Here’s what Miles Cook, author of Sobering Thoughts: One Man’s Journey to Sobriety, has to say about beating his addiction:
“Whilst searching for different methods of accountability online I came across coach.me. I’d been toying with the idea of Skype hypnosis and alcohol counseling. I couldn’t yet bring myself to admit my addiction to someone’s face, be it virtual or real. Coach.me offered different communities to join and track habits. Everyone else in the community can see your progress and give props to anyone they chose. The idea of tracking progress with anonymous accountability appealed. I joined the “no alcohol” group which seemed a busy community. My goal was set at being alcohol-free five days per week and I started checking in each day I didn’t drink.
There was an app version that I put on my phone and checking in each day became an important ceremony. I and others could see each day I met my target and how many days alcohol-free I was. People also posted and answered questions about alcohol. There were a lot of them, much more than any other goal I checked. There was the possibility to hire a virtual coach, but I preferred going at my own pace. The questions and answers helped me gauge how my habit measured up against others. Though it’s never apples to apples. I was still searching for the definitive answer if I was an alcoholic. It struck me how people with huge figures of alcohol-free days took time to give their wisdom and advice for free. These were people with multi-hundred-day streaks.
The same community members started giving me props each day I checked in and so I did likewise. It was a sort of small community within a community. It became an important act to check if those members had checked-in and give them props. It also became important I checked in to show my progress. I felt a small bond form with these completely anonymous community members. In a small way, I realized I’d become accountable to them and they to me. In doing so we helped each other like in a real-life community. I’d found a method of accountability I was comfortable with where I could set goals and track my progress. It was a big step.
By linking people in a virtual community coach.me created mutual symbiotic relationships. The beauty of this was everyone is anonymous. The ability to be anonymous is an immensely powerful motivator in this situation. No involved party has any motive except to help the other achieve their goal. Tracking goals and checking in shows your achievement. Supporting others and in the community helps the self-growth of the support giver. The mutual benefits of this cycle give its members a sense of belonging. They are not alone and see their progress and that of others on the same journey. But even though it was a valuable resource it wasn’t going to stop drinking for me. I still needed to get to that place in my head. The ultimate responsibility is individual.”
If you’d like to track your days of abstaining from alcohol, check out the coach.me habit tracker for free here.
In case you need an accountability coach to help you stay on track, make sure to go through our list of coaches.