{"id":755,"date":"2023-01-14T21:06:47","date_gmt":"2023-01-15T01:06:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/trying-dry-january-turn-deprivation-into-indulgence\/"},"modified":"2023-01-14T21:06:47","modified_gmt":"2023-01-15T01:06:47","slug":"trying-dry-january-turn-deprivation-into-indulgence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/trying-dry-january-turn-deprivation-into-indulgence\/","title":{"rendered":"Trying Dry January? Turn Deprivation into Indulgence"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/hop.clickbank.net\/?affiliate=infohatch&amp;vendor=J1R2C\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10614 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/profit-gen400px.png\" alt=\"Profit Gen\" width=\"400\" height=\"217\" srcset=\"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/profit-gen400px.png 400w, https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/profit-gen400px-300x163.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Often, when we try to change a habit, we\u2019re asking something demanding of ourselves.<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes, we want to <em>push<\/em> ourselves\u2014to go to sleep earlier, go for a daily walk, cook more, read to our kids every night.<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes, we want to <em>deprive<\/em> ourselves\u2014to give up fast food, to stop watching TV after 9 pm, to stop drinking caffeine.<\/p>\n<p>As I explore in <em><a href=\"https:\/\/gretchenrubin.com\/books\/better-than-before\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Better Than Before<\/a><\/em>, my book about habit change, we really, <em>really<\/em> don\u2019t like to deprive ourselves.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s one simple way to make deprivation easier: <strong>Turn deprivation into indulgence<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019ve decided to deprive yourself of something because you know that you\u2019ll be happier and healthier without it, you\u2019ve made a very helpful choice.<\/p>\n<p>So, if you can afford it, you might throw a little money at the problem, to make it easier to follow through.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, last year, a friend was planning to do <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Dry_January\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Dry January<\/strong><\/a>, and she knew it would be tough for her. And not only that\u2014she was actually hoping that Dry January would help her to drink less in the future. She didn\u2019t want to give up alcohol altogether, but she wanted to cut back.<\/p>\n<p>So she decided to use Dry January as an occasion of pleasure, interest, beauty, and ritual.<\/p>\n<p>First, she did a lot of enjoyable research, to figure out what she wanted to try.<\/p>\n<p>Then she divided her bar into Mocktails and Cocktails. She bought new, specialized glassware, like coupe glasses, margarita glasses, and martini glasses.<\/p>\n<p>She got lots of interesting mixers along with items like ginger and lemon, fancy salts\u2014anything she could find to elevate the mocktail.<\/p>\n<p>She invited friends to join her in rounds of taste tests to evaluate different alcohol-free brands and mocktail combinations.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re interested, here are some of her recommendations:<\/p>\n<p>By turning Dry January into a fun project that involved collecting, tasting, and spending time with friends, she was able to build an indulgent, delightful atmosphere around something that she knew would be taxing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt felt more life-affirming,\u201d she told me, \u201cso it was easier to stick to it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She was able to elevate her experience in many ways:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>she made her consumption more intentional and mindful<\/li>\n<li>with her husband, she created a nightly ritual of fixing a mocktail that they both enjoyed<\/li>\n<li>she had fun with her friends as they compared concoctions<\/li>\n<li>she used her creativity to fashion her own specialty drinks<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So, while she did make many purchases, she wasn\u2019t just buying stuff\u2014she elevated experience with her mindful attention, by engaging with other people, and by learning and creating.<\/p>\n<p>She turned deprivation into indulgence for Dry January, but this approach could work for many aims.<\/p>\n<p>Want to give up coffee? A friend said, \u201cI had to give up coffee, even though I love it, because it made me jittery. Now I let myself buy any herbal teas, cups, or tea-making paraphernalia that I want, and I drink tea whenever I want. I keep everything nicely organized in a special cupboard, and my tea-drinking feels very elevated.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Want to stop eating out so much? Splurge on expensive or unusual ingredients, fine tools, gorgeous cookbooks.<\/p>\n<p>Want to <a href=\"https:\/\/gretchenrubin.com\/articles\/go-outside-23-in-23\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cGo Outside 23 in 23?\u201d<\/a>\u00a0and spend 23 minutes outside every day in 2023? Perhaps this aim seems like it will be demanding\u2014if, say, you\u2019ll be depriving yourself of some comfy TV-watching time.<\/p>\n<p>If so, identify ways to make it feel indulgent. Maybe you buy a wonderful coat or scarf that you love to wear. Maybe you buy a membership to the local botanical garden so you can visit every day for free. Maybe you buy an outdoor chair so you can sit in comfort while you drink your coffee outside, as well as a new set of binoculars so you can watch the birds.<\/p>\n<p>Whatever the deprivation, when you\u2019re thinking, \u201cI can\u2019t have <em>this<\/em>,\u201d you can answer, \u201cbut I get to have <em>that<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While this approach might seem self-indulgent, if we\u2019re taking steps to create a habit that will add greatly to our happiness, that\u2019s a good place to spend money. And, of course, it\u2019s not enough just to buy the stuff; we must put it to good use. Real enjoyment is not passive or idle.<\/p>\n<p>Another way to think about indulgence and deprivation is to ask yourself, <strong>\u201cAm I a \u2018no\u2019 resolver or a \u2018yes\u2019 resolver?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Some people respond well to \u201cno.\u201d I actually do better with \u201cno\u201d resolutions; this may be related to the <a href=\"https:\/\/gretchenrubin.com\/articles\/abstainer-vs-moderator\/\">abstainer vs. moderator split<\/a>\u2014I\u2019m such an abstainer, myself.<\/p>\n<p>Some people, however, resent negative resolutions and want to say \u201cyes\u201d to themselves. They dislike hearing \u201cdon\u2019t\u201d or \u201cstop.\u201d If you\u2019re a \u201cyes\u201d resolver, you might find it especially useful to turn deprivation into indulgence; it\u2019s a way to re-frame a \u201cno\u201d as a \u201cyes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s no one right way to make a resolution, but it\u2019s important to know what works for <em>you<\/em>. As always, the secret is to know your own nature. (Here are <a href=\"https:\/\/gretchenrubin.com\/articles\/how-to-make-effective-new-years-resolutions\/\">more know-yourself-better questions to help you keep a habit<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p>Habits are the invisible architecture of everyday life, so it\u2019s worth the effort to cultivate habits that make us happier, healthier, more productive, and more creative.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/hop.clickbank.net\/?affiliate=infohatch&amp;vendor=J1R2C\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10614 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/profit-gen400px.png\" alt=\"Profit Gen\" width=\"400\" height=\"217\" srcset=\"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/profit-gen400px.png 400w, https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/profit-gen400px-300x163.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Often, when we try to change a habit, we\u2019re asking something demanding of ourselves. Sometimes, we want to push ourselves\u2014to go to sleep earlier, go [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":756,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-habits"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=755"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}