drink of choice. Once he found this drink of choice one might say “the rest is history”.
Keith's journey to sobriety
Keith had two stints with sobriety. The first time was about eight years ago and was motivated by his desire to get rid of his beer belly and get his six-pack back. He was doing great at first, but as time went by, he started to feel like he was depriving himself of a good time and something that would help him cope with the stresses of life. After four months of sobriety, he started drinking beer again.
A couple of years later, he met the woman who would become his wife. They had a brief courtship and welcomed a baby girl into the world in 2017. His wife knew he loved to drink beer but he kept the extent of his drinking secret. However, eventually, he realized that he had to make a change if he wanted to be the husband and father he had always dreamed of being.
Keith’s tools for sobriety
Keith decided to take a different approach to sobriety this time and did not attend any 12-step program. He educated himself on the harms alcohol really causes in the body. This was a huge realisation for Keith and he couldn’t believe he had been putting something so toxic in his body.
He also started challenging himself to find comfort in discomfort and to face his fears. He started by taking daily cold showers then started doing public speaking which was one of his fears. He also worked on his fears of heights and water.
Keith felt that with this new found purpose and mindset alcohol no longer fitted into his life.
Alcohol in pop culture
Keith speaks a lot about how alcohol is normalised all around us in pop culture. He mentions Jamie Foxx’s song “Blame it (on the alcohol)” and the country song “Ain't Nothin' That A Beer Can't Fix”.
Growing up watching wrestling Keith thought Stone Cold Steve Austin was so cool. He could always come into the ring and drink a can of beer and that made Keith want to do the same when he was older.
He also speaks about the superbowl and how so many people feel they need to drink to enjoy it. He says this isn’t true and really all you need is “the audacity to believe in yourself”.