The AFAF Shift: Unearthing My Past to Build a SELF-led Future: Episode 2: The Boy on Shelley Road: A Tale of Two Selves

Sunday never looks like a problem. Football. Pub. Pints. Laughing with your mates. It feels like tribe. It feels like belonging. It feels earned. And that’s why you never question it. In this episode, we explore the quiet split that happens on Sundays — between camaraderie and commitment, between identity and intimacy. Inside this episode: • Why Sunday drinking feels sacred, not excessive • The hidden tension between tribe, marriage, and livelihood • What actually shifts at home after 6pm • Why erosion is more dangerous than chaos • The uncomfortable question about leaving the pub early This isn’t about shame. It’s about architecture. Sunday rarely blows up your life. It just slowly rearranges it. Pause for a moment: If alcohol disappeared from Sunday… Who would still show up? And what would that say? If this felt familiar, the deeper work lives at The STRIVE Method.  No urgency. Just somewhere to put the moment down. If this episode helped you feel recognised, please rate the show on Spotify or Apple. It helps this reach the men who quietly know something isn’t adding up. #1000DaysSoberPodcast #LeeDavy #STRIVE #TheTruthAboutAlcohol #SundayDrinking #AlcoholAndMarriage #HighFunctioningMen #Fatherhood #AlcoholAwareness #DrinkingHabits #EmotionalPresence  

You don’t say, “Let’s get smashed.” You say, “I’ll just have one.” And that’s where the line moves. In this episode, we look at the quiet negotiation that happens before the first drink — and why “just one” often isn’t discipline… it’s camouflage. If you constantly promise yourself you’ll stop at one and don’t, this isn’t about willpower. It’s about a collapsed gap between stimulus and response. Inside this episode: • Why “just one” is often bargaining, not control • What actually happens in the nervous system after the first drink • How the second glass exposes the line that already moved • Why children hear more than your words when you promise “just one” • The integrity erosion that happens quietly over time This isn’t moralising. It’s architecture. If you were truly in control, you wouldn’t need to negotiate with yourself. Pause for a moment: When you say “just one”… Do you mean it? Or do you hope it? If this felt familiar, the deeper work lives at the STRIVE Method. No urgency. Just somewhere to put the moment down. If this episode helped you feel seen, please take 30 seconds to rate the show on Spotify or Apple. It makes a significant difference to how many people this reaches. #1000DaysSoberPodcast #LeeDavy #STRIVE #TheTruthAboutAlcohol #AlcoholAwareness #AlcoholFreeCurious #DrinkingHabits #HighFunctioning #AlcoholAndFatherhood #StopDrinking #AlcoholTruth

Six o’clock. Nothing dramatic happened today. No crisis. No disaster. And yet… your chest feels tight when you pull into the driveway. In this episode, we explore the 6pm shift — that invisible transition between performance and presence — and why alcohol can start to feel less like a drink and more like permission to drop the weight. This is not about willpower. It’s about nervous system decompression. It’s about identity coming off too fast. It’s about the quiet wiring that turns relief into ritual. Inside this episode: Why the end of the workday creates a hidden stress cliff The difference between reward and collapse Why alcohol becomes the “rope” at the edge of 6pm How your state — not your intention — shapes the atmosphere at home The lie beneath “I’ve earned this” If the evening spiral feels familiar, this episode explains why. If this named something precise for you, the deeper work lives here. And if you haven’t yet — a calm rating on Spotify or Apple helps this reach the next person hovering outside their own front door. #1000DaysSoberPodcast, #LeeDavy, #STRIVE, #AlcoholAwareness, #AlcoholTruth, #SoberCurious, #HighFunctioning, #EveningDrinking, #AfterWorkDrinks, #AlcoholHabits, #FatherhoodAndAlcohol, #NervousSystemRegulation, #QuitDrinkingSupport

When your child criticises you, it doesn’t just feel annoying. It feels threatening.   In this episode, we explore why criticism from your son or daughter can trigger anger that feels instant, justified, and uncontrollable — and why the drink afterwards can feel like relief rather than indulgence.   This isn’t about being a bad parent. It’s about understanding what’s actually happening inside your nervous system.   Inside this episode:   • Why criticism from your child hits deeper than criticism from colleagues or strangers • The microscopic space between stimulus and response — and how to actually find it • How fatherhood identity gets threatened in seconds • Why the silence after conflict is often more dangerous than the argument itself • The “After the Argument Loop” and how alcohol quietly becomes emotional anaesthetic • How to widen the gap before anger decides for you   If you’ve ever snapped, justified it, then sat alone replaying the argument in your head — this episode is for you.   If this felt familiar, the deeper work lives here.   And if this episode resonated, please rate the show on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. It helps more men find these conversations.   Much Love & STRIVE On! Lee.

Why Friday Night Drinking Feels Earned    It’s Friday afternoon. The emails slow down. The meetings thin out. People start saying, “Have a good weekend.”   And something changes. Not in the room. In you.   All week you’ve been bracing. Holding it together. Performing. Tolerating.   By Friday, your nervous system is ready to drop.   And alcohol starts to look less like pleasure… and more like permission.   In this episode, we explore why Friday drinking doesn’t actually start on Friday — it starts on Monday morning when you tighten up and tell yourself to just get through the week.   We look at how effort quietly accumulates, how Friday becomes the release valve, and why collapse feels like reward — even though it isn’t restoration.   There’s nothing dramatic about it. It’s predictable. Week. Build. Release. Repeat.   If Friday night is your only relief point, then Sunday carries tension and Monday begins slightly depleted. The loop continues.   This episode names the moment just before you leave work… or just before you walk through your front door. That drop. That exhale. That shift from holding it together to “I’m done.”   If this moment feels familiar, there’s a short guided After-Work Reset designed specifically for that transition — so effort can end without collapsing into numbing.   You can explore it here.    #TheTruthAboutAlcohol, #FridayDrinking, #AlcoholAwareness, #AlcoholHabits, #WorkToHomeTransition, #AfterWorkDrinks, #SoberCurious, #AlcoholAndStress, #WeekendDrinking, #AlcoholPattern, #NervousSystemRegulation, #STRIVE, #LeeDavy

Why the Drive Home Is the Most Dangerous Part of Your Drinking Day You finish work. Not a bad day. Not a great day. Just a day. This episode explores why the journey home can quietly become the highest-risk moment of the day for drinking — even when nothing has gone wrong. It looks at what actually happens in your body when work ends but your nervous system hasn’t landed yet, and why alcohol starts to feel less like a choice and more like relief. Why the drive home creates a hidden gap between work and family life How effort and self-control quietly collapse at the end of the day Why “I deserve this” is about ending effort, not reward How alcohol becomes associated with switching the day off Why this moment keeps repeating at the same time, in the same way If the work-to-home transition is where things often start to slip, there are resources designed specifically around that moment — not to fix you, but to reduce how often it takes over. #1000DaysSoberPodcast #LeeDavy #STRIVE #alcohol #drinkinghabits #endofdaydrinking #worktohometransition #alcoholandstress #alcoholandexhaustion #whyquittingalcoholfeelshard #alcoholrelief #sobercurious #nervoussystem #alcoholawareness

Why Alcohol Feels Like Relief When You’re Already Empty It’s late afternoon. Nothing’s gone wrong. You’re not stressed — you’re just empty. This episode explores a quiet moment that often shows up at the end of the day. On the drive home. Standing in the kitchen. When alcohol stops feeling like pleasure and starts feeling like relief. Not relief because you want more. Relief because your body has reached its limit. We look at why willpower collapses here, why “I deserve this” isn’t about reward at all, and why exhaustion trains the nervous system to reach for the fastest off-switch it knows. There’s no fixing in this episode. No advice. Just a slower explanation of what’s actually happening when nothing feels wrong — but you can’t keep going like this. If this moment feels familiar, you’re not broken. Your system is depleted. If you want a place to put moments like this down, there’s a private space designed to hold them quietly. And if you want to explore this pattern more deeply, there are resources built around the work-to-home transition — not to fix you, but to reduce how often this moment takes over. You can also reach out directly at [email protected] Alcohol often isn’t about reward. It’s about relief that never got replaced. This is The Truth About Alcohol. Much Love & STRIVE On! Lee. #alcohol #drinkinghabits #endofdaydrinking #worktohometransition #alcoholandstress #alcoholandexhaustion #whyquittingalcoholfeelshard #alcoholrelief #sobercurious #alcoholawareness #nervoussystem

Why Sitting in the Car Feels Safer Than Going Inside You’ve finished work. You’ve driven home. You’ve pulled up outside your house. And instead of getting out, you just sit there. Engine off. Key still in your hand. Not because anything’s wrong — but because something in you isn’t ready to go inside yet. This episode explores a moment many men recognise but rarely talk about: sitting in the car outside the house because it’s the only place no one is asking you to be anything. In this episode, we explore: Why work can feel easier than home — even when you love your family What’s really happening when home starts to feel exposing instead of relaxing How boredom, depletion, and quiet self-doubt build under the surface Why alcohol so often shows up here — not for pleasure, but for fast relief The unspoken resentment that grows when there’s no space to land between roles This isn’t about not wanting your life. It’s about never being given space to arrive inside it. If this moment feels familiar, there’s a short After-Work Reset designed specifically for this transition — not to fix you or change you, but to help you arrive home before you walk through the door. You can explore it at STRIVE.  And if you don’t want to do anything with this yet, that’s fine. Sometimes just naming the moment is enough for today. You can also reach out directly at [email protected]. #TheTruthAboutAlcohol #1000DaysSoberPodcast #LeeDavy #STRIVE #AlcoholAwareness #AfterWorkDrinking #MenAndAlcohol #DrinkingHabits #EmotionalExhaustion #AlcoholFreeLife #QuestioningAlcohol

Why Friday Feels Wrong When You Stop Drinking Friday used to come with a promise. Not just that the week was ending — but that something would finally switch off. This episode looks at why Friday afternoons can feel strangely uncomfortable when you’ve decided not to drink. The anticipation is still there. The excitement still flickers. But the thing that used to end the week, quiet your system, and make Friday “work” is gone. Instead of relief, there’s a gap. And that gap can feel confusing, lonely, and louder than any weekday. This isn’t about willpower. It’s about what alcohol was really doing for your nervous system — and why Friday exposes that more than any other day. Why Friday afternoon triggers anticipation before anything has happened Why stopping drinking can make Fridays feel harder, not easier How alcohol became the signal that the week was finally over Why this feeling keeps coming back — and what it’s actually asking for If this Friday feeling is familiar, you don’t need to fix it or push through it. Just noticing when it starts — often earlier than you think — is already a shift. And if you want a place to put this moment down, rather than battling it every week, the deeper work lives at STRIVE.  #1000DaysSoberPodcast, #TheTruthAboutAlcohol, #STRIVE, #AlcoholAwareness, #QuitDrinking, #SoberCurious, #FridayTriggers, #AlcoholAndMentalHealth, #LivingAlcoholFree

When You’re Doing Everything Right and Still Feel On Edge You’re doing everything right. You’ve read the books. You’ve had the conversations. You’ve apologised, repaired, and reflected. And somehow, you still feel on edge. This episode explores the quiet, confusing place where insight hasn’t brought ease yet — where you can understand your patterns, care deeply, and still feel tense, irritable, and close to the edge. Not because you’re failing, but because effort alone isn’t creating safety. Why self-awareness doesn’t automatically settle your nervous system How alcohol sneaks in when effort collapses, not when you “don’t care” Why doing everything right can still end in relapse, conflict, or self-blame The hidden pattern behind being fine in public and falling apart alone If this episode felt familiar and you don’t want to rush to fix it, the deeper work lives in STRIVE  #1000DaysSoberPodcast, #LeeDavy, #STRIVE, #TheTruthAboutAlcohol, #AlcoholAwareness, #AlcoholFreeLife, #SoberCurious, #QuitDrinking, #NervousSystemRegulation, #EmotionalSafety, #HighFunctioning, #InnerWork, #SelfLeadership