Dry January: really good for you or your business?

In the last couple of years, a big trend is Dry January, not drinking any alcoholic beverages throughout the entire month of January. In January everyone starts with great plans and new fresh ideas, however making plans in in the beginning of the year is easy. Keeping up with them is something else. Dry January is a way, many believe, to balance out the bacchanals of December.

Equilibrium or delirium

The key word in this is balance.  Because opting to rigorously stopping to do certain things is not really keeping the equilibrium. If one month you’re popping bottles like no-one’s business and the other month you stick to H2O, then the answer is no. That’s not what balance is all about. Better yet, rethink your relationship with alcohol. Do you drink it often, also when alone, do you drink 3 glasses or more? Is the answer yes to most of these questions then Dry January is a good start. Not drinking at all, can help you reset and rethink your ways with alcohol. And a good start is just that, a way to change your behaviour. It’s said that if you do something for a period of 20 days or at least 5 times, then this action becomes something you get used to. Again, making the idea of Dry January a good one. But what happens on February 1st? Do you go back to your old ways or do you stick to the new routine?

Power of happy hour

A full adult life of ‘staying dry’ is challenging, especially when there are no religious or medical reasons to do so. It’s more the peer pressure that makes things complicated for those who want to stay sober. Several studies also show that drinking is alcohol is considered normal and that social drinkers even earn more than those who don’t. This is all linked to the power of the happy hour; the perfect opportunity to network and close those last deals. So it doesn’t even matter if you choose a life of no alcohol, the life with alcohol chooses you, especially if you’re an entrepreneur. Not only is happy hour a common network opportunity, what about all those network events that are actually happy hours in disguise. People who participate in Dry January do feel the benefits; they slept better, had more energy, had better focus and some even lose weight. However, what does decrease are the social activities. They meet less with friends, skip on network events (because of aforementioned reason) and stay in more. Socializing, for working professionals, involves a lot of evening activities and at evening activities there are often beverages of alcoholic nature.

Holding on to dry annually

The advantages and disadvantages are now mentioned. What do will you do? Of course, Dry January gives you a great reason for your self-chosen sobriety. And if you need it, there’s also Sobruary in the month of February, giving you another trendy fallback if you want to extend this new lifestyle. Holding on to a new way of life can only be done by fully embracing it, so ask yourself why do you actually need a trend to change your life?